February 17, 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The following are key takeaways from The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ Commercial Property/Casualty Market Report Q4 2020 (October 1 – December 31):
- Q4 2020 was the 13th consecutive quarter of increased premiums, with respondents reporting an average increase of 10.7% across all-sized accounts. Segmenting out the data by account size, premiums increased the most for large accounts, at 13.7%, followed by medium accounts at 11.7%. Premiums for small accounts again saw a smaller average increase in Q4 2020, at 6.7%, compared to 7.1% in Q3 and 7.3% in Q2.
- Q4 2020 was also the 3rd consecutive quarter in which premiums increased for all lines, including Workers Compensation. Across all lines the average premium increase was 10.2% in Q4 2020, compared to 11.3% in Q3. Looked at individually, Umbrella recorded the highest premium increase, at 21.3%, followed by D&O Liability at 14.7% and Commercial Property at 12.9%.
- Underwriting capacity continued to contract for the most troubled lines. Nearly 90% of respondents reported a decrease in capacity for Umbrella, with more than half of those declaring the decrease “significant.”
- Respondents indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact was still being felt in Q4 2020. Most respondents said the pandemic impacted pricing, availability of coverage, renewals and underwriting trends.