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Risk Management

Commercial insurance rates climb 3%

Auto rates and umbrella and excess liability saw the biggest hikes.

blocks going up with percentages on them

Wipada Wipawin/Getty Images

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Insurance got more expensive last quarter, but hey, at least it wasn’t a sudden massive uptick in product costs that CFOs are currently contending with, thanks to tariffs. Silver linings and all that.

Commercial insurance rates increased in Q1, according to a MarketScout report, with the composite rate up 3%. This follows a roughly 2.6% increase to the composite rate in Q4 last year.

As for Q1, “umbrella and excess liability, along with automobile coverages, saw the most significant rate hikes this quarter—both increasing by 6.7%,” Richard Kerr, CEO of MarketScout parent company Novatae Risk Group, said in the report.

Insurance rates for commercial property and business interruption coverage were both up 3.6%. Rates increased 3% on business owner’s policies—a product that combines property and liability insurance.

General liability rates increased 2.3% on average. They increased by 1.3% for professional liability coverage and by 1% for directors and officers liability coverage. Workers’ compensation rates were flat for the quarter.

The transportation industry saw the highest rate increases in Q1. Premiums rose by 6% for the industry sector, “reflecting ongoing underwriting concerns and market pressures in that space.”

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