P&C insurers saw their first-half net income collectively jump by more than 245 percent in 2012 compared to the prior year, as the industry benefited from premium growth and a sharp drop in catastrophe losses—but experts have mixed opinions on those figures.

“While insurers' overall results for first-half 2012 are certainly much better than their results for first-half 2011, insurers' overall rate of return remains subpar compared with long-term historical norms—and insurers now need much better underwriting results just to be as profitable as they were in the past,” says Michael R. Murray, ISO's assistant vice president of financial analysis.

ISO, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) and the Insurance Information Institute released figures on the industry's first-half performance, finding that net income for the period was $16.4 billion compared to $4.8 billion a year ago. Net written premiums climbed 3.6 percent year-over-year to $226.7 billion in 2012's first half, while net underwriting losses eased from $24.1 billion in 2011 to $7 billion this year.