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Ike generated $12.5 billion in insured claims payouts, and was followed three years later by Hurricane Irene ($4.3 billion).��Months before Irene, there were spring 2011’s deadly and costly tornadoes in states such as Alabama and Missouri.

“It [Sandy] probably also highlights the whole issue that the industry is trying to deal with, which is ‘what is the new normal?’ as far as level of catastrophe losses,” said Vincent J. Dowling, managing partner, Dowling & Partners.��“The last few decades, the losses relative to premium continue to increase, and we have not had ‘The Big One’ yet.”

“Over the last 10 years, ended 2012, the homeowners insurance business nationally made an annual after-tax profit of about four percent,” stated Brian Sullivan, editor and publisher of Auto ̽����ѡ Report and Property ̽����ѡ Report. “Now that doesn’t cover the cost of capital, but when you look at the business, and you think of just how disgusting the past 10 years has been in terms of performance, that’s not really a disaster.”��The silver lining for the industry, Sullivan observed, is “that information and data about the nature of risk, and the nature of claims, is exploding.”

“For the most part, we’re not seeing a lot of rating movement because most companies have managed this [Sandy’s aftermath] fairly well, and been able to diversify themselves enough that it hasn’t had a major impact,” said Matthew Mosher, senior vice president and chief rating officer, A.M. Best Company, when asked about the industry’s post-Sandy financial condition.��“There are some [insurers] that probably had outsized losses, in terms of what they would have liked.��And I would expect that individual companies may make some changes in terms of what their portfolio looks like but nothing that we look at in terms of financial strength, risk, or anything of that nature.”

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Dr. David Sampson, president and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers (PCI) Association of America, moderated the five-member Experts Panel: A View from the Outside Looking In.

The session’s moderator mentioned that, amid all of the industry’s focus on Sandy and its repercussions, policymakers continued to weigh the enactment of new laws and regulations which would likely make it harder for insurers to operate.

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The Property/Casualty ̽����ѡ Joint Industry Forum was created to provide leaders from the widest spectrum of the industry with an opportunity to meet with each other in discussion of topics of general interest. Participants included nearly 250 representatives from property/casualty insurance and reinsurance companies and organizations.

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The sponsoring organizations of the Forum represent a broad range of insurance interests and audiences. They include: American ̽����ѡ Association; Association for Cooperative Operations Research & Development; Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers; The Geneva Association for Risk & ̽����ѡ Economics; ̽����ѡ Institute for Business & Home Safety; ̽����ѡ Information Institute; ̽����ѡ Institute for Highway Safety; International ̽����ѡ Society, Inc.; ISO; National Association of Mutual ̽����ѡ Companies; National Council on Compensation ̽����ѡ; National ̽����ѡ Crime Bureau; Property Casualty Insurers Association of America; Property Loss Research Bureau; Reinsurance Association of America; and the Institutes.

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̽����ѡ Information Institute, 110 William Street, New York, NY 10038; (212) 346-5500;