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

Heavy trucks took the hit in March — and the biggest NJ auto book in the region moved.

Approved in March 2026: rate-increase filings touching 1,000+ Northeast policyholders across workers comp and commercial auto. Bodily-injury liability and heavy-truck classes drove the increases, while two bureau-driven workers-comp waves hit Pennsylvania education and religious risks. Here's what your clients are about to feel.

Industries in this issue's filings

Trucking & Transportation
in 4 of 5 filings
Construction & Contractors
in 3 of 5 filings
Education & Religious
in 2 of 5 filings
Auto Dealers & Repair
in 2 of 5 filings

Lead Filing

NJCommercial AutoSeverity 4/5

Progressive's NJ book — 32,502 policyholders — takes heavy trucks up 19.5%

Approved March 18, effective January 1. Progressive's Drive NJ company re-prices the region's largest commercial-auto book this cycle: 32,502 policyholders, $307.5M in premium, an 11.1% overall increase with heavy and extra-heavy trucks at +19.5% and towing Onhook coverage +14.2%.

The structural sting is the experience-rating change: Progressive more than doubles the single-loss cap from $100,000 to $250,000, so one large accident now hurts a fleet's premium 2.5x harder than before. Minimum BI limits also rise to 35/70 per state mandate.

+19.5%
Heavy trucks
+11.1%
Overall
32,502
Policyholders
$307.5M
Premium

Also Approved This Cycle

MACommercial AutoSev 3

Arbella raises MA fleet liability ~15% — and holds collision flat

Across a 9,761-policyholder, $93.7M book, Arbella lifts Bodily Injury liability for fleet accounts ~15% while keeping physical damage flat, citing an 8% annual liability loss trend. The split is the point: a renewal that looks stable on collision can still jump on the liability line.

9,761 policyholders · $93.7M premium · effective May 1
CTCommercial AutoSev 4

Travelers hits CT contractors with +25%

Travelers raises Connecticut commercial auto ~15% on average, but contractor and service 'Group E' risks take a full 25%, and St. Paul Guardian policyholders average 24.7%. The carrier cites a 21.2% indicated need on its newer TCAP product and adds a composite rating rule for 10+ vehicle fleets. Effective August 1.

788 policyholders · $7.2M premium · effective Aug 1
PAWorkers CompSev 4

Church Mutual raises PA school and church comp ~15%

Two CM Regent / Church Mutual filings lift Pennsylvania workers-comp for education and religious risks: schools and intermediate units up to 24.7%, religious classes +14.5%. The 'All Other' loss-cost multiplier moves from 1.825 to 2.153, and the deductible-discount credit shrinks — a double squeeze on non-profits.

1,669 policyholders · $9.6M premium · effective Apr 1
MACommercial AutoSev 4

Preferred Mutual lifts MA physical damage ~25%, caps renewals at 30%

Preferred Mutual raises Massachusetts commercial-auto physical damage ~25%, adds a mandatory cyber/data-privacy exclusion and a formal named-driver exclusion, and caps renewals at 30% for three years. As always, a three-year transition cap is the tell that the true need runs higher. Effective October 1.

1,849 policyholders · $3.2M premium · effective Oct 1

Why workers comp shows up twice

Pennsylvania's April PCRB loss-cost cycle landed this month, and the niche carriers serving schools and churches passed it through with above-average increases — Church Mutual's two filings both target education and religious class codes. Most other Northeast comp filings adopting bureau loss costs were flat to favorable. The non-profit exception is the story worth raising with those clients.

NortheastThis week
Southeast
Midwest / NW
Southwest
How we screen. SERFF filings via Xdates, disposed March 2026, unfavorable policyholder impact, high-to-critical severity, rate-increase effect, Workers Comp (16.0) and Commercial Auto (20.0), 1,000+ policyholders (severity-3 included with reach). Figures are filing-level SERFF snapshots; individual impacts vary. Not placement advice. 1 / 3
Insurance Xdate
FILING WATCH
Northeast Edition · March 2026
Page 2 — The Wider Market: All Other Lines
Beyond WC & Auto

Property carriers started taking control of your limits — and your liability scope.

Same screen, every other commercial line approved in March. The theme is control: carriers reserving the right to reset building limits at renewal, capping discretionary credits, and pruning coverage scope — changes that outlast any single year's rate number.

