Chubb Ltd. expects to report $320 million in pretax catastrophe losses for the fourth quarter, the insurer announced late Wednesday.
Most of the losses stems from wildfires in California, which Chubb estimates will result in $280 million in pretax losses, a Chubb statement said.
The estimates are net of reinsurance and include losses from its commercial insurance, personal lines and reinsurance operations.
The fourth-quarter catastrophe losses cap a year of significant losses for Chubb and most other commercial property insurers operating in the United States. In the third-quarter, which included losses from devastating hurricanes in the United States and Caribbean, Chubb reported pretax catastrophe losses of $1.89 billion and an overall net loss of $70 million for the quarter.
Chubb Ltd. on Thursday reported a 2017 third-quarter loss of $70 million, compared with net income of $1.36 billion for third quarter 2016, as it became the latest insurer to be pushed to a quarterly loss by the unprecedented string of catastrophes in September and October.