Personal lines, investment income drive US P&C underwriting gains

The US property/casualty (P&C) industry recorded a $3.8 billion net underwriting gain in the first half of 2024, a significant improvement from the $24.0 billion loss recorded in the same prior-year period, according to a AM Best report published September 16.

“The P/C industry’s combined ratio improved to 97.7 in 1H2024.”

These preliminary results are detailed in a new Best’s Special Report, titled “First Look: Six-Month 2024 US Property/Casualty Financial Results”, and the data is derived from companies whose six-month 2024 interim period statutory statements were received as of September 4, 2024, accounting for an estimated 99 percent of total industry net premiums written.

According to the report, the P/C industry’s combined ratio improved to 97.7 in first-half 2024 from 104.4 in the same period of 2023. AM Best estimates that catastrophe losses accounted for 7.4 points on the six-month 2024 combined ratio, down from an estimated 9.7 points in the previous year, which had been impacted by record losses due to severe convective storm losses.

The underwriting gain, due predominantly to improvements in personal lines results, along with a 26.6 percent increase in earned net investment income, drove pre-tax operating income up to $47.3 billion, compared with $10.0 billion in 1H2023. A $50 billion change in net realised capital gains at National Indemnity Company resulted in the industry’s net income skyrocketing to $97.6 billion in the first half of this year from $9.4 billion last year.

For more news from the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) click here.

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