Filing Watch: Southwest — May 2026 (3-Page Tabloid)
Insurance Xdate
FILING WATCH
Southwest Edition · May 2026
Page 1 — Workers Comp & Commercial Auto
Monthly Rate Briefing

Commercial auto is the whole story in the Southwest this month — and the increases are steep.

Every qualifying page-1 filing approved in May was commercial auto: nine high-impact, unfavorable rate increases touching 1,000-plus policyholders each across eight states. Texas and California carry the weight, the headline numbers run from 13% to 50%, and nearly every carrier is bolting a scoring or telematics model onto the rate. Here's what your fleet clients are about to feel.

Industries in this issue's filings

Specialty Trades
in 4 of 5 filings
Building Construction
in 4 of 5 filings
Buses & Limos
in 3 of 5 filings
Auto Dealers
in 3 of 5 filings

Lead Filing

TXCommercial AutoSeverity 4/5

Kemper hikes Texas bodily injury 24.4% — and singles out mid-size fleets for up to 48.8%

Approved May 7, effective Jan 22. Infinity County Mutual (Kemper) raises Bodily Injury rates 24.4% across a 32,559-policyholder Texas book — $168M in premium — by re-weighting Increased Limit Factors toward BI. Fleets of 6 to 17 units take a specific factor penalty on top, and individual accounts at high limits reach 48.8%. The carrier ties it to post-HB-19 litigation costs and rising BI frequency and severity, so this is a trend, not a one-off.

+24.4%
Bodily Injury
+48.8%
Max account
32,559
Policyholders
$168M
Premium
$5,162
Avg prem/policy

Also Approved This Cycle

OKCommercial AutoSev 5

State Farm raises Oklahoma liability ~50% and turns on fleet telematics

The region's only severity-5 page-1 increase. BI/PD jumps roughly 49.9%, hired-and-non-owned auto +31.5%, and a new Drive Safe & Save Business program can swing premium 15% on driver behavior. The Customer Rating Index surcharge ceiling rises to 2.5x — a poor-data account can now pay 250% of base. 22,531 policyholders.

22,531 policyholders · $16.8M premium · effective Mar 30 · ~$747/policy
CACommercial AutoSev 4

Progressive takes ~8% in California — but its own data says it needs 36%

The biggest book in the region: 85,906 policyholders, $1.0B premium. The filed number looks tame, but Progressive's indicated need is 36.4%, so a correction is loading. It expands the Unacceptable Risks list, reclassifies restaurant delivery into a pricier Food Delivery class, and rewards dashcams and telematics — a clear push toward surveillance-based pricing.

85,906 policyholders · $1.0B premium · effective Oct 3 · ~$11,711/policy
TXCommercial AutoSev 4

Travelers takes 15.8% in Texas — heavy trucks see up to 32%

An average 15.8% on 8,977 policyholders ($263M premium), but extra-heavy trucks, truck-tractors and high-limit ($1M-plus CSL) accounts fare worse — nearly one in three sees 25% or more. New Rule 100 limit factors, fresh ISO loss costs, and Carfax mileage and D&B delinquency scoring all stack on the base rate.

8,977 policyholders · $263M premium · effective Jul 1 · ~$29,297/policy
CACommercial Auto — TruckersSev 4

DB Insurance raises California trucking 25.6% with a 25% new-venture penalty

A genuine motor-carrier filing: DB Insurance (Dongbu) lifts California for-hire trucking rates 25.6% on 4,476 policyholders, with liability-heavy policies reaching 30%. Operators in business under a year carry a 25% New Venture surcharge, and extra-heavy tractors over 45,000 lbs and 500-plus-mile radius runs pay the most. Real trucking, real increase.

4,476 policyholders · $7.9M premium · effective Sep 1 · ~$1,775/policy

Where's workers comp?

