Marsh "Global Insurance Market Report - 2020 Q1"
The global broker Marsh published earlier this month its commentary on renewal activity for worldwide insurance risks up to 30 March 2020 showing a continuing upward trend in rate increases.
The summary reads "Global commercial insurance prices rose 14% in the first quarter of 2020, the tenth consecutive quarter of price increases. Although the COVID-19 global pandemic had an insignificant impact on pricing in the first quarter, the reported increase was the largest year-over-year increase in the Marsh Global Insurance Market Index since its inception in 2012. We anticipate that COVID-19 will likely have an impact on pricing for the balance of 2020."
A graph of the global price increases is available here as a downloadable pdf.
Summarising their report, their findings are as follows:
- Property insurance pricing increased by 15%;
- Casualty pricing increased by 5%;
- Financial and professional liability rose by 26%;
- Rate increases occurred worldwide particularly in the UK, US and Pacific areas (Aus, NZ).
The increases listed above are at a global level: some further extracted detail:
- Property rates in the US increased 21% in the first quarter, the highest level recorded since the survey began in 2012;
- The excess liability market drove much of the overall casualty pricing movement, with average prices up 11%. Many risks experienced significantly greater increases;
- Pricing in the D&O market was up 44%, with 95% of clients experiencing an increase;
- Cyber insurance pricing rose 6%, the largest increase since 2016;
- Overall insurance pricing in the first quarter of 2020 in the UK increased 21%;
- D&O pricing showed significant increases, with some large accounts experiencing hikes of 100%. Generally, midsize accounts saw smaller increases, but still had prices up 50% to 70%.
Their report is well worth reviewing for the graphs that illustrate some of the extracts above.
The report is available here on Marsh's website or here as a downloadable pdf.
The increases reported in this report are before the impact of COVID on the insurance industry. We expect that the next quarter's report will show a further acceleration in rate increases as insurers push for rate increases as a result.
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