Profits nearly tripled for US property and casualty insurers in the first of the 2026.

A report by credit rating agency AM Best said the industry recorded $31.2 billion in net underwriting income in the first six months of the year, compared to $10.9 billion posted in the prior-year period.

Catastrophe losses were lower this year than in the first half of 2022, when insurers were hit with claims from the California wildfires.

AM Best said the industry’s combined ratio - a measure of underwriting profitability - improved by four percentage points to 92.5.

AM Best estimates that catastrophe losses accounted for 6.2 points on the six-month 2026 combined ratio, down from an estimated 10.8 points in the first half of 2025.

Also driving the net underwriting gain was a 3 per cent increase in net earned premiums and a 5 per cent decline in incurred losses and loss-adjustment expenses, which offset $6.2 billion in dividends to policyholders — predominantly due to $5 billion of dividends to policyholders at State Farm, AM Best said.

A 12 per cent increase in net investment income earned, combined with the underwriting gain, nearly doubled pre-tax operating income to $79.1 billion.

A significant increase in net realised capital gains also contributed to the industry’s net income, which increased 55 per cent from the same prior-year period to $77.8 billion.