Insurers Increase Profits to Record Levels by Overpricing Policies and Shifting Costs to Consumers and Taxpayers

WASHINGTON - January 8 - National consumer organizations joined the Consumer Federation of America today to release a new study concluding that the property/casualty insurance industry (which includes the nation’s home and auto insurers) has dramatically increased profits and surplus in recent years, in part by systematically overcharging for insurance and shifting costs to consumers and taxpayers. The report provides extensive data demonstrating that property/casualty insurance companies are paying out lower claims in relationship to the premiums they charge consumers than at any time in decades. The combined ratio, the relationship of all paid claims and expenses to the premiums that insurers collect, appears to be the lowest on record in 50 years. This indicates the highest profit levels in recent history.

“A copy of the report can be found at: http://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/White_Paper_release.pdf.