US P/C Insurance Industry First-Half Underwriting Profit Triples

The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry recorded a net underwriting gain of $11.5 billion and net income of $49.1 billion for the first-half of 2025, according to a new report.

“The lack of any significant natural catastrophes in the second quarter helped offset the record-breaking catastrophe losses related to the California wildfires and severe convective storms impacting Texas and Georgia earlier in the year,” said Robert Gordon, senior vice president, policy, research and international at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association in statement released by APCIA and Verisk yesterday.

The underwriting profit figure is three-times the $3.8 billion that APCIA and Verisk reported for first-half 2024.

Net income, however, came in at nearly half of last year’s six month net income total of $94.3 billion, with a precipitous drop in realized investment gains explaining much of the drop. Last year’s net income figure was inflated by over $50 billion in capital gains realized by one insurer. Excluding that impact, first-half net income of $49.1 million is more in line with an adjusted net income figure of roughly $45 billion for first-half 2024.

Based on information from annual statements submitted to insurance regulators by insurers representing roughly 97% of private U.S. property/casualty market insurers, Verisk and APCIA reported that net written premiums grew just under 2% to $472.5 billion.

The 1.9% increase is compared to 10.6% increase in net written premiums recorded for first-half 2024 over the prior-year six-month period.

First-half 2025 losses and loss adjustment expenses rose at about the same pace, up 2.1% over first-half 2024, but earned premiums rose 3.9%, fueling more a 1.3-point drop in the industry loss and LAE ratio.

With the expense ratio inching up slightly, the combined ratio for the first half of this year is estimated to be 96.4 compared to 97.6 for last year’s first half, and 104.2 for first-half 2023.

The combined ratio “edged down slightly from this time last year, reflecting underwriting discipline, but escalating catastrophe losses—most notably January’s unprecedented California wildfires—underscore the volatility ahead,” said Saurabh Khemka, co-president of underwriting solutions at Verisk.

“While some lines are showing signs of improvement, the broader industry continues to walk a fine line,” Khemka said.

The Verisk/APCIA report noted that private U.S. property/casualty insurers during the first half of this year experienced losses in line with the escalated levels seen in recent years.

“First-quarter losses, driven largely by the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, outpaced historical averages but did not carry over at the same magnitude in the second quarter,” said APCIA and Verisk in the report.

During the first half, surplus levels remained historically high at about $1.08 trillion, up slightly from $1.07 trillion at mid-year 2024.

Topics USA Profit Loss Underwriting Market Property Casualty