Dean M. Klisura, President, Global Placement, Marsh
Average insurance pricing in the first quarter of 2019 in the United States increased by 1.1 percent, year over year. Property pricing increased 4 percent and has now increased each quarter since the fourth quarter of 2017, a period marked by catastrophe losses that included an above-average North American hurricane season. Large, multilayered property programs (those with gross written premium greater than USD 1 million) led the pricing increases, up nearly 7 percent.
Financial and professional liability insurance rates in the United States increased by 2.8 percent in the first quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of increases. This was driven in large part by pricing in directors and officers liability (D&O). Pricing for public company D&O increased nearly 6 percent, with 77 percent of clients experiencing an increase, the highest percentage of increases in several quarters.
