Commercial insurance rate increases accelerated across most major lines of coverage during the first quarter, according to a report Monday from Evans Insurance Services, a unit of Applied Systems Inc.
Property rates again had the highest growth with the average annual renewal rate increasing by 10.5% compared to 10.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Business owners’ policy rates rose 9.3% in the first quarter, compared to 9.1% in the fourth quarter; Commercial auto was up 9.1% compared with 8.8%; Student rates increased from 6.4% to 6.8%; And general liability rates rose slightly to 5.9% from 5.8%.
The only major reason to see a rate decrease was again workers’ compensation, where rates decreased 0.9% in the first quarter, compared to a 0.6% decline in the fourth quarter.
