The Biggest (Controllable) Reasons Your Property & Casualty Premiums Keep Rising

Inflation. Natural disasters. Litigious environment. These are just a few factors behind the rising cost of property & casualty. While you can’t control mother nature, you can control certain aspects of your business to improve safety – and positively influence property & casualty rates.

Understand your claims history

Even if you’ve never had a major claim, frequent claims can cause rising property & casualty rates. They can also prevent carriers from insuring you.

That’s why it’s important you review your claims regularly to identify trends. This information helps you pinpoint where to make immediate changes in your safety and loss prevention methods to reduce claims. It’s also your first step to cementing long-term safety initiatives in your workplace.

Build a culture of safety

Insurance is one of your largest business expenses. By improving your safety program, you can help control rising premiums. Start by:

• Developing policies and procedures to reduce injuries and accidents
• Educating your employees about these procedures
• Conducting refresher courses to reinforce safety practices
• Setting expectations that everyone is accountable for safety

If you don’t have a robust safety program, check out the many risk management resources online.

Your broker can also provide safety guidance. For example, clients of The Miller Group have access to our in-house safety director. And they can use our online templates to create safety manuals and checklists.

Even if you have a safety program, you should review it every couple of years. If you see increasing claims, adjust your safety program or retrain employees.

Set up procedures for driving company vehicles

You’re at risk every time an employee gets behind the wheel of your company truck. So it’s understandable why carriers require companies to train their employees in driver safety to qualify for auto insurance.

Here are additional steps to help further control costs:  

• Require employees to sign your employee handbook or safety manual that spells out your driving policies. (It’s important to add them to your policy immediately upon hiring too.)
• Install a telematics device in your vehicles to monitor driving behavior. Insurance companies use this data to determine risk factors and premiums.

Protect against cyber attack

Cyber attacks are increasing at an alarming rate, which is driving up premiums.

One precaution against this threat is adding multifactor identification to your networks. Most carriers already require it to qualify for coverage.

Cybersecurity is everchanging, so keep up with any changes in your policy. Refer to our blogs for more information.

Document everything

You can protect yourself by thoroughly documenting everything pertaining to an accident or injury. Be sure to file the documents in a safe place. This information could be vital in case of litigation.

Educate yourself about insurance

It’s hard to control things you don’t understand. That’s why it’s important to work with seasoned brokers. They’ll evaluate your coverage, determine what you need and find reasonable rates.

Insurance carriers want customers who are doing everything they can to reduce risk. A strong culture of safety is a great start to getting the best premiums possible.