Global insurance and reinsurance brokerage WTW’s latest Commercial Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS) shows that U.S. commercial insurance rates rose 2.5% in the first quarter of 2026, marking the third consecutive quarter of slowing interest rate increases.
Year-over-year, U.S. commercial insurance rates declined from an overall price increase of 5.3% in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting continued soft pricing trends across most commercial lines, including small commercial, mid-market commercial and large account commercial accounts.
The business area with the highest growth in Q1 2026 was again excess/umbrella liabilities, but this was down from the previous quarter.
Commercial vehicle rate increases fell below double digits for the first time since the third quarter of 2023, and WTW reported that pricing trends across all other product lines were essentially unchanged or slightly lower than the prior quarter.
Yi Jing, Managing Director of WTW Insurance Consulting and Technology (ICT), commented: “The first quarter results reflect the continuation of the mild pricing environment observed in recent quarters.
“While commercial vehicles and excess/umbrella liability continue to experience the largest growth, the rate of growth has slowed and pricing trends have remained stable across most markets.”
WTW’s CLIPS is a survey that measures changes in commercial insurance pricing by comparing premiums for policies written in the current quarter to premiums for the same coverage the previous year.
