E&S/Specialty

Despite a 67 percent drop in net income in 2008, excess and surplus lines insurers are still financially strong, according to a rating agency report prepared for the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices Ltd.

Most program business insurers believe gross premium volume for their segment totals at least $20 billion, but a growing subset now has doubts that they are actually writing that much as a group, a survey reported.

Despite a 67 percent drop in net income in 2008, excess and surplus lines insurers are still financially strong.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared that the recession is "very likely over," but the pace of recovery will be uneven across states and industries, according to a leading insurance industry economist.

With the property and casualty industry already mired in a sustained soft marketplace, the financial crisis has placed even more demands on insurance carriers to grow their top line.

A bill to strip medical malpractice and health insurers of their limited federal antitrust immunity passed a key House committee last week, although an amendment grants "safe harbors" for joint compilation of historic loss data.