Outlook Stable for Property, Casualty, and Directors' and Officers' Insurance Lines, Says Aon

U.S. Q3 '09 Quarterly Market Overview forecasts 2010 market trends


CHICAGO, Dec. 7  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Property, casualty and directors' and officers' liability insurance rates will continue to stabilize in 2010, according to Aon Corporation, the leading global provider of risk management services, who today released its U.S. Q3 '09 Quarterly Market Overview for Property, Casualty, and D&O liability insurance lines for commercial and large corporate segments. The report, which examines the third quarter of 2009 and forecasts 2010 insurance market trends, was created by Aon Analytics to provide clients with the latest information on pricing, limit, deductible and retention trends.

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  Highlights of Aon's Q3 '09 Quarterly Market Overview include:

  --  Property: After increasing property rates for the first two quarters
      of 2009, especially for natural catastrophe-exposed portfolios,
      property rates in the third quarter were generally flat. Property
      experience for most carriers in 2009 has largely been positive and
      surplus/supply remains strong and improving for the industry. For the
      remainder of 2009 and 2010, we expect rates to be stable with some
      downward pressure.
  --  Casualty: Average rate decreases remained in the low single digits
      through the third quarter for most casualty lines. The vast majority
      of insureds continued to purchase similar limits and maintained
      existing deductible/retention levels year over year. Barring any
      unforeseen events, the casualty market will continue to experience
      soft conditions with the majority of insureds seeing flat to
      single-digit rate decreases. Casualty carriers continue to be
      challenged to grow net written premium and are aggressively seeking to
      acquire and retain insureds. As a result of heavy competition, coupled
      with a reduced exposure base, insureds are expected to experience
      lower premiums in 2010.
  --  D&O:  Overall, D&O rates decreased 2.7 percent in the third quarter.
      Furthermore, pressure eased for the Standard & Poor's financial
      institutions sector, which includes banks, diversified financials,
      insurance and real estate. After double-digit increases in each of the
      previous four quarters, pricing in that sector increased by only 3.2
      percent in Q3 '09. All other S&P industry sectors were down an average
      of 4.9 percent in Q3 '09. D&O capacity has increased. Several new
      underwriters have entered the field and a number of carriers,
      previously weakened by the economy, have recovered.




"Staying fully informed about industry trends is essential to remain competitive and relevant in today's global market," said Warren Mula, chairman of U.S. retail for Aon Risk Services. "With access to real-time data such as that shared in Aon's Quarterly Market Overview, our clients can control costs and apply forward-thinking insights to help them make the right decisions for the future."

Methodology: Aon Analytics U.S. Q3 '09 Quarterly Market Overview

This report on property, casualty, directors' and officers' liability lines is based on data from Aon proprietary databases such as the Aon Global Risk Insight Platform(SM). Results represent placement of commercial and large account information from thousands of U.S. companies. Aon GRIP(SM) is the world's leading global repository of global risk and insurance placement information and provides fact-based insights into Aon's global premium flow. Aon Analytics collected and tabulated the results, provided analysis and interpreted findings.

To access the Aon Analytics U.S. Q3 '09 Quarterly Market Overview for Property, Casualty, Directors' and Officers' Lines, visit http://www.aon.com/quarterlymarketoverview

To access Aon's Q3 D&O Pricing Index, visit http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=63&item=359

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  About Aon


Aon Corporation (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. Through its more than 36,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008 and 2009 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007, 2008, and 2009 and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the readers of Business Insurance. For more information on Aon, log on to http://www.aon.com/.

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  Kelly Drinkwine                           Cybil Rose
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DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation



CONTACT:  Kelly Drinkwine of Aon Corporation, [phone],

; or Cybil Rose, [phone],

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Web Site:  http://www.aon.com/ 

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