U.S. reinsurer premiums up in 2014 first quarter: RAA

Net premiums written rose in the first quarter of 2014 among a group of 18 U.S. property/casualty reinsurers surveyed by the Reinsurance Association of America, the group said Thursday.

Net premiums jumped to $19.10 billion for the three months ending March 31 compared with $6.9 billion during the same period in 2013. The dramatic increase was largely due to a loss portfolio transfer and quota-share agreement reported by one of the survey respondents, the RAA said in a statement.

National Indemnity Co. showed the massive increase in net premium, to $14.03 billion from $1.74 billion in the year-ago period. These results include loss portfolio and quota-share agreements with affiliated GIECO companies, all effective Jan. 1, according to the RAA survey.

The aggregate combined ratio for the group of 18 reinsurers rose to 93.9% for the quarter compared with 78.9% in the year-ago period.