Quiet, and mostly favorable. The qualifying Southwest WC filings approved in May were rate decreases, dividend plans or loss-cost adjustments that help policyholders — the structural WC story is on page 3, where AF Group pulls Williamsburg National out of California comp. One increase missed our 1,000-policyholder floor but is worth flagging: Imperium / Skyward Specialty (TX) got a 50.2% total commercial-auto increase approved, staggered at a 25% cap per year for three years, against a 133% liability loss ratio — oil-and-gas, logging and heavy-construction fleets. Small book, big signal.

Northeast
Southeast
Midwest / NW
SouthwestThis week
How we screen. SERFF filings via Insurance Xdate, filtered for: disposition (approved) in May 2026, unfavorable policyholder impact, high-to-critical severity, rate-increase effect, Workers Comp (16.0) and Commercial Auto (20.0), 1,000-plus policyholders affected. All five featured filings are commercial auto — no Southwest WC rate increase cleared the bar this month. Figures are filing-level SERFF snapshots; individual impacts vary. Not placement advice. 1 / 3
Insurance Xdate
FILING WATCH
Southwest Edition · May 2026
Page 2 — The Wider Market: All Other Lines
Beyond WC & Auto

Package and liability carriers are re-pricing Main Street — and rewriting the deductibles too.

Same screen, every other commercial line: businessowners, package and general liability increases approved in May across Utah, Texas, California and Colorado, reaching roughly 45,000 policyholders. The averages look moderate, but the structure underneath is shifting — bigger deductibles, new building-height and roof-age factors, and contractor classes singled out for the steepest jumps.

Industries in this issue's filings

Specialty Trades
in 5 of 6 filings
Real Estate & Rentals
in 4 of 6 filings
Hotels & Lodging
in 4 of 6 filings
Restaurants & Bars
in 2 of 6 filings

Lead Filing

UTCMP / BusinessownersSeverity 3/5

WCF National enters Utah hotels — and brings roof-age tiering and trafficking exclusions with it

Approved May 12, effective Jul 1. WCF National (Advantage) expands its Utah businessowners product into the hotel and motel space and adopts ISO's 2026 GL loss costs across 2,190 policyholders, with some restaurant area-rate moves reaching 37%. The catch is in the tiering: roofs over 15 years and occupancy under 60% drop into non-standard rates, and selecting the Hotel/Motel broadening triggers mandatory human-trafficking and controlled-substance exclusions. Growth and contraction in one filing.

up to 37%
Restaurant max
15 yrs
Roof-age cutoff
2,190
Policyholders
$21.2M
Premium
$9,687
Avg prem/policy

Three Filings Worth a Closer Look

TXGeneral LiabilitySev 4

Cincinnati raises Texas GL 21.6% — and quietly re-rates the owner's payroll

A 21.6% general-liability increase on 3,200 policyholders, built on updated ISO loss costs and limit factors. The hidden piece: the executive and partner payroll cap jumps nearly 25% ($31,900 to $39,800), so owner-operators in mercantile and contracting classes pay GL premium on $7,900 more of their own pay. Some accounts see far higher.

3,200 policyholders · $37.3M premium · effective Apr 2027 · ~$11,667/policy
CACMP / BusinessownersSev 4

Capital Insurance adds a building-height factor and quadruples the theft deductible

Capital Insurance Group (Monterey) takes ~11% on 10,510 California policyholders, but the structure moves more than the rate: a new 'Number of Stories' factor penalizes taller buildings on fire and water perils, the base theft deductible quadruples from $250 to $1,000, and lessor's-risk centers with light-industrial or contractor tenants get reclassified higher.

10,510 policyholders · $285M premium · effective Jan 2027 · ~$27,147/policy
TXCMP / BusinessownersSev 4

Federated targets Texas trades: painters +25.1%, jewelers +16.7%

Federated Mutual files a 27.9% indicated need on the liability side of its Texas BOP. Painting and paperhanging contractors lead at 25.1%, fencing and glass at 18.2%, jewelry stores 16.7%, food stores 13.1%, with HVAC and plumbing near 11%. The tell: Federated says its own closing ratios for those contractor classes fell from 28% to 14%.

