Commercial auto increases got bigger in March — and public-safety fleets took a triple-digit hit.
Six approved increases cleared our screen this cycle: high-impact, rate-increase filings touching 1,000+ policyholders each (or moving a large book), approved in March 2026. Five are commercial auto, and ISO loss-cost adoption is the common engine — one emergency-services program's law-enforcement segment more than doubled. Here's what your clients are about to feel.
Industries in this issue's filings
Lead Filing
AIG more than doubles law-enforcement auto rates — ambulances and firetrucks aren't far behind
Approved March 30, effective July 1. AIG's Glatfelter emergency-services auto program — 1,272 Texas policyholders, $17.8M premium — carries a 78.9% indicated rate need and lands it squarely on public-safety fleets: law enforcement +103.6%, fire departments and firetrucks +51.0%, ambulance services +47.2%, service vehicles +45.5%. The carrier adopted the latest ISO advisory loss costs and revised proprietary ambulance high-deductible factors, citing poor countrywide experience in law-enforcement and ambulance classes.
Who feels it: municipalities, fire districts, EMS and private ambulance operators in Texas. Move now: these are budget-line public entities that can't easily absorb a doubling — start renewal conversations and the surplus-lines search early, because few standard markets want this class right now.
Also Approved This Cycle
Zurich takes 21.4% — but the indicated need is 106%
The region's largest auto book this cycle by premium — 1,680 policyholders, $185.8M. Zurich adopts ISO 2024 rules and revises Rule 206 underwriting-program factors aimed at auto dealers (franchised, independent, RV, powersport) and logging. The approved 21.4% sits against a 106.3% indication, so expect a second wave at the next renewal.
The Hartford strips two discounts from mid-size CA fleets
23% on liability for fleets of 11–25 vehicles, plus two quiet hits: the DOI-disallowed 5% paid-in-full discount is gone, and the telematics discount is neutralized to 1.0 — so tracking devices no longer earn a credit. Dump trucks and mixers are reclassified as high-hazard, and ISO increased-limit factors raise the cost of higher limits.
American National adopts ISO's Risk Analyzer — trucks +52%
A 29.8% average riding ISO's Risk Analyzer Commercial Auto loss costs and off-balance factors. Comprehensive coverage climbs 37–38%, and trucks, tractors and trailers outside the zone-rated table see individual increases up to 52.6%. A clean example of how an ISO model refresh re-rates an entire book at once.
Berkshire Hathaway raises the WC minimum-premium floor 64%
Across an 80,531-policyholder, $576.9M California WC book, the headline 9% average hides the real squeeze: the minimum-premium multiplier jumps from 225 to 370 (+64%), and territory factors realign sharply toward Los Angeles (+20%) and the Inland Empire. Small low-payroll accounts and urban risks pay the most.
Why so many auto stories — and one big WC?
March was an ISO loss-cost adoption cycle for commercial auto: Zurich, American National, AIG and Qualitas all rebased off newer ISO advisory costs at once, which is why the auto increases cluster in the 20–40% range. Workers comp stayed quieter on the carrier side, but Berkshire's minimum-premium and territory move is the one WC story big enough to reshape small-account pricing across Southern California.
General liability is re-pricing — and carriers are stacking new exclusions on top of the rate.
Same screen, every other commercial line: this cycle the heavy moves are in general liability and businessowners, where carriers are pairing 30–60% rate corrections with broad new exclusions and credit-based rating bands. Sports, fitness, medical and condo classes see the steepest climbs.
Industries in this issue's filings
Lead Filing
Hanover hits California GL with 28% — and opioid, trafficking and punitive-damages exclusions
Approved March 11, effective July 1. The Hanover's California small-commercial GL book — 6,828 policyholders, $10.4M premium — takes a 28.4% average, but the class-level numbers bite far harder: sports and fitness +56.2%, medical facilities +51.1%, condominiums +46.9%, cultural institutions +43.3%. On top of the rate, a stack of new mandatory exclusions attaches: opioids, human trafficking, punitive damages, new residential multi-unit construction, and cyber-war on the cyber portion. Life-sciences products/completed-operations is narrowed for clinical trials.
Who feels it: gyms, studios, medical offices, condo associations and life-sciences firms. Move now: the exclusions are the real story — a gym or clinic may keep coverage but lose the protection it actually needs. Read the new endorsement list to every affected client before renewal.
Three Filings Worth a Closer Look
AmTrust now reads your Google reviews to price your BOP
AmTrust extends its 250-band Risk Assessment model to Texas (BOP liability loss ratio 132.8%) — and this version ingests Google search ratings and review volume. Businesses with low ratings or many negative reviews land in pricier bands. Security National paper averages a 268.9% increase; a new $150 liability minimum and windstorm/tornado cat loads round it out.
