Insurance rate hikes accelerate in February

Commercial policyholders paid more for most major lines of coverage last month as premium renewal rates accelerated compared with January, according to a report Tuesday from Ivans Insurance Services, a unit of Applied Systems Inc.

Commercial property insurance rates saw the biggest overall increase in February at 10.8%, compared with 10.3% in January; commercial auto rates rose 10.3%, up from 7.4%; business owners policy rates increased 9.7%, up from 9.3%; umbrella rose 7%, up from 6.4%; and general liability climbed 6.2%, up from 5.4%.

Workers compensation rates continued to fall, but the rate of decrease slowed to -0.4% in February from -0.7% in January.