1,605 policyholders · $22.7M premium · effective Nov 15 · ~$14,151/policy

The Rest of the Qualifying List

StateCarrierLine / Sub-typeSeverityPolicyholdersEffective
UTAuto-OwnersCMP — Commercial Package3 / 516,708May 12, 2026
COLiberty Mutual (Ohio Casualty)General Liability3 / 510,827Jan 1, 2026

Also on the radar

Two big-reach severity-3 increases just miss our impact bar but carry real footprint. Auto-Owners takes only ~5% on its 16,708-policyholder Utah package book (the region's largest other-lines book this month) — but withdraws Builder's Risk coverage entirely, drops Inflation Guard, and adds mandatory data-privacy GL exclusions; contractors mid-project should check their towers now. And Liberty Mutual raises Colorado GL an average 10.7% across 10,827 policyholders — with snow-plowing rates up 62.5% (class 00812, $17.08 to $27.77 per $1,000) and Denver hospitality up to 10%.

How we screen, page 2. Same filters as page 1 — approved in May 2026, unfavorable impact, rate-increase effect — applied to every commercial line except Workers Comp and Commercial Auto, with the 1,000-policyholder floor. Severity-4 increases are featured; two severity-3 filings with 10,000-plus policyholders are tracked in the table and radar for their reach. Personal lines (homeowners, personal auto, personal umbrella) and niche/noise lines are excluded. Figures are filing-level SERFF snapshots; individual impacts vary. 2 / 3
Insurance Xdate
FILING WATCH
Southwest Edition · May 2026
Page 3 — Filing Effects: Guidelines, Coverage & Scoring
Beyond the Rate Number

The fine print moved more than the rates: trucking markets are exiting, and scoring models are everywhere.

Same region, the filings rate numbers hide: approved actions whose real story is a market exit, a new scoring algorithm, or a coverage cut. The Southwest's signal this month is trucking under stress — two carriers are leaving for-hire trucking outright — alongside an ISO cyber advisory that resets the base policy for every adopting carrier.

Industries in this page's filings

Trucking & Freight
in 4 of 8 filings
Professional Services
in 3 of 8 filings
Restaurants & Bars
in 2 of 8 filings
Building Materials & Garden
in 2 of 8 filings

Lead Filing · ISO Advisory — Market-Wide Signal

AZCyber — ISO Advisory FormsSeverity 4/5

ISO's new Arizona cyber forms exclude cyber-war 'by any means' — and strip generative-AI media coverage

Approved May 15, effective April 2027. This advisory forms filing rewrites the base cyber policy most Arizona carriers build on. A mandatory War Exclusion now explicitly reaches cyber-attacks deemed acts of war 'by any means.' A new Generative-AI endorsement removes media-liability coverage for losses tied to AI-generated content — a live exposure for any marketing team using AI tools. And a Litigation Funding Mutual Disclosure condition lets insurers demand details on third-party claim financing. Every carrier that adopts these forms inherits all three at once.

Cyber-war
Now excluded
Gen-AI media
Coverage stripped
Lit. funding
Disclosure demanded
Apr 2027
Effective

Market Exits — Trucking Under Pressure

OKCommercial Auto — TruckersSev 5

Shelter exits Oklahoma for-hire trucking — and cancels the federal filings with it

Shelter General discontinues its for-hire Trucking (Truckmen) program statewide, non-renewing roughly 1,328 motor carriers. The trap: it cancels the state and federal filings (BMC-91X) tied to each policy at expiration — a lapse can shut a fleet down at the DOT level. Private carriers hauling their own goods are unaffected. Move these accounts well before renewal.

