Zurich Insurance Group, the largest Swiss insurer, said yesterday third-quarter operating profit will be hit by $550 million before taxes as the insurer strengthens claims provisions and writes off some deferred acquisitions costs.The hit to the world’s second largest insurer comes from its operations in Germany. The charge, the latest in a series of writedowns in Germany follows a review of the Swiss insurer’s portfolio in the country, which revealed that it didn’t have enough reserves to cover some “long-tail” insurance claims. Long-tail insurance is often taken out by doctors and architects to protect them against possible negligence cases, which can take up to 20 years to resolve.The hit also involved the writing off some deferred-acquisition costs — the price associated with the initiation of new insurance contracts.The company appointed Mario Greco as head of general insurance in May 2010 to review the business after higher claims and price wars in Germany, Italy and the U.K hurt profit. Greco left in August to become chief executive officer of Assicurazioni Generali SpA, with Zurich Insurance appointing Michael Kerner as his replacement. The company declined to comment on whether Greco had finished the review before his departure.Analysts voiced surprise at the latest hit, estimating that it would represent about ten percent of Zurich’s estimated nine-month earnings.“This is a lot of money and it is a bit surprising — it makes you wonder what Mario Greco did,” said Stefan Schuermann, a Zurich-based analyst at Vontobel. “The writedown was a trigger point to downgrade the stock today.”“Zurich’s leadership is disappointed with this significant financial adjustment and has taken the necessary steps including engaging external experts to validate the remediation actions being taken in Germany,” the insurer said in the statement.The Swiss insurer said its other businesses continue to deliver “as expected,” and that it is progressing well towards its strategic targets. Complete earnings for the quarter are due November 15.