US insurers to suffer $6.1bn nine-month underwriting loss

US insurers suffered a $6.1 billion underwriting loss in the property and casualty business in the first nine months of 2021 following increased losses and expense, the industry rating agency AM Best said in a report.

Net earned premiums rose 8.2 percent on the prior year period.

But, incurred losses and loss adjustments rose 12.1 percent and underwriting expenses rose 5.9 percent, AM Best wrote in its summary to the study.

That left the industry with a combined ratio at 99.5 percent.

Catastrophe losses likely accounted for 8.2 percentage points on the nine-month 2021 combined ratio, down from an estimated 8.4 points in the first three quarters of 2020, according to estimates from the agency.

Despite the underwriting loss, net profits rose a heady 21.0 percent thanks chiefly to a $9.7 billion increase in realized capital gains, but also including a 7.8 percent rise in net investment income.

AM Best built its figures on interim financial statements from leading US insurers which the agency claimed represent 97 percent of the US P&C industry's net premiums written.