1,328 policyholders · for-hire trucking · effective Aug 1 · ~$4,660/policy
CACommercial Auto — TruckersSev 5

Harco National block non-renews its entire California trucking book

Harco National (IAT) pulls its full California motor-carrier program and leaves commercial trucking in the state, citing an inability to reach adequate rates. Only 13 accounts, but a clean read on California trucking-market stress — and those insureds are shopping right now, by October.

13 policyholders · full CA trucking exit · effective Oct 1
CAWorkers CompSev 3

AF Group withdraws Williamsburg National from California comp

AF Group pulls Williamsburg National out of California workers' comp and re-underwrites those policies into sister companies — a fresh rate look for everyone moved. In the same action, ProCentury (a $52M book) goes MGU-only: agents without that contract lose access, and California ag risks shift into Star Insurance tiers.

25 policyholders (Williamsburg) · $52M ProCentury book · effective Aug 1

New Scoring & Telematics Models

AZWorkers CompSev 3

EMC scores Arizona small-business comp with a 6-tier predictive model

EMC's Small Business Initiative replaces flat pricing with a Generalized Linear Model — six tiers of deviation from NCCI rates. Newer businesses, those with a low clerical mix, and accounts with high actual-versus-expected claims get sorted into costlier tiers. The state itself questioned how EMC 'floors' clerical-class rates. Around one in five small accounts could see a tier shift at renewal.

— policyholder count not reported · effective Apr 1
COCommercial Auto — TruckersSev 4

MS&AD's trucking scorecard can triple premium on bad telematics

MS&AD's Financial American motor-carrier program adds a telematics Scorecard Factor that reaches a 3.0x multiplier for poor safety data, a 30% new-venture penalty for fleets under five years, and a new optional Basket Deductible that spans liability, physical damage and cargo in one occurrence. A 22% liability increase rides alongside.

— small book · +22% liability · effective Dec 1

Coverage Contraction

TXCMP / BusinessownersSev 4

SafePort caps contractor subs at 25% of sales — and excludes short-term rentals

SafePort's Texas BOP refile averages just 5.9%, but the rules do the work: contractors who subcontract more than 25% of gross sales become ineligible, short-term rentals (Airbnb/VRBO) join the ineligible-occupancy list, and mandatory cyber, assault-and-battery, aluminum-wiring, lead and asbestos exclusions attach to every policy. Individual accounts can still spike to 71%.

247 policyholders · avg 5.9%, max 71% · effective May 20 · ~$12,918/policy
COCommercial Auto — TruckersSev 5

IAT's Occidental raises Colorado motor-carrier rates 31.3% on ISO limit factors

IAT's Occidental Fire & Casualty adopts updated ISO increased-limit-factor circulars on its Colorado motor-carrier program, lifting rates an average 31.3% — up to 40% — with high-limit liability accounts hit hardest. The second IAT trucking signal in the region this cycle, after Harco's California exit. Higher limits, higher load.

31 policyholders · +31.3% avg, up to 40% · effective Jan 1

Also on the radar

The scoring wave on page 1 isn't isolated: State Farm's enhanced Customer Rating Index (OK and TX) and Progressive's telematics push in California are the same third-party-data trend reaching commercial auto. On coverage, Auto-Owners withdrew Builder's Risk from its Utah package book — flagged on page 2 — leaving mid-project contractors exposed. And the trucking pressure is broad: between Shelter (OK), Harco (CA) and the rate filings from DB Insurance, Hanover, Skyward and IAT, for-hire motor carriers across the Southwest are facing exits and double-digit increases at the same time.

How we screen, page 3. SERFF filings via Insurance Xdate, approved in May 2026, Southwest states, commercial lines, severity 3-5, filing effects MARKET_EXIT / SCORING_MODEL / TIERING_REVISION / UNDERWRITING_REVISION / COVERAGE_MODIFICATION. Because these effects mix with rate changes, each featured filing was pulled and verified for substance — rate-driven filings live on pages 1-2. The 1,000-policyholder floor is relaxed where the structural change is itself the story (a market exit or scoring model affects every account on the paper). 3 / 3