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

Commercial auto didn't surge in the Southeast this month — it fragmented. The increases that cleared hit specific classes hard, not the whole book.

Very few auto or workers-comp filings cleared our strict impact bar in June, and the ones that did aren't broad fleet hikes. They're surgical: public-transit new business, non-owned liability, auto dealers, contractors, one long-haul trucking program. Workers comp stayed quiet — loss costs are drifting down and the big approved WC actions were multiplier cuts and dividends. Here's where the auto pressure actually landed.

Industries in this issue's filings

Buses, Limos & Public Transit
Grange new business +256%
Auto Dealers & Service
in 3 of 5 filings
Truck Fleets & Freight
long-haul + fleets
Specialty Trades
contractor re-tiering

Lead Filing

TNCommercial AutoSeverity 4/5

Grange takes 12.9% on Tennessee auto — but public-transit new business jumps 256%

Approved June 23, effective October 1. Grange lifts its Tennessee commercial-auto book about 12.9% overall against a 15.5% indication — but the average hides the real move. New-business public auto (buses, taxis, limos and van pools) sees liability rise up to 256%, with new-business bodily-injury and property-damage as high as 283.7%. Trucks, tractors and trailers rise about 9.3%. New telematics-participation and ADAS discounts and a NAICS-based renewal cap soften the edges for existing accounts.

Who feels it: anyone writing new public-transit or livery risk on Grange paper is effectively priced out, and existing fleets carry a steady single-digit lift. Move now: if you have a bus, limo or van-pool account shopping, Grange is not the market this cycle — and the telematics 'discount' that needs no driving data is a signal their standard rates are getting uncompetitive.

+12.9%
Overall
+256%
Public auto (new)
809
Policyholders
$13.2M
Premium
$16,292
Avg prem/policy

Also Approved This Cycle

GACommercial AutoSev 4

Federated re-tiers Georgia auto dealers and contractors — up to 171%, priced by CarFax

Federated averages about 8% across its Georgia commercial-auto and auto-dealer book but allows individual increases up to 171%. It retires the Accident Experience Rating Plan, adds a tier model built on LexisNexis and CarFax data, and raises Non-Owned Auto Service Liability 250%. Tire dealers that do retreading and masonry, concrete and drywall contractors get split into pricier class buckets. A companion Federated Reserve filing runs the same model.

732 policyholders · $18.3M premium · effective Nov 1 · ~$24,946/policy
TNCommercial AutoSev 3

Selective doubles non-owned auto costs for Tennessee employers

Selective's Tennessee auto book (2,182 policyholders, $28.5M) rises about 7.4% on average, but the real change is removing its proprietary exception to ISO Rule 289. For employers whose staff drive their own cars for work, non-ownership liability premium can double. Funeral directors, auto-service operations and ambulance services take the sharpest hits. If a client runs a large-headcount, low-fleet operation, check the non-owned line before renewal.

2,182 policyholders · $28.5M premium · effective Oct 1 · ~$13,058/policy
KYCommercial Auto — TruckersSev 4

A Kentucky long-haul trucking program corrects 37% — on borrowed data

A small Kentucky for-hire trucking program (MS Transverse, on Financial American paper) takes roughly 37% average. Unlimited-radius bodily-injury base rates jump from $2,919 to $4,151 and collision from $1,726 to $2,163. With only two years of its own data, the carrier is benchmarking straight to higher-priced specialists like Canal and HDVI — a small book absorbing a big catch-up, and a preview of where thinly-capitalized trucking programs are heading.

n/d count not reported · ~$42.6K book · effective Jul 1
KYCommercial Auto — Public EntitySev 4

Kentucky's cities lose their rate cap — auto +4.4%, property +15%

The Kentucky League of Cities self-insurance pool ($36.6M) lifts auto physical damage 4.4% despite a 0.3% indication, raises property schedules about 15% on new appraisals, and declines a 12% actuarially-indicated sewer-liability decrease in favor of 'rate stability.' The real story is that its Rate Stabilization Program — the cap that protected members from big swings — stays suspended. Cities, utilities and public entities face uncapped 2026 renewals.

n/d count not reported · $36.6M pool · effective Jul 8

Why so few WC and auto stories — and why are they so scattered?

