Brokers ended the year with a solid 9% organic growth, continuing the strong returns of the last four years, according to Reagan Consulting’s Growth & Profitability Survey (GPS), fueling brokers’ optimism for 10% organic growth by the end of 2025.
“For the first time in GPS history, Commercial, Personal and Benefits Lines all achieved more than 7% median organic growth, balancing success in 2024 across all lines of business,” says Harrison Brooks, Reagan Consulting partner.
Results by Product Line
During Q4 2024, Personal Lines continued to outperform all other lines of business with growth of 9.2%, the first time it has led in Q4 growth since the GPS study began. However, Q4 Personal Lines rates are beginning to reflect the impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and damage estimates for the two hurricanes combined are estimated to exceed $100 billion. More Personal Lines losses are on the horizon due to the devastating Southern California wildfires.
“Carriers are reassessing their risk appetite, potentially limiting available capacity,” Brooks says. “This gives brokers the opportunity to help their clients and other insureds navigate the market, rebuild lives, and review their future insurance coverage.”
Q3 2024 premiums for Commercial accounts of all sizes rose 5.1%, according to the Council of Independent Agents and Brokers, extending the current hard market to seven years. Despite these account size increases, Commercial Lines slowed from 10.9% in 2023 to 8.3% in 2024 due to continued premium moderation.
Employee benefits grew at 7.6% — its highest Q4 growth in 16 years. Another positive sign is that benefits profitability increased, further reversing a declining trend. “Group Benefits growth seems to have been driven by a continued uptick in employer-sponsored health insurance costs,” says Brooks. “For the second year, Benefits premiums increased by 6.7% compared to previous annual increases of less than 5%.”