Hanover ties EPLI pricing to a Dun & Bradstreet stress score
The same carrier's California management-liability/EPLI book takes 32% (condos +40%, salons sharply up) and now rates off a Dun & Bradstreet financial-stress score. Credit-driven tiering can swing an individual renewal up to 50% — and most insureds have never seen the score that's pricing them.
PURE raises HNW umbrella UM endorsements a flat 40%
PURE's Colorado high-net-worth umbrella book takes ~19% on base excess rates and a flat 40% on optional UM/UIM endorsements across every limit, citing a 31.3% countrywide indication. Youthful operators, watercraft owners and high-profile individuals carry profile-adjustment surcharges on top.
The Rest of the Qualifying List
| State | Carrier | Line / Sub-type | Severity | Policyholders | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TX | AmTrust (Wesco / Security Natl) | Businessowners — RAB model | 5 / 5 | 4,086 | Apr 1, 2026 |
Also on the radar
The structural story of the month is on Page 3: State Farm is non-renewing a long list of CMP occupancy classes across a 90,575-policyholder California book — motels, salons, day cares, car washes and real-estate property managers — while filing an 83% liability rate increase. Anyone in those classes is shopping right now. And the credit-scoring pattern keeps widening: AmTrust (Google reviews), Hanover (Dun & Bradstreet) and PURE all priced off external data this cycle.
March's real story is the exits and the exclusions — State Farm is purging whole classes from Main Street.
Same region, the changes behind the rate number: approved March actions whose real story is a market exit, a coverage exclusion, or a new scoring model. The headline is a large-scale class purge from a major package writer; underneath it, the credit-and-reputation scoring wave keeps spreading, now reading Google reviews and Dun & Bradstreet scores.
Industries in this page's filings
Lead Filing · Market Exit — Region-Shaping Signal
State Farm purges motels, salons and day cares from its California package book
Approved March 11, effective September 15. State Farm's commercial multi-peril program — 90,575 California policyholders, $423.3M premium — issues mandatory non-renewals for a long list of occupancy classes: motels over 30 units, beauty and nail salons, day-care centers, full-service car washes, cemeteries, funeral homes, convenience stores with gas, and real-estate agents who do property management. Any risk over $5 million in building coverage is also non-renewed. Alongside the purge sits an 83.3% liability rate increase, with the carrier citing social inflation, third-party litigation funding, and an 82% jump in California legal advertising since 2020.
Who feels it: tens of thousands of Main Street operators in named classes, plus any larger-building risk. Move now: these are forced non-renewals, not shoppable surcharges — build a target list of affected classes and place them before the September wave hits the market all at once.
New Scoring Models — Now Reading Reviews and Credit
AmTrust scores your Google reviews into a 250-band model
AmTrust's Texas BOP (also Page 2 for its rate) assigns one of 250 Risk Assessment Bands using, among other inputs, Google search ratings and review volume — low-rated or heavily-reviewed businesses land in costlier bands. Security National paper averages a 268.9% increase. Online reputation is now a rating variable.
Hanover prices EPLI off a Dun & Bradstreet stress score
Hanover's California executive-lines book introduces credit-based tiering driven by a Dun & Bradstreet financial-stress score. Combined with the 32% base move, a poor score can push a renewal up to 50% — and the insured rarely sees the number doing it.
American National adopts ISO's Risk Analyzer scoring
American National (also Page 1) moves its Texas business-auto book onto ISO's Risk Analyzer Commercial Auto plan with off-balance factors, re-rating trucks, tractors and trailers — individual increases reach 52.6% as the new model redistributes loss costs across the book.
Coverage Contraction & Market Exits
Hanover bolts five new exclusions onto California GL
Behind Hanover's 28% GL rate (Page 2) sits a coverage contraction: mandatory exclusions for opioids, human trafficking, punitive damages, new residential multi-unit construction, and cyber-war — plus an assault-or-battery exclusion for designated premises and narrowed products/completed-operations for life-sciences clinical trials. Pharma, gyms and habitational risks lose protection even where they keep the policy.
Qualitas withdraws its Texas trucking program
Qualitas withdrew its standard Texas commercial-trucking program statewide as of January 1, keeping its Crossborder book alive only for renewals in Bexar, Maverick, Travis and Uvalde counties. The remaining business takes a 38.5% rate (liability CSL +41.2%) and a new ineligible-vehicle/commodity surcharge for dump trucks, ambulances, hazmat and 600-mile-plus long-haul.
Also on the radar
State Farm's class purge isn't happening in isolation — it rhymes with January's Markel and GuideOne exits and February's GuideOne repo withdrawal. The Southwest's standard package market is shedding occupancy classes (hospitality, personal care, habitational) faster than it's adding them. Pair that with the spreading reputation-and-credit scoring (Google reviews, Dun & Bradstreet, Experian), and the through-line is clear: carriers are using data to decide who they keep — and to price the rest with less room to argue.
