This is why Democrats in Congress want to take over the Insurance industry.

Property, casualty insurance rates likely to fall sharply, experts say - Pittsburgh Business Times:

Good news for business: Property and casualty insurance rates could decline as much as 20 percent this year, while workers' compensation rates are drifting lower, experts say.

Lower-than-expected payouts for catastrophic losses in 2006 are turning into a windfall for businesses renewing property insurance policies, said Scott Moore, property practice leader at Marsh, a New York-based risk consulting firm with local offices Downtown. Depending on claim history and risk profile, companies could see rates decline as much as 20 percent starting April 1, the biggest renewal month, he said.

"This is a big change from 2006," Moore said. "We didn't have the catastrophic losses people anticipated; therefore, underwriters made money. That bodes well."

For businesses with a July 1 renewal, Moore recommends developing relationships with multiple carriers in case insurance quotes with existing carriers don't reflect lower rates. The relationships will smooth the way for getting bids from alternative insurers, he said.

Virtually all businesses, regardless of size, are seeing reductions in the cost of insurance this year, said Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist at the New York City-based Insurance Information Institute. Even consumers are seeing the benefit of lower-than-expected underwriting losses last year: The average auto insurance rate is falling this year for the first time since 1999, he said.

"It's good news for business," Hartwig said.

Total business insurance costs are down 9 percent or 10 percent from a year ago, according to a survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2006 by the New York City research group, Hartwig said.

The news is especially good for Western Pennsylvania businesses, which don't have the earthquake or coastal property risks, which caused a spike in insurance rates for those areas last year.

Insurance rates for the legal liability related to personal injury or property damage are also expected to fall this year, with reductions of 10 percent to 15 percent being reported, according to Paul Hoyt, casualty manager at Marsh.

The current soft market means lots of companies are competing for casualty insurance business, which is driving down rates and spurring creativity in such things as how an individual plan is constructed. The market hasn't been this soft since the late 1990s, said Hoyt, but he declined to predict what rates would do in 2008.

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