Projecting future property/casualty insurance market profit is always challenging. The economic and social impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic greatly compounds the uncertainty of this effort. Executive SummaryWill double-digit price increases be enough to turn around underwriting losses in liability insurance lines? Fitch Ratings Analyst James Auden examines recent trends in pricing and underwriting results.
Longer-tail liability lines in particular will incur large losses from this event that will take multiple years to resolve. However, more aggressive underwriting and pricing actions driven by recent poor experience and fear of large pandemic-related losses could move this market segment to a considerably better profit position post-crisis.