Q1 insurance premiums up 1.4%, investment income down 5.9% for Chubb

The Chubb Corp. released Thursday its financial results for the three months ending March 31, reporting a 9.5-point improvement in its personal-auto combined ratio, a 1.4% increase in overall premiums and a 5.9% drop in investment income.

Warren, N.J.-based Chubb is the holding company that owns the property & casualty insurance carriers – including Chubb Insurance Company of Canada – known as the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

In P&C, Chubb reported Thursday its net premiums written rose 1.4%, from $3.062 billion in Q1 2014 to $3.106 billion in the three months ending March 31. All figures are in United States dollars.

“We are pleased that in the first quarter we continued to achieve renewal rate increases while maintaining high retention levels in all of our businesses,” stated John D. Finnegan, Chubb’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, in a release.

Underwriting income was essentially unchanged, at $205 million in the latest quarter, compared to $208 million in Q1 2014.

Investment income dropped 5.9%, from $341 million in Q1 2014 to $321 million in the most recent quarter.

Chubb’s first quarter combined ratio deteriorated by 0.7 points, from 93.2% last year to 93.9% in 2015.

“Excluding the impact of catastrophes, the first quarter combined ratio was 85.8% in 2015 and 86.6% in 2014” Chubb stated in a release.

“Results were adversely impacted by catastrophe and non-catastrophe losses related to severe winter weather in the United States,” Finnegan stated.

The effect of catastrophes on Chubb’s combined ratio was 8.1 points in Q1 2015 and 6.6 points in the same period in 2014

Consolidated net income dropped 4.7%, from $277 million in Q1 2014 to $264 million in Q1 2015.

The loss and loss expense ratio rose 0.9 points, from 61.1% in Q1 2014 to 62% in the latest quarter.

Broken down by category, Chubb reported $1.036 billion in net premiums written in personal lines (up 2% from $1.013 billion in Q1 2014), $1.449 billion in commercial (up 2% from $1.425 billion in Q1 2014) and $621 million in specialty (essentially unchanged from $624 million in Q1 2014).

Within personal lines, Chubb’s Q1 net premiums written were:

•$176 million in auto in 2015, up 2% from $173 million in 2014;

•$600 million in homeowners in 2015, up 1% from $592 million in 2014; and

•$260 million in other personal, up 5% from $248 million in 2014.

Chubb reported a combined ratio in personal of 105.1% in Q1 2015, up 4.3 points from 101.8% in Q1 2014.

In the most recent quarter, the combined ratio was 92.9% in auto (down from 101.4% in 2014), 112.7% in homeowners (up from 104.9% in 2014) and 92.3% in other, down 0.1 points from 92.4% in 2014.

In commercial lines, Chubb reported an 11% increase in workers compensation premiums and a 5% decrease in casualty. The overall combined ratio in commercial increased 2.3 points, from 88.5% in Q1 2014 to 90.89% in the latest quarter.

Of the $1.449 billion in commercial premiums in the latest quarter, Chubb reported $269 million in multiperil, $423 million in casualty, $343 million in workers compensation and $414 million in property and marine.

First-quarter combined ratios in commercial were 96.9% in multi peril (up from 91.8% in 2014), 93.7% in casualty (up from 89.7% in 2014), 84.1% in workers compensation (up from 84% in 2014) and 89% in property & marine (down from 89.1% in 2014).

Within specialty, Chubb reported $545 million in professional liability premiums and $76 million in surety in the three months ending March 31.