Reinsurers report lower premiums in first quarter: RAA

Net premiums written for a group of 17 U.S. property/casualty reinsurers dropped to $13.67 billion during the three months ended March 31 compared with $15.37 billion for the same period in 2018, the Reinsurance Association of America said Thursday.

The net underwriting gain for the period was $541.2 million, compared with a loss of $10.96 million from the same period last year, the Washington-based RAA said in a statement.

The combined ratio for the group deteriorated to 94.9% from 93.0% for the same period in 2018 as the group saw a higher loss ratio of 70.8% vs. 67.6% for the year-ago period and an expense ratio of 24.1% vs. 25.5%.

Policyholders’ surplus was $171.78 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2019 compared with $160.11 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, the RAA said.