Summary
At this time last year the property/casualty industry was in the midst of a soft market that by all appearances would continue well into the future. The industry had just experienced two of its best underwriting years on record and industry surplus topped a record $525 billion. The economy began to display signs for the real estate downturn and subprime situation, but few recognized the depth of the problems on the horizon. Most industry observers believed that short of a major shock to the industry, the soft market would continue throughout 2010 and beyond. By October, many industry leaders and pundits were declaring an end of the soft market and predicting substantially higher premiums and restricted capacity in all areas by the end of 2008. The second half of 2008 was the proverbial perfect storm for the insurance industry. The Atlantic hurricane season exacerbated all already difficult loss year.
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Extract
Smooth Sailing
At this time year the property/ casualty industry was in the midst of a soft market that by all appearances would continue well into the future. The industry had just experienced two of its best underwriting years on record and industry surplus topped a record $525 billion. The economy began to dispaly signs of the real estate downturn and subprime situation, but few recognized the depth of the problems on the horizon. Most industry observers believed that short of a major sho...
See the full content of this document
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