The U.S. property and casualty industry has reported a $4.1 billion net underwriting gain for the first nine months of 2024, according to an AM Best report. 

AM Best calls the gain a “significant improvement” from the $32.1 billion loss recorded during the same period last year. 

“The underwriting gain, coupled with a 22.1% increase in earned net investment income, drove pre-tax operating income up 261.7% to $65.9 billion,” the report says. “A combined $21.2 billion change in net realized capital gains at three Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group companies aided in the industry’s net income doubling from the first nine months of 2023 to $130 billion.”

As an industry, the combined ratio improved to 97.9 during the first nine months, the report says. That is a 5.8 percentage-point improvement from 2023. AM Best said catastrophe losses accounted for an estimated 8.8 percentage points during the nine-month 2024 combined ratio, which is down from 10 points in the prior year. 

According to a Bankrate report, the cost of  full coverage car insurance increased by 26% this year. 

It says the average annual car insurance coverage rose to $2,543, a $529 increase over last year. In the past three years, the annual cost of full coverage increased by 52% from $1,674. 

The report also claims households spent 3.41% of their income on full coverage insurance during 2024. 

Bankrate says it is unlikely that car insurance rates will decline in 2025 but could stabilize.

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