Hard market: corrective measures will continue, Charles Brindamour predicts

By Hubert Roy | Aug. 12, 2020, 8:55 a.m.

Flash | INTACT | COVID-19

P&C insurance rates may have been dragged by the COVID-19 pandemic, but they should resume their upward trend in the coming months, Charles Brindamour, CEO of Intact Financial Corporation predicts.

Brindamour shared his P&C insurance rate forecasts in a conference call with financial analysts, to announce the insurer’s Q2 2020 results.

“The prevailing hard market conditions we experienced in Canada in 2019 and into early 2020 have been impacted by the crisis. Rate increases in both personal and commercial lines were tempered to help our customers navigate what is a very difficult economic environment. In the coming months as activity moves back towards normal, we expect the industry to return to the corrective measures required to restore its ROE to historical levels,” says.

In the near term, the trends that have emerged in the past few months will likely exacerbate the industry’s need for rates, given lower reinvestment yields, economic impact, and potential loss exposure likely to arise from the crisis.

“In the US, we see similar trends supporting the hardening market conditions,” he adds.