A new market survey by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) has found that property and casualty (P&C) rates increased for the 15th consecutive quarter in Q2 2021 at 8.3%, down from 10% in the previous quarter.
Both medium and large accounts experienced the highest increases, at 9.4% and 9.3%, respectively, followed by small accounts at 6.2%.
Based on the survey data, CIAB found that Cyber troubles worsened in Q2 2021, with the average premium price increase for that line coming in at 25.5%, up from 18% in Q1 2021, and surpassing the recorded 17.4% increase for Umbrella, the previously most troubled line, by a significant amount.
Respondents attributed the rapid increase of Cyber premiums to a rise in ransomware and social engineering attacks, as well as the increased cost of claims due to litigation.
“Carriers continued to approach writing Cyber risk with caution in Q2 2021,” said Ken A. Crerar, President/CEO of The Council.
“The rapid increase in ransomware attacks highlighted the need for brokers to work with clients to develop and practice robust risk management strategies to confront the growing threat. In a world where costly cyberattacks are becoming the norm rather than the exception, the broker is in a unique position to help clients identify vulnerabilities, find coverage and protect their firms.”
Underwriting capacity continued to contract for Cyber and Umbrella, with more than 80% of respondents noting a decrease in capacity for Cyber and 73% reporting a decrease in capacity for Umbrella.
Respondents also noted that carriers were much stricter when it came to insured risk management protocols, requiring things like multi-factor authentication, and imposing much higher premium increases for insureds with insufficient risk management strategies.