Income down 92% for US P&C insurers
US property and casualty (P&C) insurers have reported a 91.8% fall in net income for the nine months ending 30th September 2008.
Net income for the period was $4.1 billion, down from $49.6 billion in the same period last year.
Overall profitability in the industry dropped to 1.1% for the nine month period, compared to 13.1% in the first nine months of 2007.
Combined ratio worsened to 98.1%, compared to 90% for the same period last year.
The industry posted a $19.9 billion underwriting loss for the period, which excludes investment results. This is compared to an $18.4 billion underwriting gain in the first nine months of 2007.
The fall in income is a result of $9.7 billion realised investment losses, increased competition, declining commercial insurance rates, and a weakening US economy.
Catastrophe claims were responsible for an estimated $21.6 billion losses during the period, a consequence of hurricanes and other disasters.
Despite the drop in income, rates are not expected to rise dramatically next year.
Category: Financials, Insurance News
Visited 1785 times, 1 so far today
Comments (0)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
There are no comments yet. Why not be the first to speak your mind.