Insurance group Zurich reported a seven percent increase in property and casualty (P&C) insurance during the first quarter, and 11 percent when taking into account local currencies, bolstered by commercial insurance growth and improved pricing. 

«The Group has made a strong start to the new financial cycle. We saw robust growth in Property & Casualty (P&C), with a double-digit increase in premiums in North America, mainly driven by rate increases,» said the Group's chief financial officer George Quinn in a statement.

The revenues in the P&C business were $9.4 billion in the quarter, while gross written premiums were around $12 billion, an increase of six percent on a dollar basis.

Higher Corporate Business Margins

Margins in the corporate business increased due to higher premium rates and higher interest rates, partially offset by continued high claims costs in the personal business, it added. In the personal lines markets, higher premium rates were recorded on policy renewals. Here, margins are expected to improve over the year as earned premium rate increases begin to exceed claims costs.

In life insurance, new businesses generated $265 million of contractual service margin, down 11 percent from a year ago. The present value of new business premiums rose 17 percent to $4.16 billion, which was a 23 percent increase using local currencies.

Decline at Farmers

The Farmers Exchanges saw a three percent decline in gross written premiums compared to the previous year, which was impacted by its commercial rideshare business. Zurich said that a focus on improving its underwriting performance allowed it to continue its strong pricing momentum. 

At the end of the quarter, Zurich estimated its Swiss Solvency Test ratio to have fallen by nine percentage points 258 percent from the year-ago quarter. That still exceeds its target of at least 160 percent.