Premium Increases Continue Across Most Commercial Lines in January

Average commercial insurance premium renewal rates continued to fluctuate across major lines in January, according to the IVANS Index, a regular premium renewal rate index compiled by the IVANS insurance exchange service.

Year-over-year, all lines of insurance business except workers compensation experienced an increase in average premium renewal rate in January, according to IVANS. Month-over-month, premium renewal rates for commercial insurance lines, including general liability, umbrella, and workers compensation, experienced increases in January from their December level, while commercial auto, business owners policy (BOP), and commercial property experienced decreases.

Premium renewal rate changes by line of business for January included the following.

• Commercial Auto—The premium renewal rate increased 4.45 percent, down from a 5.03 percent increase in December.
• BOP—The premium renewal rate increased 4.46 percent in January, down from a 4.64 percent increase a month earlier.
• General Liability—The January premium renewal rate increased 3.69 percent, up from a 3.59 percent increase in December.
• Commercial Property—The premium renewal rate increased 5.63 percent in January, down from a 5.68 percent increase the prior month.
• Umbrella—January's premium renewal rate increased 4.29 percent, up from a 3.79 percent increase a month earlier.
• Workers Compensation—The premium renewal rate decreased 1.02 percent in January, up from a 1.7 percent decrease in December.

"Year-over-year, premium renewal rates continued to climb in January across nearly all major commercial lines of business, except workers compensation," Kathy Hrach, vice president of Product Management, IVANS Insurance Services, said in a statement. "We are seeing the rate change for general liability steadily increase month-over-month, while commercial auto has fluctuated each month, ending this month with a downtick in premium renewal rate change as compared to the end of year 2020."

Released on a monthly basis, the IVANS Index analyzes more than 120 million data transactions to measure premium renewal rate change year-over-year across the US market.