Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

U.S. property/casualty combined ratio expected to hover at 102%

Reprints

NEW YORK—The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry is expected to report a 102.6% combined ratio for 2010 and a 102.2% combined ratio for this year, as the benefit of reserve releases tapers off, said rating agency Standard & Poor’s Corp. in a report issued Thursday.

At a CEO panel last month, Anthony J. Kuczinski, president and CEO of Munich Reinsurance America Inc. in Princeton, N.J., said insurers’ release of prior-year reserves can create a deceptive picture of performance, with calendar-year results that may be very different from underwriting results .

The report by the New York-based rating agency also predicts that rates for most commercial lines generally will remain flat or decrease by up to 5% until the economic recovery gains momentum or a large loss event acts as a catalyst for significant rate increases.

“Absent a large loss event, we believe that a material improvement in pricing will likely not occur until at least mid-2011,” the report says.

The report, “The Data Suggest That U.S. Property/Casualty Market Conditions Should Stay Tough Until at Least 2011,” is available to RatingsDirect subscribers on the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com. Nonsubscribers may purchase a copy of the report for $500 by calling 212-438-7280 or by sending an e-mail to research_request@standardandpoors.com.

Read Next