January 26, 2011
By: Jana Bell
The soft market conditions that characterized the commercial insurance business in 2010 show no sign of letting up in 2011, according to a report from insurance broker Marsh.
However, the president of the company's U.S. and Canada division, Joe McSweeny, said that 2010 was not as bad as some had predicted.
"Despite a challenging economic environment in many industries, commercial insurance market conditions were largely favorable for insurance buyers throughout 2010. A relatively benign Atlantic hurricane season limited catastrophe losses in the United States, and insurance capacity and competition remained strong," McSweeny said in a statement.
Marsh also found that nearly two-thirds of its property insurance clients saw their rates fall in 2010's fourth quarter, with the average sinking by 4.5 percent over that time period. Worker's compensation insurance, as well, also remained a buyer's market in 2010, Marsh said.
All of the company's predictions of more of the same for 2011, of course, come with the caveat that all bets are off if a market changing event - like an unexpectedly severe hurricane season, for example - occurs.
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