Because the month was genuinely quiet at the top of the funnel. Only two Southeast filings cleared our strict bar (approved in June, unfavorable, severity 4+, 1,000+ policyholders) — both Kentucky whole-program auto filings with unreported counts. Workers comp produced no qualifying rate increase at all; the large approved WC actions were loss-cost-multiplier cuts, dividend plans and schedule-rating programs, not hikes. So rather than pad the page, we surfaced the cycle's most impactful commercial-auto rate actions — some just under the 1,000-count line or at severity 3 — and told you where they bite. The through-line: carriers are re-pricing specific classes (public transit, non-owned, dealers, contractors) and adopting the new ISO commercial-auto loss costs, not raising the whole book.

Northeast
SoutheastThis week
Midwest / NW
Southwest
Insurance Xdate
FILING WATCH
Southeast Edition · June 2026
Page 2 — The Wider Market: All Other Lines
Beyond WC & Auto

This is where June's rate pressure actually lived: package, businessowners and general-liability carriers re-pricing Main Street — and the new ISO loss costs are the engine.

Twelve wider-market increases cleared our screen, and a pattern runs through them: carriers adopting the 2025 ISO general-liability loss costs, then adding their own class-level surcharges on top. The gap between what they took and what they said they need is wide — several are phasing increases against 30-to-67% indicated shortfalls — so June's number is rarely the last one your client will see.

Industries in this issue's filings

Real Estate & Habitational
apartments in 4 filings
Retail & Main Street
in 4 of 12 filings
Restaurants & Hospitality
hotels + food service
Contractors & Specialty Trades
GL profitability fix

Lead Filing

NCCMP — Commercial PackageSeverity 4/5

Erie re-prices abuse coverage for 44,327 North Carolina accounts — hotels +78%, apartments +70%

Approved June 30, effective January 1, 2027. The region's largest wider-market filing by headcount: Erie rebuilds Abuse & Sexual Molestation pricing across its 44,327-policyholder North Carolina package book ($142M), moving from flat fees to exposure-based rating. Hotels see molestation-coverage costs up roughly 78%, apartments about 70%, and day cares 25%. Quietly, in the same filing, cyber-extortion, social-engineering and computer-fraud sublimits get cut from $25,000 to $10,000.

Who feels it: habitational, hotel, religious, day-care, school and school-bus-contractor accounts — anyone with people-contact exposure and a small-business cyber sublimit. Move now: the ASM increases are hard to avoid, but the cyber cut is the quiet one — flag clients who were counting on that $25,000 of extortion or fraud protection, because it's about to be $10,000.

+78%
Hotel ASM
+70%
Apartment ASM
44,327
Policyholders
$142M
Premium
$3,203
Avg prem/policy

Three Filings Worth a Closer Look

TNGeneral LiabilitySev 5

Selective's Tennessee GL jumps 67% — and doubles the payroll base for owners

The region's only severity-5 rate increase this cycle. Selective adopts the 2025 ISO GL loss costs and cites a profitability shortfall, driving an average 67.3% increase for policyholders in its Southeast company. It also doubles the payroll rating base for executive officers and partners from $6,650 to $13,300 — a hidden hike — and raises abuse & molestation rates 14%. Contracting, installation and service/repair classes are squarely in scope.

4,793 policyholders · $19.8M premium · effective Oct 1 · ~$4,137/policy
GACMP / PackageSev 4

State Farm raises Georgia apartments 27.7% — and starts counting storm claims against you

State Farm re-prices its 35,151-policyholder Georgia package book ($113.5M) after a 168.7% apartment combined ratio: apartments average +27.7%, retail and office 'business risk' +15%, with individual renewals allowed as high as 58.9%. The structural sting: catastrophe claims will now count in claims-history and experience rating for the first time — so a storm-damaged account can watch its own losses drive future pricing.

35,151 policyholders · $113.5M premium · effective Aug 15 · ~$3,229/policy
GACMP / PackageSev 4

Travelers squeezes Georgia Main Street — salons +22.6%, restaurants +16.3%

Travelers reworks base rates and class factors across its 7,200-policyholder Georgia package book ($63.2M), with a 7.2% loss trend and a 1.291 catastrophe multiplier baked in. Personal-care businesses like salons and day spas take about 22.6%, restaurants 16.3%, retailers 15% and apartments 13.8%. It's a broad Main-Street re-rate, not a single-class fix — most package accounts on Travelers paper will feel some version of it.

