Apr. 23--Privately held property and casualty insurers in the United States took a big hit to the bottom line in 2008, but area brokers don't think that will cause rates to climb for all local businesses.

The Insurance Information Institute said the industry made $2.4 billion in after-tax net income in 2008, down more than 96 percent from $62.5 billion in 2007.

The industry lost $21.2 billion from claims and other underwriting losses and experienced a nearly 51 percent decline in investment gains in 2008, the institute said.

Still, brokers such as Chock Chapple, CEO of Commercial Insurance Group, said insurers' losses aren't translating into higher premiums for business property and casualty insurance.

"It's hardening, but it's not what we would call a hard market," Chapple said.

A "hard market" is a market in which insurance premiums are climbing.

Instead, insurance carriers are looking harder at the coverage they write and for whom they write it, Chapple and other brokers said.


Jeff Jamison, vice president of commercial insurance operations for IMA of Kansas, said companies that have a history of few or no claims and good risk management programs will likely continue to see decreases in their insurance premiums.

"I would say (the market) is certainly responding differently than it was a year ago," Jamison said. "That does not mean we find ourselves in a hard market."

Chapple characterized the market as hardening because he has seen instances in which a poor claims history has resulted in higher premiums for a company or a cancellation of its policy.

"It kind of depends on the risk," he said.

For those companies that are considered "good accounts," they are still receiving single-digit premium decreases, or rates that are remaining flat.

Jamison said he thinks rates have not swung higher across the board because, despite the losses, the industry still has $1.2 trillion to cover losses and other contingencies.

Reach Jerry Siebenmark at 316-268-6576.