Commercial Rates & Surplus Lines — One Mixed, the Other Up

Hub International released a report looking at commercial insurance rates for the second quarter and, like other firms and organizations releasing similar results, they are mixed.

The firm found commercial rates rose 1.8% to 6.5% depending on the line. Some saw renewals with a 20% decrease in rates and others with hikes of 15%. Commercial auto and excess liability pricing is the hardest to predict but they both remain high.

Commercial property rates went from 15% down to 5% up

Catastrophe property rates were flat to down 20%

Private directors & officers rates saw drops of 5% to being up 5%

D&O rates were flat to down 10%

Cyber liability was flat to down 10%

Hub’s Mary-Beth Hahn said some clients are using savings on some premiums to buy higher limits on other lines.

“Particularly on cyber, some clients may not have purchased it in the past, or maybe they have just a small limit. We’re saying, ‘Why don’t you re-evaluate possible limits?’” she said.

Auto liability buyers are having more trouble than others finding rates that aren’t rising. Underwriters are putting them more under a microscope than for other lines. And Hahn says conditions are changing rapidly and that will continue for most lines. She recommends consumers plan early for the next renewal.

“Maximize coverage where you can, take a fresh look at the lines like property that had the increases in the past and make sure your coverages are appropriate,” she said. “Then make sure that the story of the company going into the market is the best that it can be.”

While commercial lines are bouncing around, the 15 U.S. surplus lines service and stamping offices reported premiums totaling $46.2 billion in the first half of 2025. That’s up 13.2% from 2024’s first two quarters.

For all of 2024, surplus lines premiums totaled $81.64 billion. And that was a 12.1% jump over the 2023 figures. Non-professional lines — general, products liability and aviation — sold the most premiums and accounted for $30.15 billion, an 11.3 increase over 2023. They accounted for 39.9% of all lines.

Property — commercial property, business interruption, commercial packages and stand alone commercial coverages like earthquake, flood, terrorism and physical damages for aircraft — saw an 11% increase with premiums totaling $26.8 billion.

Auto liability lines had a 61.1% rise to $3.4 billion. That’s the largest percentage increase of 2024. Auto liability includes policies for auto dealers, commercial auto liability, excess auto liability and garage owners.

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