In 2006, U.S. property-casualty insurers did something that seemed next to impossible nearly a decade ago, collectively posting a combined ratio more than seven-and-a-half points under breakeven--or 92.4 overall. An NU analysis found that a combination of factors converged in 2006 to produce a combined ratio that experts say was the best since the 1930s.

A 92.4 combined ratio seemed well out of reach back in 1998, when experts were questioning the sustainability of a 1997 combined ratio that was nine points higher. In fact, it wasn't even on anyone's radar screen at the end of 2005, when analysts polled by the Insurance Information Institute predicted that the 2006 combined ratio would come in at 98.

Since posting a 101.6 combined ratio in 1997--back then touted as the best in two decades--the industry has had some good years, coming close to an underwriting profit in 2003 and posting a 98.6 combined ratio in 2004.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.