Property/Casualty Insurers Dispute Consumer Group Over Claims That It Overcapitalized

“The Insurance Industry’s Incredible Disappearing Weather Catastrophe Risk” is a new report released by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). The consumer group claims insurers aren't paying their fair share of weather-related claims, arguing that insurers have shifted costs to consumers by increasing deductibles and capping the amounts they will pay if a home is damaged or destroyed.


But property/casualty insurers aren't seeing eye to eye with the CFA on this one. Final numbers aren't in yet, but it looks like 2011 will be one of the most expensive years on record for private P/C insurers for U.S. catastrophe losses. Private U.S. insurers’ net losses on underwriting grew to $34.9 billion in nine-months 2011 from $6.3 billion in nine-months 2010. The 2011 numbers, insurers say, clearly illustrate that they took on a record amount of risk last year.


The CFA is calling on state regulators to block insurer rate hikes.

Read the rest of this article, originally published in the Insurance Journal, here.