S&P: US P&C Insurers Achieve Strongest Underwriting Results Since 2013

US property and casualty insurers posted a net combined ratio of 96.5 percent in 2024—the strongest result since 2013—according to Jason Woleben in an article titled "US P&C Industry Achieves Best Underwriting Results in over a Decade in 2024," published by S&P Global Market Intelligence. This marked a sharp improvement from 2023's 101.6 percent, driven largely by personal lines profitability.

According to the article, personal lines—such as homeowners, private auto, and farmowners insurance—recorded a combined ratio of 96.7 percent in 2024, improving by approximately 10 percentage points year over year. In comparison, commercial lines posted a nearly flat combined ratio of 96.3 percent.

Homeowners insurance returned to underwriting profitability for the first time since 2019, despite significant catastrophe losses. As noted in the article, higher premiums and a shift in flood losses to reinsurers contributed to a 2024 combined ratio of 99.7 percent, down from 110.9 percent the previous year. Mr. Woleben highlights that much of the catastrophe burden was absorbed by non-US domiciled reinsurers or attributed to flooding—often excluded from standard homeowners coverage. Notably, direct incurred losses for the federal flood program rose sharply to $7.71 billion in 2024, from $1.74 billion the year prior.

Private auto also rebounded, with a combined ratio of 95.3 percent—a nearly 17-point improvement from its peak in 2022. According to the article, this turnaround was largely due to substantial rate hikes across the segment.

On the commercial side, performance was mixed. In the article, Mr. Woleben reported that liability lines saw deterioration: other liability climbed to 110.1 percent, the highest since 2016, while product liability and commercial multiperil liability also worsened. The latter rose to 114.9 percent, marking its worst performance in nearly a decade and continuing a trend—per Mr. Woleben—where the line has not reported a sub-100 percent combined ratio since 2015.

Conversely, commercial property lines and commercial auto showed improvement. According to the same article, the commercial auto segment achieved a 107.2 percent combined ratio in 2024, driven by better physical damage results. The combined ratio for physical damage alone was 88.6 percent, while commercial auto liability remained elevated at 113.0 percent.

Medical professional liability also improved, falling to 103.0 percent from 109.8 percent the prior year. As noted in the article, this shift could suggest stabilizing loss trends in a historically volatile line.

All commercial property lines posted year-over-year gains, including notable improvements in fire and commercial multiperil nonliability. Workers compensation continued to outperform, with a stable and profitable combined ratio of 88.8 percent in 2024, according to Mr. Woleben's analysis.