Overall US P/C Combined Ratio Improves in 2023 but Trouble Spots Remain: S&P

The U.S. property/casualty industry’s net combined ratio improved in 2023 to 101.7 from 102.5 the prior year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The combined ratio for the industry’s personal business lines came in at 106.7%—about 3.2 points better than the year before. The combined ratio for commercial worsened 1.5 points to a still profitable 96.2.

Looking closer at the industry’s results, there were some concerning trends, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. For instance, homeowners insurers collectively posted a combined ratio of nearly 110—the worst result in at least a decade. The U.S. had 21 billion-dollar insured loss events due to convective storms, accounting for $58 billion in insured losses.

Meanwhile, auto insurers posted a less-than-desirable combined ratio of 104.9, but the result was about 7 points better than in the historically bad year of 2022.

Turning to commercial lines, S&P said four lines of business posted worse combined ratios than in 2022, led by a product liability’s 100 compared to 89.3 in 2022. Commercial multiperil and medical professional liability lines each recorded 2023 combined ratios of about 110.