OSFI sees insurers’ profits drop Cdn$211.9 million over three quarters in 2007

Canadian insurers under the auspices of the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) saw their collective net income drop Cdn$211.9 million over the first three quarters when compared to the same period of 2006. OSFI’s recent quarterly filings show that Canadian insurers regulated by OSFI claimed a net income of Cdn$2.26 billion for the first three quarters of 2007, compared to the Cdn$2.472 billion net income reported in the first three quarters of 2006. Insurers filing for the first three quarters of 2007 reported almost Cdn$1 billion more in net premiums written than in 2006 — with insurers reporting Cdn$18 billion in net premiums written during this year’s first nine months, compared to Cdn$17.1 billion during the same period in 2006. On the other hand, total claims and expenses in the first three quarters topped out at about Cdn$16.1 billion, whereas the figure for the same period last year was Cdn$15.2 billion. Claims ratios are up in property and auto lines. In personal property lines, companies filing with OSFI showed a jump in the claims ratio from 63.51% in the first nine months of 2006 to 69.29% in the same period in 2007. In commercial lines, the claims ratio jumped from 54.30% to 60.55% over the same period.