The P&C commercial market has officially achieved hard-market status, according to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers (CIAB)although some executives at major carriers remain skeptical.

Bermuda insurers and reinsurers report strong first-quarter earnings relative to a year ago, with several swinging back into the black after reporting Q1 losses in 2011.

While executives on third-quarter-results conference calls say they are seeing improvements in the rate environment, Insurance Information Institute President Robert Hartwig believes the stars are not quite aligned yet for a market turnand a recent report suggests the impact of rate increases in 2012 could be tempered by expectations of...

U.S. insurers continue to release information on 2011 weather-related losses, with State Farm saying it has paid policyholders $5 billion so far during the year.

Recent Hurricane Irene estimates put U.S. insured losses between $1.6 billion and $6.6 billion.

The impact of second-quarter catastrophes on insurers is beginning to be seen, as four separate companies cited cat losses as the primary reason for their drop in net income.

As more insurers begin to make second-quarter loss estimates from tornado-spawning storms that ravaged parts of the U.S. in April and May, Aon Benfield says insured losses for the two months are nearly triple the annual average over the last 20 years.

The Travelers Cos. says it expects after-tax catastrophe losses of about $1 billion from numerous weather events in April and May, coming in with the largest of four recent loss estimates for spring U.S. storms that spawned numerous deadly tornadoes.