US P&C insurers suffer $4.1bn net underwriting loss in 2021
The US P&C industry produced a $4.1bn net underwriting loss in 2021 as increased expenses and losses outpaced premium gains, reports AM Best.
While net premiums written rose 9.2% to $691m for the group of insurers included in the ratings agency’s data, losses and loss adjustment expense increased 11.7% to $484m and underwriting expenses grew 5.4% to $182m, AM Best figures showed.
As first reported in our sister publication Business Insurance, the data contained in the report is from companies whose 2021 annual statutory statements were received as of 4 March. It accounts for an estimated 96% of total US P&C industry net premiums written and 94% of policyholder surplus, AM Best said.
The combined ratio for the group worsened to 99.6% in 2021 from 98.4% in 2020, the data showed. Net income rose 4.5% to $64m.
Net investment income was a bright spot for the group, increasing 8.5% to $56m. Policyholders surplus increased 7.6% to $896m.
Separately, the Reinsurance Association of America said reinsurers’ statutory underwriting results showed that a group of 17 US P&C reinsurers wrote $74.6bn of net premiums during 2021, up 14.6% from $65.1bn in 2020.
The reinsurers’ combined ratio improved to 99.8% in 2021 from 101.4%. Policyholders’ surplus was $289.6bn, an increase of 12.4% from $257.6bn in the prior quarter.
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