Rate Increases Continued for Nearly All Commercial Lines in November

Year over year, all lines of commercial insurance business except workers compensation experienced an increase in average premium renewal rates in November, according to the IVANS Index, a regular premium renewal rate index compiled by the IVANS insurance exchange service.

Month over month, premium renewal rates increased in November for commercial auto, businessowners policy (BOP), general liability, and workers compensation, IVANS reported. Commercial property and umbrella premium renewal rates decreased.

Premium renewal rate changes by line of insurance business in November include the following.

• Commercial auto: November's premium renewal rate of 4.89 percent was up from 4.64 percent in October.
• BOP: the 5.74 percent premium renewal rate in November increased from 5.24 percent the prior month.
• General liability: the premium renewal rate was 4.27 percent in November, up from 4.18 percent in October.
• Commercial property: the premium renewal rate of 5.77 percent in November was down from 5.93 percent in October.
• Umbrella: the premium renewal rate decreased to 4.97 percent in November from 5.02 percent the prior month.
• Workers compensation: the premium renewal rate was -0.75 percent in November, up from -1.57 percent in October.

"The November results of the IVANS Index indicate a continued hardening of the market with month-over-month premium renewal rates rising for most lines of business," Kathy Hrach, vice president of product management, IVANS Insurance Services, said in a statement. "Year-over-year average premium renewal rates remain consistent with previous months with workers compensation being the only line of business in the negative territory, despite rising to its highest average since May 2017."

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.