Industries in this issue's filings

Real Estate & Property Managers
+30% managed RE
Contractors & Snow Removal
+35% snow ops
Hospitality & Golf
+25-30%
Restaurants & Retail
broadly affected

Lead Filing

OHCommercial PackageSeverity 4/5

Auto-Owners re-prices a 24,682-policy Ohio book — and can reset your limits

Approved March 30, effective April 10. Auto-Owners re-rates a 24,682-policyholder, $107.4M Ohio commercial-package book, with managed real estate +30%, real-estate development +40%, and snow-and-ice-removal contractors +35%. Golf courses, hotels and mobile-home parks all take 25–30%.

The structural change is bigger than the rate: a new Adjusted Value Provision lets Auto-Owners reset your building limits at renewal using its own replacement-cost estimates, the minimum deductible rises from $100 to $250, and experience-rating discounts are being cut companywide. A new data-privacy exclusion narrows scope on top.

+30%
Managed RE
+35%
Snow removal
24,682
Policyholders
$107.4M
Premium

Two Filings Worth a Closer Look

PAGeneral LiabilitySev 3

Liberty Mutual takes 10% on PA GL — snowplow base rate +45%

Across an 8,867-policyholder, $21.9M book, Liberty Mutual raises Pennsylvania general liability 10% and lifts the snowplow manual rate ~45% (from $19.14 to $27.77 per $1,000 of receipts) against a 282.6% indicated need. Philadelphia-territory and hospitality risks feel it most. Effective July 1.

8,867 policyholders · $21.9M premium · effective Jul 1
NJCommercial PackageSev 3

Travelers re-tiers NJ packages: day spas +40%, laundromats +25%

Across an 8,251-policy NJ book, Travelers reallocates class factors — personal-care day spas +40%, laundromats +25%, med spas +10% — while crediting professional and financial services 25% to win that business. A +/-30% stabilization cap softens year one. Effective March 15.

8,251 policyholders · $86.3M premium · effective Mar 15

The Rest of the Qualifying List

StateCarrierLine / Sub-typeSeverityPolicyholdersEffective
MAVariousCMP — Commercial Package3 / 56,009Nov 1, 2026
MAVariousOther Liability — GL4 / 56,050Jun 15, 2026
NJStandard Fire (Travelers)CMP — Commercial Package3 / 58,251Mar 15, 2026

Also on the radar

A wave of severity-3 and -4 general-liability increases just clears or just misses our bar with serious reach: 8,867 PA policyholders (Liberty Mutual, Jul 1) and 6,050 MA policyholders (Jun 15). And the State Farm PA umbrella rebuild approved April 12 — a 58% indicated need behind a small visible move — is the early signal that excess-liability pricing in Pennsylvania is the next pressure point.

How we screen, page 2. Same filters as page 1 — disposed March 2026, unfavorable impact, severity 4–5 (severity 3 with reach), rate-increase effect, 1,000+ policyholders — applied to every commercial line except Workers Comp and Commercial Auto. Personal and niche/noise lines excluded. Figures are filing-level SERFF snapshots; individual impacts vary. Not placement advice. 2 / 3
Insurance Xdate
FILING WATCH
Northeast Edition · March 2026
Page 3 — Filing Effects: Guidelines, Coverage & Scoring
Beyond the Rate Number

Carriers stopped asking and started deciding — building limits, driver rosters, coverage scope.

Same region, the structural changes the rate number hides: scoring models, underwriting revisions and coverage cuts approved in March. The pattern this month is carriers taking unilateral control — resetting limits, excluding emerging exposures, and shifting risk onto the insured.

Industries in this page's filings

Real Estate & Property Managers
limit control
Emergency & Medical Transport
coverage gaps
Trucking & Transportation
scoring + tiering
Restaurants & Roofing
exclusions

Lead Filing · Structural Signal

OHCommercial PackageSeverity 4/5

Auto-Owners reserves the right to reset your building limits — without asking

Approved March 30, effective April 10. Beyond its 30%+ rate increases (page 2), Auto-Owners' Ohio package filing introduces an Adjusted Value Provision (AOUDC832) that lets the carrier unilaterally adjust building limits at renewal using its own replacement-cost estimates or index factors.

It also raises the minimum property deductible from $100 to $250, adds a broad data-privacy and confidential-information exclusion, and cuts experience-rating discounts companywide. Owners lose control of their own limits and their safety credits in one filing — across 24,682 policyholders.

