Insurance Agents E&O Market

The insurance agency E&O (Errors & Omissions or professional liability) insurance market remains competitive, but signs of tightening are starting to show.  A recent article in Insurance Journal (see here) provides information from the Insurance Journal’s 2012 Agency E&O Survey and summarizes current market conditions.  And we are quoted:

There is some tightening going on, says Robert Sargent, president and CEO of Tennant Risk Services based in West Hartford, Conn. But for now, price increases in agency E&O remain moderate and fragmented, he says. There’s still a lot of competition … it is underwriting results driven.

The article notes that the number of carriers writing insurance agents E&O is up.  Included are key stats from the survey:

• 61.5% have had their rates increase over the last 3 years
• 26.6% have had an E&O claim in the last 5 years
• But 45.5% have never had a claim

We continue to hear from underwriters that claim frequency remains low, but severity is up.  As always, file documentation is critical to protecting your agency or brokerage from a claim.  And when buying insurance agents/brokers E&O coverage, policies are not consistent.

Specialty Insurance Expertise: Tennant Risk Services
Supporting Insurance Entrepreneurship: Tennant Capital Partners