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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