CIAB: US commercial P&C pricing slowdown continues as average Q2 rate rises dip to 3.7%

By Chris Munro

Aug 13 - (The Insurer) - The slowdown in U.S. commercial P&C pricing continued in Q2 2025 with average rate rises of 3.7% down from the first quarter’s 4.2%, new figures from The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) show.

During Q2 2025, which was the 31st consecutive quarter of premium increases recorded by CIAB’s market survey, large account premium increases moderated the most at 2.9%, down from Q1’s 5.3%.

Both small and medium accounts both recorded slightly higher premium increases in Q2 than in the previous quarter.

Small-account premiums increased by 4.2% on average, compared with Q1’s 3.6%, while medium-account premiums went up by 4.0% from the first quarter’s 3.7%.

“It was not clear what influenced the change in large accounts,” the CIAB report said with regards to its Q2 survey.

“While some respondents said that carriers were 'slightly more aggressive' in pursuing large accounts - which can contribute to premium reduction - and that they observed 'more capacity and slight reduction in premiums' for large accounts, others noted upward pressure on large account premiums remained,” the organization said.

Across the five major lines of business tracked by the survey (commercial auto, workers’ compensation, commercial property, general liability and umbrella) price increases averaged at 4.9% in 2025’s second quarter, flat when compared with Q1.

As CIAB noted, three of the five lines of business continued to show signs of premium moderation, with umbrella and workers’ compensation being the exceptions.

In umbrella, pricing accelerated to 11.5% in Q2, up from the prior quarter’s 9.5% and continued a trend of rising average rates that has been in effect since Q2 2024.

Litigation and nuclear verdicts remain the major drivers of the umbrella increases, CIAB said.

Within workers’ comp, the average price reduction narrowed to -1.8% from Q1’s -2.6%.

Beyond the five major lines, D&O premiums fell the most with an average decrease of 2.5%, followed by employment practices with an average decrease of 1.8%, the CIAB study reported.

According to CIAB, the trends that impacted the D&O market in 2024 continued into Q2 2025.

“Excess capacity and profitability after the hard market in 2020 and 2021 led to strong downward pressure on premiums,” noted CIAB.