03/12/2024
An update from my friend Steven Johnson on the state of insurance:
"U.S. P/C Industry Underwriting Loss Reaches 10-Year High: AM Best
https://www.carriermanagement.com/news/2024/03/07/259633.htm
Summary statistics from the Article (listing all US P&C interests):
• 2023 resulted in $38B (Billion) in Underwriting Losses.
• 2023 experienced about $65B in Cat Losses almost doubling the average annual figure.
In 2023, 28 individual Cat Loss events each exceed $1B on their own.
• 2023 saw Net Written Premiums grow 11.8%.
• The 2023 overall Combine Ratio for the Industry grew to 103.7%, up from 103.1% in 2022.
(This means carriers paid out $1.04 for every dollar of premium they received in 2023.)
I suspect if these numbers focused on California only, they’d be even more negative. So far, in 2024, weather events have been less extreme than they were at this time in 2023.
If the weather holds, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for California in 2024. Nonetheless, I believe the Property Market will continue to be constricted."
AM Best published its annual tally of the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry’s financial results yesterday, reporting that $38 billion of underwriting losses for 2023 was a 10-year high for the sector. Severe weather-related losses, stubborn inflation and upward reinsurance pricing fueled t...
