Personal lines results key to 2012 growth for Canadian P&C market

The Canadian property and casualty insurance market saw substantial growth in premiums in 2012, largely because of growth in personal lines, including improvement in Ontario auto results, according to preliminary data from MSA Research.

The industry’s combined ratio for the year came down to 96.7% from 99.5% in 2011 (not including those in the Lloyd’s market and government insurers), according to the firm’s preliminary figures for the year, available on its website.

Improved accident benefits results in Ontario and lower property losses allowed for the growth in personal lines, Joel Baker, MSA’s CEO, noted.

Improvement in the Ontario auto market was, however, offset by deterioration in  third party liability-bodily injury losses, Baker said. The year-end industry loss ratio for private passenger Ontario auto third party liability-bodily injury topped 102%, he added.

On the commercial side, excluding the Lloyd’s market, commercial writers saw their premium shrink by 4.4% in 2012, Baker noted.  

Reinsurers also saw their results improve, reporting a combined ratio of 97% in 2011 to 89% in 2012, Baker said. That was in part due to a less severe catastrophe year in Canada, as well as somewhat harder rates on cat exposed risks, he said. However investment income in the reinsurance market dropped, yielding a growth of 12.6% in net income, Baker added.

Canadian Underwriter’s 2013 Statistical Issue will include 2012 financial results for the Canadian P&C industry and will be available in June. Archived digital editions of the previous two year’s Statistical Issues can be viewed at: 2012 edition: http://bit.ly/custats12  and 2011 edition: http://bit.ly/custats11