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Nine of the 14 insurers participating in the Ames & Gough survey expect to maintain professional liability rates at 2015 levels. The remaining five plan increases of 5 percent or less.
Stiff competition Survey says a majority of insurance providers in the A/E/P market are keeping 2016 rates flat as newcomers crowd the field.
By RICHARD MASSEY Managing Editor U p to 64 percent of insurers in the A/E/P profes- sional liability market, faced with ever-grow- ing competition from new entries into the field, ex- pect to keep rates flat this year. And for the firms looking to raise rates, the increases will be slight, according to the Ames & Gough 2016 Architects and Engineers Professional Liability Insurance Market Survey . The trend toward flat rates comes after three years of moderate increases, according to the survey, based on the responses of 14 leading insurance “It’s a good time to be an architect or an engineer, so it’s a good time to be an insurer of architects and engineers.”
companies that represent more than 75 percent of the total professional liability market. New insurance providers are entering the A/E/P field because revenues are up, losses are stable, and it’s relatively easy to hang a shingle and start writ- ing policies, says Dan Knise, president and CEO of Ames & Gough. The end result is that A/E/P firms are getting nice deals. “The good news for architectural and engineering firms is that the marketplace for professional li- ability insurance has seen competition both from existing insurers seeking to expand their business and insurance companies new to this coverage line that want to establish a foothold or gain market share,” Knise says. “In the past, competition has been keen among insurers vying for the business of smaller design firms, which many underwriters see as more desirable risks. Yet lately, competition has spread to all segments of the market.” Knise says it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how
THE ZWEIG LETTER April 18
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