Continued softening in p&c market

The composite rate for the commercial property and casualty market dropped 8% compared with the same period last year, according to a report published by Dallas-based MarketScout.
The Commercial P&C industry continued its trend toward softening as indicated by the report that says there were no increases in the average rates for any of the commercial lines it studied.
The trend toward softening is expected to continue unless there is a catastrophe, according to MarketScout’s CEO Richard Kerr.
“If 2006 closes out without a significant hurricane or other catastrophic event, this market will continue heading south,” Kerr says. “Even the coastal property market will adjust a bit. Currently, there are few insurers with wind capacity in the Gulf Coast and the lower Atlantic seaboard, but that will change if we close out 2006 without a significant wind event.”
Of the 13 commercial lines tracked for the report, those over US$250,000 saw extreme softening. MarketScout reports these accounts saw rate decreases of 10-11% as compared to 8% decreases only one month earlier.