North American risk managers who met in Orlando, Florida for their annual Risk and Insurance Management Society convention were told that the rate of decline of insurance prices is slowing and that the latest renewals were mostly flat or only modestly down.

RIMS’ first quarter Benchmark Survey shows that insurance premium rates are firming across property-casualty lines, with financial institutions facing the biggest increases.

The RIMS survey collects and analyses data supplied by commercial insurance buyers so that RIMS members can benchmark their own experience against that of their peers.

In the first quarter of 2009, general liability premiums fell by 3.8%, compared to a 5.9% decline for policies renewing in the fourth quarter of 2008. Workers comp premiums slipped by 2.5% continuing their earlier trend.

The average property insurance renewal was flat for the first quarter of 2009 as compared to a decline of 3.8% in the previous quarter. Individual property risks experienced a wide range of premium rate changes at the most recent renewals, however, from a decrease of 11% to an increase of 14%.

The trend in the directors and officers liability insurance market is split between financial institutions risks, where premiums have risen sharply as a result of the subprime crisis, and all other commercial risks.

Overall, the average D&O premium increased by 3% compared to an overall decrease of 1.2% in the last quarter of 2008.

Risk managers, many of whom are under pressure to reduce their total cost of risk, are relieved that prices are not rebounding too sharply.

Speaking from RIMS annual conference Daniel H. Kugler, member of RIMS board of directors and assistant treasurer, risk management at Snap-on, Inc., commented: “The insurance market is still very competitive and, while some insurers are predicting an imminent hard market, there are few signs that rates will rise sharply anytime in the near future.”

The results of the RIMS Benchmark Survey(tm) are available online or in an annually-published book.

Tags: RIMS

This entry was posted by Garry Booth on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Insurance Commentary.