7,200 policyholders · $63.2M premium · effective Oct 11 · ~$8,774/policy

The Rest of the Qualifying List

StateCarrierLine / Sub-typeSeverityPolicyholdersEffective
GAThe Hanover GroupGeneral Liability — ISO loss costs4 / 53,765Jan 1, 2027
GAHiscoxBusinessowners — roof ACV / coastal4 / 52,882Oct 19, 2026
VAState Farm Fire & CasualtyCMP — business-risk segment3 / 525,570Jul 15, 2026
SCISO / Verisk (advisory)General Liability — GL loss costs4 / 5n/dApr 1, 2027

Also on the radar

Two market-wide advisory loss-cost filings reset the floor every adopting carrier builds on: a Virginia businessowners revision benchmarking 219,372 policyholders' worth of exposure lifts retail liability about +30.1% and lessor liability +16.7% (Touchstone 11.0 hurricane modeling), while a South Carolina GL revision raises Owners/Landlords/Tenants +19.8% and National Products +21%. Watch for these to surface in carrier filings all year. And personal lines sit outside our commercial screen, but the reach is loud: personal-umbrella rate increases cleared across the region — 10,590 policyholders in TN (approved Jun 18), plus 5,503 in AR and 1,590 more in TN. High-net-worth clients with umbrella coverage are re-shopping.

Insurance Xdate
FILING WATCH
Southeast Edition · June 2026
Page 3 — Filing Effects: Guidelines, Coverage & Scoring
Beyond the Rate Number

The real Southeast story in June wasn't a rate — it was carriers walking away. Towing, auto repair, amusement and owner-operator programs all got exit notices.

Same region, the moves a rate percentage won't show you: approved June actions whose substance is a market exit, a new scoring algorithm or a coverage cut. Two themes dominate — specialty auto programs shutting down across multiple states at once, and third-party data (CarFax, cyber scans, catastrophe claims) quietly rewriting how you're priced.

Industries in this page's filings

Towing & Recovery
AmGUARD exits 4 states
Truck Fleets & Freight
EV bans + motor-carrier hikes
Auto Repair & Service
Argo program pulled
Arts, Sports & Recreation
amusement + wellness

Lead Filing · Market-Wide Signal

NC / GA / SC / MSCommercial Auto — TowingSeverity 5/5

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD exits the KBK towing program across four Southeast states at once

Approved June 11-30 across Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, with first non-renewals October 28, 2026 and full runoff by October 2027. AmGUARD (Berkshire Hathaway GUARD) is discontinuing its KBK Towing program nationwide and mandatorily non-renewing every policy in it. Georgia alone has about 323 towing operators ($11.1M premium) and South Carolina 81 ($3.2M); the North Carolina and Mississippi books weren't counted but move on the same clock. The trigger isn't loss experience — the program administrator (Novacore dba KBK) voluntarily moved the book to an unaffiliated carrier.

Who feels it: for-hire towing and recovery operators across the Southeast, losing coverage on the same timeline. Move now: 'the book is moving to a new carrier' is not the same as 'your policy renews.' When an administrator switches paper, appetite, pricing and deductibles can all change — treat every one of these accounts as a full re-shop, not a rollover, and start before the October wave hits.

4 states
SE exits at once
~400+
Known operators
Oct 28
First non-renewals
Nationwide
Segment exit

Carriers Heading for the Exits

VACommercial AutoSev 5

Argo pulls its Choice Auto Repair program out of Virginia

Argo Group withdraws its Choice Auto Repair commercial-auto program from Virginia entirely — all rates, rules and forms — because the program is discontinued and no longer used. Auto-repair and service shops on that paper lose their primary commercial-auto carrier and have to re-place. It's a quieter exit than the towing wave, but the same message: specialty auto programs are the first thing carriers cut.

n/d count not reported · effective Jun 1
SCWorkers CompSev 5

AXA XL exits amusement and entertainment workers comp

AXA XL's T.H.E. Insurance withdraws its Amusement & Entertainment workers-comp program from South Carolina, pulling all rates and forms as it leaves the segment. In-force policies were moved elsewhere within AXA XL or to other carriers. Amusement parks, entertainment venues and recreation operators lose a specialty comp market — a reminder that the exits aren't only on the auto side.

