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36 PalletCentral • January-February 2018 palletcentral.com Auto Rates to Show Some Increase Regarding auto insurance, expect to see some movement in auto rates in 2018, which is a continuation of the trend from end-of-year 2017. Why the increase? Claims related to distracted driving are soaring. Don't text and drive! In addition, commercial driver employment shortages and hurricane auto physical damage losses in Texas and Florida have had an impact. According to AIG, deaths on highways in 2015 were up 7-8%, an increase of 2,500 fatalities as compared to the prior year. For the first three quarters of 2016 the increased trend continued at an 8% increase as compared to 2015. Hence, a loss trend has been building. As a result, it was only a matter of time that some rate increases would occur. Foreign Market Update For those of you that work in foreign markets, or simply have an interest in business insurance trends globally, soft property market conditions that have prevailed in recent years show signs of hardening, particularly in regions impacted by, you guessed it, hurricanes and typhoons. Typhoon frequency in the southern hemisphere has not been as severe as hurricanes here at home, but typhoon activity has had an impact. As we enter 2018, we expect pressure by reinsurers and insurers to push rate increases, especially on natural catastrophe exposed businesses, and particularly those exposed to hurricanes and typhoons in the Atlantic and Asia Pacific regions respectively. And one final note, as Britain continues to head down the Brexit path, it is not expected that Brexit will have any immediate impact on the insurance market either in the UK or Europe. Eventually there could be an impact if UK insurers no longer have access to the rest of the EU (the single market concept). However, most leading insurers already have offices and licensed operating companies in most EU countries. Hence, even loss of use via the single market principle will be insignificant. PC INSURANCE Bradley Van Swol is vice president with Hays Companies, a nation-wide firm that provides risk management, insurance, and employee bene- fits consulting. He works primarily within the forest products insurance practice at Hays. He may be reached at 414-290-3581 or bvanswol@ hayscompanies.com. Receiving more attention in 2017, a captive insurance program is where the premium paid is based in-par t on your losses and yours alone.