The firm revealed that retail renewal premiums had gone up between 7% and 9% across North America, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
J. Patrick Gallagher, chairman, president, and CEO of the company, said in a call that US retail had gone up by 8.5% in this time, including a 13% increase in professional liability, an 8% rise in property and casualty, and a 4% jump in workers’ comp.
This was, he said, “[…] mostly driven by increases in professional liability and property. Within RPS, wholesale open brokerage premium increases were up 13% and binding operations were up six.”
On the reinsurance side, he said that January renewal showed price increases varying through geographies and client loss experience, while loss-free programs saw their rates flatten by up to 10%.
He added: “While loss impacted accounts and cat exposed property business experienced rate increases that were in many cases double that. So rate tended to be based on client’s specific attributes and loss history. And I consider that to be a healthy outcome. So whether retail, wholesale or reinsurance, premiums are still increasing almost everywhere.”
Looking ahead, Gallagher said that he thought there would be difficult P&C market conditions throughout the year due to risk-bearing partners remaining cautious on rising loss costs.
He went on: “So property coverages replacement cost inflation and the increased frequency and severity of catastrophe losses are causing underwriters to rethink rate adequacy.” Gallagher said there were other factors that were driving the market in a negative direction. These include social inflation, low investment returns, and the potential for increases in claim frequency on the casualty side as global economies recover.
He concluded: “On top of higher loss costs and lower investment insurance, reinsurance costs are also increasing. So I think carriers will continue to push for rate and don’t see a dramatic change in the near term.”