Travelers leads a quiet-but-pointed commercial-auto month in Kansas.
Two commercial-auto increases cleared our screen this cycle — both Travelers paper in Kansas, both ISO-driven. Workers comp stayed favorable to neutral across all twelve states. The number to watch isn't the 10% average; it's the 23.9% landing on one specific book.
Industries in this issue's filings
Lead Filing
Travelers' ACJ paper takes a 23.9% Kansas commercial-auto hit
Approved Feb 18, effective July 1. Travelers adopted the latest ISO loss costs and rebuilt its Kansas increased-limit factors across a $24.6M book — 1,604 policyholders. The state-wide average lands near 10%, but the Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America (ACJ) segment averages 23.9% against a 23.8% indicated need. The Rule 100 update makes higher liability limits markedly more expensive — trucks, tractors and trailers carrying big limits feel it most.
Who feels it: motor carriers and trades fleets with high liability limits. Move now: pull renewal dates on ACJ-paper accounts before July and re-quote the high-limit layers specifically — that's where the 24% concentrates.
Also Approved This Cycle
Travelers layers a tiering revision onto a second Kansas book
A companion Travelers business-auto filing pairs a ~12% rate move with a tiering revision across 1,345 policyholders, effective July. Same carrier, same state, same ISO backbone — a reminder that one writer can reset two of your books in the same cycle.
Why is the whole page Travelers — and no WC?
February's qualifying commercial-auto rate increases across the twelve-state quadrant were both Travelers Kansas paper, so the page reads single-carrier by data, not by choice. Workers comp stayed favorable or neutral on rate everywhere we looked — no WC increase cleared the severity and reach bar. The more active auto story this month is structural: Progressive's Iowa scoring overhaul touches nearly 10,000 fleets and sits on page 3.
The package and liability market is where February moved — and it spans the whole region.
Same screen, every other commercial line: with the quadrant widened to all twelve states, the qualifying list fills out fast — Idaho, Nebraska and Montana all land carriers this cycle. CMP and general liability dominate, and the largest book of the month is an Idaho package re-rate that strips coverage while it raises rates.
Industries in this issue's filings
Lead Filing
Auto-Owners reprices Idaho's biggest package book — and quietly strips coverage along the way
Approved Feb 6, effective Dec 30. The region's largest package filing this cycle by headcount: 10,233 Idaho commercial-package policyholders, $41.1M in premium. Snow-and-ice-removal contractors take +35% on a 170.5% loss ratio, real-estate development +40% against a 913% loss ratio. The structure is where it bites: the minimum deductible jumps from $100 to $250, officer-payroll basis rises, and a broad abuse/molestation exclusion (CG 40 28) is added across the book.
Who feels it: snow contractors, developers and habitational accounts in Idaho. Move now: read the new abuse/molestation exclusion and the higher deductible into renewal proposals now — the coverage change can matter more to a client than the rate.
Three Filings Worth a Closer Look
Cincinnati broadens its firearms exclusion — and individual GL hits reach 345%
Cincinnati's Missouri GL filing adopts ISO cannabis exclusions, broadens the firearms/weapons exclusion to anyone acting on the insured's behalf, and limits mental-anguish coverage to physical-injury cases. The 12% average is modest, but individual increases reach 345.85% on a $35.7M book of contractors, social-service and home-health risks.
Nationwide takes Nebraska GL +12.2% — and reprices additional-interest charges
Nationwide raises Nebraska general liability 12.2% on average against a 13.8% indicated need, with Nationwide Assurance accounts seeing up to 39.5%. It adopts ISO Rule 24 and revised increased-limit factors, and shifts additional-interest charges to a percentage-of-premium basis — a direct cost increase for contractors who name a lot of additional interests.
EMC adopts ISO loss costs at +15% on an Iowa contractor book
EMC's Iowa general-liability filing adopts the latest ISO loss-cost revision and increased-limit factors at a 15% average across 2,077 contractor-heavy policyholders, effective June. The contractor classes carry the heaviest increased-limit math — the higher the limits, the bigger the jump.
The Rest of the Qualifying List
| State | Carrier | Line / Sub-type | Severity | Policyholders | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KS | State Farm | CMP — Combinations | 4 / 5 | 8,854 | May 1, 2026 |
| MO | Federated | CMP — Businessowners | 4 / 5 | 1,401 | Apr 15, 2026 |
| MO | Auto-Owners | CMP — Businessowners | 4 / 5 | n/d | Mar 1, 2026 |
Also on the radar
Two structural package moves carry more weight than their rate lines suggest: State Farm's Kansas commercial-package filing (8,854 policyholders) converts flat deductibles to percentage wind/hail and starts counting catastrophe losses against your rating — the full story is on page 3. And State Farm's Montana businessowners book (6,707 policyholders) bolts on a LexisNexis-based credit scoring model that can swing premium 2.0x even as the headline rate sits flat. Outside the commercial bar, a Kansas personal-umbrella increase touching 18,987 policyholders (approved Feb 27) signals the umbrella market hardening across the region.
