Southeast commercial auto keeps climbing on smaller fleets — and workers comp is reshuffling, not rising.
October's screen came up thin. No workers comp or commercial auto filing cleared our severity-and-reach bar, so this page shows every real increase we found. Two auto carriers stacked a second straight hike while filing at less than half their indicated need, and two WC filings that look flat overall are quietly loading construction trades.
Industries in this issue's filings
Also Approved This Cycle
Canal takes +9.0% on Virginia commercial auto, with some accounts up 54%
Class and territory changes drive it: old Territory 120 splits into two higher-rated zones, auto and boat haulers and dry-bulk and farm-product haulers get bigger class factors (the latter after a 325% loss ratio), and 1–4 unit fleets lose the default credit in Canal's experience plan. Indicated need was 36.1%. Who feels it: Virginia small fleets; Move now: it took effect Nov 1 — review this month's renewals first.
Pie files +0.3% on South Carolina WC — but roofers and concrete crews take +17.5%
A flat headline hides a big reshuffle of loss-cost multipliers. Roofing, carpentry, concrete, excavation and janitorial classes get +17.5%; specialty contracting and auto repair +7.5%; retail, physicians, clerical and landscaping get a 15% cut. Who feels it: South Carolina construction trades on Pie paper; Move now: quote trade accounts against other markets before the Dec 1 effective date.
AF Group's Virginia WC nets +0.8%, but Accident Fund General accounts see up to +10.7%
Filed Oct 7, six months after a 9.6% cut. The overall move is small, but it splits by paper: about 1,018 Accident Fund General policyholders average +5.1%, while Star and Accident Fund National accounts shift to AF Group rules and get cuts of 8.5% to 14.6%. Indicated need was 3.3%. Who feels it: Virginia employers on Accident Fund General; Move now: check which AF company writes each account before Jan 1.
Why is page 1 so thin this month?
No Southeast workers comp or commercial auto filing cleared our full screen in October — severity 4–5 with 1,000+ policyholders, or 25,000+ on reach. So we relaxed the headcount bar to show every real increase: two auto filings on books under 1,000 policyholders but $36M in combined premium, and two WC filings that are close to flat overall but move specific classes hard. The month's biggest WC filing — AmTrust re-tiering 22,285 Georgia employers — carries no overall rate change, so it leads page 3. Zurich's Georgia commercial auto filing, a 15.6% cut that still raises auto dealers, is there too.
Contractor liability is repricing hard across the Southeast — and the region's biggest package book moved too.
Same screen, every other commercial line. The steepest increases land on contractors' general liability in Georgia and Virginia, while Erie's North Carolina package filing touches the most accounts. Every featured carrier filed below its own indicated need — Travelers by nearly 100 points.
Industries in this issue's filings
Three Filings Worth a Closer Look
AmTrust lifts Georgia contractors' GL +62.2% — 190 accounts face 150%+
Its first rate change since a 2019 cut follows a 2025 loss ratio near 240%. 190 accounts see uncapped increases over 150%, topping out at +318%; ezArtisans contractors who paired GL with WC lose the 15% multi-policy credit (about 341 policies); and higher-risk accounts move into steeper risk bands. Indicated need was 81.4%. Who feels it: Georgia general and trade contractors; Move now: market February renewals now.
Travelers takes +11.1% on Georgia umbrella against a 108% indication
Its first Georgia umbrella rate change since 2020 follows loss ratios above 160% in most recent years. New factors load oil, gas and mining risks +30% and extra-large accounts +20%; fleets with heavy trucks, tractors, vans and buses feel steep unit auto rates; unsupported umbrellas cost more. 873 policies land at +35% to +40%. Who feels it: energy, construction and fleet-heavy accounts; Move now: line up underlying placement before Oct 2027.
Spinnaker raises Virginia contractor liability +18.1% with new trade surcharges
New trade factors load general contractors and plumbers +20%, floor-covering installers +15% and remodelers +5%. Accounts placed through independent agents pick up a +10% channel factor, contractors E&O rises 32%, and roofing work gets new exclusions. Indicated need was 34.6%. Who feels it: Virginia small contractors; Move now: it took effect Nov 1 — check roofing exposures for the new exclusion today.
Smaller Books, Real Increases
| State | Carrier | Line · Approved | Severity | Policyholders | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC | West Bend | Umbrella / Excess · +6.2% | 3 / 5 | 1,619 | Feb 1, 2027 |
| GA | Harford Mutual | Businessowners · +7.1% | 4 / 5 | 657 | Dec 1 |
| NC | Benchmark | Businessowners · +3.3% | 3 / 5 | 554 | Jan 1, 2027 |
| MS | Cincinnati Financial | General Liability · +11.3% | 4 / 5 | 157 | Apr 1, 2027 |
| MS | Benchmark | Businessowners · +16.6% | 4 / 5 | 53 | Jan 1, 2027 |
| GA | Hartford Steam Boiler | Cyber Liability · +10.1% | 3 / 5 | 20 | Jan 1, 2027 |
Also on the radar
AmTrust's Georgia commercial package filing nets −0.6% overall (1,646 policyholders, approved Oct 6), but Security National insureds average +16% and AmTrust says the companion property and GL filings add up to a +28.8% net package increase — read it alongside the GL story above. In the table, Harford Mutual adds a +35% class factor for Georgia apartments and condos, and Cincinnati puts 45% of its Mississippi GL book at +25% or more. And in Mississippi auto, Travelers trimmed −0.8% right after April's +15.4% while one business group carries a +31.5% indication — flat now, probably not for long.
The real Southeast story this month is fine print — new tiers, new exclusions, and who gets re-papered.
Set the rate numbers aside and October is about structure. The region's largest workers comp book got re-tiered, Erie filed to pull a Virginia package program covering 2,328 accounts, and a wave of exclusions — PFAS and chemicals, silica, gen-AI — moved through Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina and Louisiana.
Industries in this page's filings
Heading for the Exits
Underwriting & Scoring Shifts
Old Republic's new Alabama tiers price new-authority fleets up to 16x
Fleets with FMCSA or state operating authority under 23 months can land in tiers with liability and collision multipliers as high as 16.18, versus about 2.0 for established operations. Single units and 1–4 unit fleets pay physical-damage size surcharges, and livestock, dumping and mobile-home-toting operations carry higher factors. No overall rate is stated. Who feels it: start-up fleets; Move now: set price expectations before quoting a new venture.
Zurich cuts Georgia commercial auto −15.6% — but auto dealers pay more
The base-rate cut is real, yet Zurich raises underwriting program factors for franchised and independent dealers, lifts dealer errors-and-omissions factors across every sub-class, and hits powersport dealers hardest (liability factors up to 2.78). The liability indication sits at +93.4%, so the cut won't last. Who feels it: Georgia auto and powersport dealers; Move now: don't promise dealers a decrease until you see the rated quote.
Coverage Contraction
Also Filed This Cycle
Also on the radar
Watch the exclusion wave. Gen-AI and tracking-tech carve-outs showed up across lines this month: Berkshire Hathaway (Virginia package: gen-AI and PFAS), Liberty Mutual (Virginia umbrella and Louisiana GL: gen-AI, plus assault-and-battery for bars and hospitality), Hartford Steam Boiler (Georgia cyber: tracking pixels and undisclosed AI chatbots) and Travelers (Mississippi cyber: unpatched software and pixel tracking). Pair that with the PFAS and silica moves above and the message is simple: what drops out of the policy at renewal matters as much as the rate.
