Rates are rising, but it’s not the abrupt skyward turn that alarms brokers and infuriates clients. According to a snap market poll by insuranceNEWS.com.au last week, the soft market is definitely on the way out, but the hardening in commercial rates in particular is so gentle it’s difficult to detect.

Brokers say the insurers are avoiding a sharp correction, with personal lines continuing the trend to rise more abruptly than commercial rates.

Peter Hurle, Principal of Victorian brokerage McNair Hurle Latrobe, says the market is “going up a bit”, with domestic rates experiencing significant increases.

Adelaide-based broker Mike Donnelly says he hasn’t seen any real movements in rates in personal lines or SMEs, but he agrees the market may be showing the first signs of turning.

“One or two of the larger companies are trying to lift rates,” he said. “There’s a feeling the market may have bottomed out.”

In Tasmania, Anca Insurance Brokers Principal Chris Baker says commercial reductions are acting as the canary in the insurance coalmine.

“We’ve hit the bottom in terms of reductions,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “Reductions are stalling and either holding or slightly increasing.”

He says the upturn is likely to be gradual. “It’s not going to be a major correction, more a percentage point here and a percentage point there.”

But Victorian regional broker Keith Roderick says he has yet to see any significant correction.

“It’s the same old same old,” he said. “Everybody was expecting rates were going to go up and they haven’t.

Why the rise is gentle: see ANALYSIS