Almost 50% of U.S. property renewals see fourth quarter rate increase

Nearly half of all property renewals in the United States experienced rate increases in the fourth quarter to date, according to Marsh’s Global Benchmarking Portal.Twenty-nine per cent of clients renewed with increases between 1% and 10%. Nineteen per cent received increases above 11% at renewal.Additionally, 18% of all renewals in the fourth quarter (to date) renewed with no change in pricing and 34% of all renewals secured rate reductions.”The property insurance market has been hit with a number of significant catastrophe (CAT) events this year,” according to Marsh Insights: Benchmarking Trends. “Total insured losses exceed $70 billion for the first three quarters alone.”As a result, insurers are seeking to increase pricing on many accounts, notably those with recent losses or poor loss histories, or for accounts with moderate to significant CAT exposures.”Most of the insureds that received rate reductions at renewal have little or no CAT exposure or losses.”