0 in-force (transferred) · effective Jun 15
TNCommercial Auto — TruckersSev 3

Intact drops its owner-operator non-trucking program — and adds a driver blacklist

Intact/Atlantic Specialty withdraws its dedicated Non-Trucking Liability and Physical Damage rule set for leased-on owner-operators in Tennessee, then layers on a new five-tier score that penalizes newer businesses (~70% point swing), young or elderly drivers, dense territories and higher claim frequency. A new Named Driver Exclusion lets it exclude drivers with 'undesirable' records — as little as three minor violations in three years.

n/d count not reported · effective Nov 1

New Scoring & Data Models

TNCyber LiabilitySev 4

Travelers scores your cyber hygiene with an outside scan you can't see

Travelers adds a Technical Security Factor to its Tennessee cyber program that reads third-party external cybersecurity-scan data to grade a business's 'cyber hygiene.' A weak scan can raise a renewal before revenue is even considered. It also pushes business-interruption limit factors up, adds a 10% systemic-cyber catastrophe load for cloud-provider failures, and rebuilds industry classes from 26 to 51 — though firms under $1M revenue get 25-50% base cuts.

403 policyholders · $5.7M premium · effective Nov 1 · ~$14,255/policy
GACommercial AutoSev 4

Federated prices your fleet on CarFax history, not just your record

The Georgia auto re-tiering on page 1 is also a scoring story: Federated's new tier model reads CarFax damage counts, LexisNexis data and vehicle age to set commercial-auto rates, so an old fender-bender or an aging fleet can trigger a double-digit bump before your driving record is weighed. Non-owned auto-service liability rises 250% and contractor and tire-dealer classes are re-bucketed. A companion Federated Reserve filing runs the same algorithm.

732 policyholders · also on page 1 · effective Nov 1 · ~$24,946/policy
GACMP / PackageSev 4

State Farm now counts catastrophe claims against your rating

The State Farm Georgia package filing on page 2 carries a structural change worth isolating: catastrophe claims — storms, hail, wind — now count in claims-history and commercial-experience rating for the first time. A clean-operating account that takes a weather hit can see that loss follow it into future pricing. Paired with revised age-of-building factors, older habitational and business-risk accounts are most exposed.

35,151 policyholders · also on page 2 · effective Aug 15 · ~$3,229/policy

Coverage Contraction

VACommercial Auto — TruckersSev 4

Great American won't cover an electric or hybrid truck at all

Great American adds a mandatory exclusion stripping all zero-emission and hybrid trucks — including plug-in hybrids — from non-trucking liability and physical damage in Virginia. Any loss involving those vehicles is denied. The stated reason: the carrier has no rates in its system to price them. An owner-operator who adds an electric rig mid-term may be running bare without knowing it — audit any fleet mixing in green units before renewal.

n/d count not reported · effective Aug 29
MSGeneral LiabilitySev 5

Great American takes over a sports book, hikes it 52%, and halves the medical limit

After assuming a materially underpriced sports-and-wellness liability book from MGA Vantapro (132.1% indicated need), Great American takes about 52% average and cuts the medical-expense limit from $25,000 to $10,000 — raising the price while shrinking the payout. New flat surcharges land on saunas, cryotherapy units and pitching machines, and per-participant youth-sports rates rise more than 65%. Gyms, wellness centers and youth leagues feel it December 1.

n/d $149K book · effective Dec 1

Also on the radar

The motor-carrier market kept tightening beyond the exits: IAT's Occidental adopted the ISO Motor Carrier program in North Carolina for a +25.7% average trucking increase (up to 31%), with non-zone liability multipliers climbing from 1.30 toward 1.60. And the scoring wave is broad, not isolated — Grange's telematics-participation discount (page 1), Hiscox's actual-cash-value roof rule and Erie's cyber sublimit cut (page 2) all point the same direction: third-party data and fine-print limits are doing the work rate tables used to. When a carrier's real change is in the endorsement, the quoted rate stops telling the whole story.