WOODBRIDGE, N.J. - (Business Wire) NIP Group, Inc. announced today the results of the latest Transportation Insurance Pricing Survey (TIPS™), an index designed to benchmark changes in the availability and rates in the transportation insurance marketplace. The survey was issued last month to the nation’s leading transportation insurance brokers, wholesalers and underwriters representing thousands of account placements.
The survey reflects what many market participants have assumed, that there has been no material change in the market from last quarter. The decline in prices has held steady between 10 and 20% across all account sizes. All market segments are still experiencing excess capacity driven by continued soft market conditions which is increasing the availability of insurance.
In the past three months, standard insurers have persisted in their efforts to make entry into the transportation market in pursuit of premium volume. Their strategy to underwrite significant risk in the transportation segment has included undercutting traditional specialty transportation insurers to gain market share.
For small accounts (those with premiums of $75K or less), 75% of brokers responded that premiums are down as much as 20%. Results were similar for medium accounts (premiums of $75-250K); with 70% reporting rates are down 20%. The news was only slightly better for large size accounts (premiums greater than $250K), where 57% of brokers who responded saw premium declines of 20%.
The survey also measured premium changes across ten different transportation segments including:
| | ■ | | Trucking Operations | | ■ | | Intermodal Carriers |
| ■ | | Messenger/Courier Services | | ■ | | Ambulance/Paratransit |
| ■ | | School Bus Contractors | | ■ | | Bulk Transportation |
| ■ | | Airport Ground Transportation | | ■ | | Charter/Tour Bus Operators |
| ■ | | Specialized Carriers & Riggers | | ■ | | Limousine Services |
The largest decreases in rates were seen by brokers insuring general trucking operations. Intense competition among carriers in light of current market conditions is exerting significant downward pressure on rates.
Participants were also asked to comment on premiums by coverage type including Auto Liability, Auto Physical Damage, Motor Truck Cargo and Warehousemans’ Legal, Workers’ Compensation, Umbrella Liability and Owner/Operator programs. Many respondents have stated that they have seen declines in premium for these coverage lines of more than 10%. However in the last two categories, Umbrella and Owner/Operator, a significant number of contributors reported increases in premium.
“We intend to repeat the survey quarterly to track the movement in the TIPS™ index over time”, said Richard Augustyn, CEO of NIP Group, Inc. “We believe that TIPS™ serves a dual purpose first to track rate movements for the large transportation insurance market and second to offer a leading indicator of the direction of rates in the general commercial insurance marketplace.”
“NIP Group possesses an unequaled depth of knowledge in a number of key specialty markets, particularly transportation related exposures”, said Lawrence Dunn, CFO of the company. “This survey is yet another example of how we leverage our expertise to deliver value added services.”
Detailed results can be downloaded online at: http://www.nipgroup.com/SurveyResults.aspx
About NIP Group, Inc.
NIP Group, Inc. is a specialized business insurance and risk management intermediary, ranked among the largest 100 in the United States and providing a wide range of brokerage, underwriting and risk management services to select market segments.
NIP Group, Inc.
Debra Mirabella, 1-800-446-7647 ext. 211
dmirabella@nipgroup.com