Auto-adjust
Building limits
Data privacy
New exclusion
$100→$250
Min deductible
24,682
Policyholders

New Scoring Models — The Trend Is Real

NJCommercial AutoSev 4

Progressive doubles the single-loss cap that defines your experience mod

On its 32,502-policy NJ book, Progressive more than doubles the experience-rating loss cap from $100,000 to $250,000 — so a single large accident now moves a fleet's premium 2.5x more than before. Refined pricing factors also re-weight driver age, violations and claims. The rating engine, not just the rate, changed.

32,502 policyholders · $307.5M premium · approved Mar 18
CTCommercial AutoSev 4

Travelers launches composite rating built on Mississippi proxy data

Travelers' CT commercial-auto filing adds a Composite Rating Plan for 10+ vehicle fleets and sets its new TCAP product's rates using legacy Mississippi loss patterns as a Connecticut proxy — a 21.2% indicated need behind the 25% contractor hikes. Out-of-state data is quietly shaping in-state price.

788 policyholders · $7.2M premium · approved Mar 9
MACommercial AutoSev 4

Preferred Mutual adds a named-driver exclusion to a 25% PD hike

Preferred Mutual's MA filing pairs a ~25% physical-damage increase with a formal Named Driver Exclusion and a mandatory cyber/data-privacy exclusion, all on a new Guidewire platform. The 30% three-year renewal cap confirms the underlying need outpaces what's visible today.

1,849 policyholders · $3.2M premium · approved Mar 2

Underwriting Guideline Changes

NJCommercial Auto — EmergencySev 4

AIG opens a coverage gap for ambulances mid-policy

AIG's National Union NJ filing raises ambulance rates 56.3% and fire-department rates 29.8% — but the structural risk is a new exclusion for liability while loading or unloading persons, pushing that exposure to professional liability. If an operator's malpractice cover isn't perfectly synced, patient-handling claims fall into the gap.

378 policyholders · $15.6M premium · effective Jul 1
PAWorkers CompSev 4

Church Mutual trims the deductible credit while raising rates

Beyond the 14.5% class-code increases, Church Mutual cuts the deductible-discount factor (.685 to .668) on PA workers-comp — so insureds choosing a deductible get less credit for it, raising net cost even where base rates held. A quiet erosion stacked on a visible hike for schools and ministries.

1,269 policyholders · $4.9M premium · effective Apr 1

Coverage Contraction

OHCommercial PackageSev 4

Auto-Owners adds a data-privacy exclusion and cuts safety credits

The Ohio package filing layers a broad Data Privacy and confidential-information exclusion onto every policy and reduces experience-rating discounts companywide — so even claim-free risks pay more. Paired with the auto-adjusting building-limit provision, it's a coordinated shift of risk and cost onto the insured.

24,682 policyholders · $107.4M premium · approved Mar 30
MACommercial AutoSev 4

Preferred Mutual excludes cyber and data privacy from auto

Preferred Mutual adds a mandatory Cyber Incident and Data Privacy Exclusion (PCA 35 51) to all Massachusetts commercial-auto policies — closing a quiet avenue of coverage many insureds assumed was there. Fleets relying on the auto form for any data-related exposure now have a defined gap.

1,849 policyholders · $3.2M premium · approved Mar 2
PAGeneral LiabilitySev 3

Liberty Mutual re-prices snowplow risk by 45% at the manual

Liberty Mutual's PA GL filing lifts the snowplow class (00812) manual rate ~45% on a 282.6% indicated need — a near-repricing of an entire class. Snow-and-ice operators face a step-change in cost, and the Philadelphia territory and hospitality sublines see the broader 10% book increase. Effective July 1.

8,867 policyholders · $21.9M premium · approved Mar 31

Also on the radar

The control theme echoed across the region: a State Farm Massachusetts package filing (effective Jan 2027) introduced a proprietary rating index plus crypto and PFAS exclusions, and State Farm's PA umbrella rebuild (a 58% indicated need) raised per-layer minimums. On the auto side, credit-and-tier scoring kept spreading. The renewal lesson for March: read the endorsements, not just the rate page — limits, driver rosters and emerging-risk scope are all in motion.

How we screen, page 3. SERFF filings via Xdates, disposed March 2026, Northeast states, all commercial lines, severity 3–5, filing effects SCORING_MODEL / TIERING_REVISION / UNDERWRITING_REVISION / COVERAGE_MODIFICATION / MARKET_EXIT. Because these effects mingle with rate changes, each featured filing was pulled and verified for substance; rate-driven filings live on pages 1–2. Policyholder threshold relaxed where the structural change is itself the story. Not placement advice. 3 / 3