Credit scores and annual-mileage data are now rating Midwest/NW commercial books.
Same twelve states, the structural changes the rate filings hide. February's signal: carriers moving from flat rating to data-driven segmentation — Progressive adds annual-mileage tracking to Iowa fleets, State Farm bolts a LexisNexis credit index onto Montana small business, and Farm Bureau scores Missouri BOPs on credit. The headline rate is no longer where the action is.
Industries in this page's filings
Lead Filing · Scoring Model — Market Signal
Progressive rebuilds Iowa fleet rating around annual mileage — across nearly 10,000 books
Approved Feb 18, effective April 29. Progressive introduced Annual Miles as a formal rating variable on its $61.7M Iowa business-auto book and reassigned whole class groups — landscaping and snowplowing, food delivery moving out of the restaurant bucket, wholesale and retail all shifting tiers. Uninsured Motorist jumps 22.3%, bodily-injury/property-damage liability 10.4%. With 9,747 policyholders, this is the broadest single commercial-auto rerate in the region this month — and once a major writer prices on miles driven, the segmentation spreads to every adopting carrier.
New Scoring Models — The Trend Is Real
State Farm puts a LexisNexis credit index on 6,707 Montana businessowners
A new B505-based Customer Rating Index can swing premium up to 2.0x and re-scores every account every two years — so a flat -0.1% headline hides real movement underneath. Contractors get a 5% cut, a new HSB cyber suite launches, but boat-liability and glass-breakage coverages are discontinued. Credit-based pricing has now reached Montana small business.
Missouri Farm Bureau bolts a credit-based 'Loss Score' onto its BOP
A new Loss Score model tiers risks into A-D bands using credit data — swings up to 25% — stacked on a 10% liability base-rate increase. Barbers, salons, veterinarians and liquor-serving restaurants are named as the hardest hit across a 5,515-policyholder book. Same playbook as Montana, different carrier.
Progressive reclassifies delivery and landscaping into pricier tiers
Part of the same Iowa rerate (lead, above): food delivery moves out of the restaurant class, landscaping and snowplowing get reassigned, and 'Annual Miles' becomes a rating input. Reclassification, not the headline rate, is what surprises these clients at renewal.
Underwriting & Deductible Changes
State Farm makes catastrophe losses count against your Kansas rating
State Farm's Kansas package filing converts flat dollar deductibles to percentage-based wind/hail deductibles, adds a Fixed Expense Constant that doubles some condo-association premiums, and begins counting catastrophe losses in experience rating — previously excluded. A weather event you couldn't control can now strip your experience credit.
Federated reprices Missouri trades classes through type-of-business factors
Federated's revision isn't a flat hike — it's a class-by-class reset after a 70% loss ratio against a 57.4% target. Painting and paperhanging contractors +36%, fencing and glass +26.3%, convenience stores +17.5%, tire dealers +15.7%, funeral homes +15%. Audit which class code each contractor account is mapped to before renewal.
Coverage Contraction
Auto-Owners adds a broad abuse/molestation exclusion in Idaho
Behind the Idaho package re-rate (page 2) sits a coverage cut: a broad abuse/molestation exclusion (CG 40 28) is added across the 10,233-policy book, the minimum deductible doubles from $100 to $250, and large-building relativity rises. Social-service, habitational and youth-serving accounts can be left with a real gap — read the new exclusion into every renewal.
State Farm drops boat liability and glass breakage in Montana
The same Montana CRI filing that adds credit scoring also contracts coverage: boat-liability and limited glass-breakage coverages are discontinued and the $100k liability option is dropped. The new HSB cyber suite is a real add, but accounts relying on the discontinued covers need a replacement before renewal.
Cincinnati broadens its firearms exclusion to third parties
The Missouri GL filing (page 2) extends the firearms/weapons exclusion to anyone acting on the insured's behalf — not just the insured — and restricts bodily injury to require a physical injury, narrowing mental-anguish claims. Security-exposed and social-service accounts can be left with a real gap behind a modest average rate.
Also on the radar
The scoring wave is now region-wide: annual-mileage, credit and LexisNexis models price Iowa fleets, Missouri small business and Montana businessowners in the same month Travelers reset Kansas auto to ISO. On the favorable side, two Iowa workers-comp tiering revisions cut cost for clean books — a useful contrast when a client's comp renewal still rises. Watch the Kansas commercial-farm-and-ranch tiering change (2,284 policyholders) as a preview of the ISO farmowners migrations landing in spring.
