Best's Market Segment Report: Inflation & Loss Severity Counteract Tailwind from Pandemic Recovery for Nonstandard Insurers.

ENPNewswire-November 16, 2021--Best's Market Segment Report: Inflation & Loss Severity Counteract Tailwind from Pandemic Recovery for Nonstandard Insurers

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Release date- 15112021 - A return to pre-pandemic norms in the U.S. nonstandard auto insurance segment, with greater loss-cost pressures along with elevated inflation and supply chain issues, may counteract recent positive market trends, according to a new AM Best report.

The Best's Market Segment Report, titled, 'Inflation and Loss Severity Counteract Tailwind form Pandemic Recovery for Nonstandard Auto Insurers' states that direct premiums written rose by 11% in the first quarter of 2021 and 13% in the second, compared with the same periods in 2020, representing the highest quarterly percentage gains since the start of 2018. AM Best, which has a stable market segment outlook on the private passenger nonstandard auto (PPNSA) segment, is estimating direct premium of $17.8 billion for 2021, which would represent a year-over-year 7.2% increase. The segment's combined ratio for 2020 was 99.6%, a 1.4-percentage-point improvement from 2019, driven in large part by decreased loss frequency from reduced miles driven due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the report notes that whether the premium momentum of first-half 2021 will last through the rest of the year remains uncertain. Although an economic recovery and reduced unemployment should continue to propel premium growth, worsening results through first-half of 2021 due to loss cost pressures indicate that recent positive trends have ceased.

Additionally, according to the report, higher fraudulent claims costs, which remain a major issue for carriers and is due mainly to the inherent complexities of insuring higher risk, has weakened...

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