First quarter 2026 net income at The Hartford increased 36% to about $851 million as catastrophe losses during the period were half the amount of the same time a year ago.
Pretax catastrophe losses for Q1 were about $230 million, driven by winter storms and severe convective storms. Catastrophe losses were $467 million for Q1 2025, mostly due to the Los Angeles wildfires.
The Hartford on April 23 reported that its business insurance segment generated $536 million of the net income total for Q1. Net written premiums in business insurance increased 6% compared with a year ago to about $3.9 billion. Small business delivered an 8% increase in written premiums, supported by double-digit new business growth, Hartford said.
Underwriting income in business insurance remained relatively flat at $185 million, as did the combined ratio of 94.8 for Q1.
The personal insurance segment during Q1 turned in an underwriting gain of $113 million, reversing an underwriting loss of $55 million for Q1 2025. Net written premiums were down 6% during Q1.
Due to much less catastrophe losses, the combined ratio improved to 87.7 versus 106.1 the year prior. The combined ratio for personal auto went from 93.5 in Q1 2025 to 89.6 for Q1 2026. In homeowners, the combined ratio drastically improved to 83.8 versus 133.2 a year ago.
The Hartford said net favorable prior year development was $5 million pretax compared with net favorable prior year development of $90 for Q1 2025. This year, The Hartford reduced reserves in workers’ compensation, home, and auto offset by an increase of $70 million in general liability reserves to reflect legacy sexual molestation and sexual abuse exposures related to policies written in the 1970s and 1980s.
Topics Profit Loss
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