Best’s Special Report: Nine-Month 2021 Results Show $6 Billion Underwriting Loss for U.S. Property/Casualty Insurance Industry

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Increased losses and expenses in the U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry during the first nine months of 2021 led to a $6.1 billion underwriting loss for the period, according to a new AM Best report.

This financial review is detailed in a new Best’s Special Report, “First Look: Nine-Month 2021 Property/Casualty Financial Results,” and the data is derived from companies’ nine-month 2021 interim statutory statements that were received as of Nov. 17, representing an estimated 97% of the total U.S. P/C industry’s net premiums written.

According to the report, the P/C industry recorded 8.2% growth in net earned premiums and saw a 53.4% decline in policyholder dividends, compared with the nine-month period of 2020; however, it was offset by a 12.1% increase in incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses (LAE) and a 5.9% increase in underwriting expenses. Despite a 7.8% increase in net investment income and an additional $1.4 billion in other income, the net underwriting loss reduced pre-tax operating income by 5.6% for the nine-month period. A $9.7 billion increase in realized capital gains contributed to industry net income increasing by 21.0% to $42.4 billion from the same prior-year period.

The combined ratio for the industry weakened from the prior-year period to 99.5. AM Best estimates that catastrophe losses accounted for 8.2 percentage points on the nine-month 2021 combined ratio, down from an estimated 8.4 points in the first three quarters of 2020.

To access the full copy of this special report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=314937.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.