Private US P&C insurance industry sees net income drop 26%

Written by Adam Cadle

29/10/2020

Net income for the private US property & casualty (P&C) insurance industry dropped 26% in the first half of 2020, as the effects of COVID-19 began to hurt insurer underwriting results and investment gains, according to data analytics provider Verisk and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA).

Net income after taxes fell to $24.3bn in first-half 2020 from $32.8bn in first-half 2019. Contributing to that drop was $1.4bn in realised capital losses on investment in first-half 2020, a swing from $4.3bn in realised capital gains a year earlier.

Insurers’ net income after taxes fell to $6.4bn in Q2 2020 from $14.9bn in Q2 2019, and their combined ratio deteriorated to 100.2% in second-quarter 2019 from 98.9% a year earlier.

Net written premiums fell $0.7bn, or 0.4%, to $159.7bn in second-quarter 2020 from $160.3bn in second-quarter 2019.

Insurers’ net investment income decreased to $25.5bn in H1 2020 from $26.9bn
a year earlier, while $1.4bn in realised capital losses in first-half 2020 represent a $5.7bn deterioration from $4.3bn a year earlier, resulting in $24.1bn in net investment gains for first-half 2020, down $7.1bn from $31.2bn for H1 2019.

Related Articles