Canadian P&C companies back into an underwriting profit in 2009: SCOR Report

Thirty-nine Canadian P&C insurers canvassed in The 2009 SCOR Report reported a collective underwriting profit of $213 million in 2009, up from a collective underwriting loss of $196.3 million in 2008.
Although the 2009 underwriting result represented a significant improvement over last year, it was still far below the $1.07-billion underwriting profit the same companies registered in 2007.
In almost all relevant categories, the Canadian P&C insurers surveyed by SCOR showed a collective improvement in 2009 compared to their 2008 results.
Still, in many categories the improvement was marginal. And The 2009 SCOR Report shows the Canadian P&C industry in 2009 is still underperforming — sometimes markedly so — compared to the relative heyday of 2007.
The categories in which the industry demonstrated consistent improvement from 2007 to 2009 include those related to premiums written and earned.
For example, the SCOR-surveyed companies collectively wrote $20.4 billion in direct premiums last year, compared to the $19.6 billion they wrote in 2008 and the $19.1 billion they wrote during the relative boom times in 2007.
The companies’ loss ratios and combined ratios decreased slightly in 2009 over 2008. Collectively the SCOR insurers reported a combined operating ratio (COR) of 99.13% in 2009, down from their collective COR of 101.37% in 2008. Still, the COR in 2009 remained five points higher than it was in 2007, when it was only 94.16%
Loss ratios were similarly better in 2009 (68.28%) than they were in 2008 (70.19%). But they were each still significantly higher than the 2007 benchmark loss ratio of 63.64%.