U.K. Commercial Premiums Will Continue to Rise

Delegates at the annual meeting of the U.K.’s Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in Birmingham were told by insurance industry representatives that commercial insurance rates would continue to rise, with increases in the 30 percent range and many new underwriting restrictions.

The rise in the number of claims and the amounts paid out together with the excess capacity in the commercial insurance market had all contributed to unacceptably high loss ratios over the last few years. Now many companies have left the market, including CGNU, the country’s largest insurer, and those that are left are applying much more rigorous underwriting criteria in an effort to control their exposures.