Property and Casualty Insurance Buyers Face Tougher Pricing Ahead

Lockton Market Update provides fresh insights on issues for risk managers and CFOs

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Apr 30, 2012, 08:35 ET

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Chief financial officers, risk managers, and other commercial insurance decision makers face a tougher pricing environment in the coming months in the property and casualty insurance market, according to the latest Lockton Market Update.

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Prices for many risks are flat, and commercial insurance buyers face tougher underwriting and rising prices in many markets. The new package of market updates from insurance broker Lockton outlines the market dynamics and approaches to mitigate insurance cost increases.

Casualty Insurance Market
"Although casualty insurance capacity is still strong, its impact on pricing continues to fade," Lockton casualty experts Jesse Olsen and Stacy Seaburg say. "Instead, carriers are focused on return on capital." Many insurance carriers are attempting to raise prices and stiffen underwriting guidelines to increase returns to stakeholders, meaning tougher renewal conversations for insurance buyers. Read the full story at http://www.locktonmarketupdateblog.com/lmu/category/risk-management/casualty/

Commercial Property Insurance Market
Lockton's Jim Rubel writes that the commercial property market is not yet hard, where capacity is not available at any price. "However, it has become a very difficult market for buyers of property-catastrophe insurance—a market where capacity is available, but only at a price."

Rubel says insurance buyers who begin the renewal process early and provide underwriters with plenty of detailed information will be in a position to minimize the potential for significant price increases. Read the full story at
http://www.locktonmarketupdateblog.com/lmu/2012/04/buyers-find-property-insurance-available-but-at-a-higher-price/

About Market Update
Editors, feature editors and reporters are invited to quote from Lockton Market Update to enhance their own reporting. Please contact Dean Davison for permission to reproduce an article in its entirety or to speak to a Lockton expert.

About Lockton
More than 4,100 professionals at Lockton provide more than 15,000 clients around the world with insurance, benefits, and risk management services, offering an uncommon level of client service. From its founding in 1966 in Kansas City, Missouri, Lockton has grown to become the largest privately held insurance broker in the world and 9th largest overall. Independent researcher Greenwich Associates awarded Lockton its 2011 Service Excellence Award for risk management for large companies. For three consecutive years, Business Insurance has recognized Lockton as a "Best Place to Work in Insurance."