US personal insurance rates up 5% Q1, even as auto races: MarketScout

Personal lines insurance rates across the US rose at a 5% annual pace in the first quarter of 2023, largely flat to recent periods but continually buttressed by rising gains for personal auto, the quarterly pricing survey conducted by Lloyd's coverholder and US MGA MarketScout indicated.

“The real action in personal lines comes during wind and wildfire season," the CEO of Novatae Risk Group, Richard Kerr, said of the slight decrease from the Q4 2022 rate of growth.

Price action usually reserved for catastrophe season is nonetheless felt under the surface in cat-prone areas.

“Even now, catastrophe exposed high value property owners are struggling to find coverage without experiencing significant rate increases and restriction of terms such as higher deductibles and reduced coverage,” Kerr said.

Personal auto continues to show the most trend, heading up for a third consecutive quarter to a 6.3% annual pace, palpably above the 3.7% low from Q2 2022.

Homeowners has been comparatively stable, with annual growth readings chiefly in a range from 5 to just over 7% across recent quarters.

Rate growth for coverage of personal articles, the slowest-grower during each quarter of the past year, may be easing further, down to a 3.3% annual rate in Q1 2023.

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