Catastrophes cost U.S. property/casualty industry $38.6B in nine months: Best

Catastrophes cost the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry an estimated $38.6 billion in losses during the first nine months of the year, A.M. Best Co. Inc. said Monday. That is an increase of 140% from the amount of catastrophe losses suffered by U.S. insurers during the same period in 2010, according to the Oldwick, N.J.-based rating agency. This year’s nine-month estimated total is nearly double the $19.6 billion in catastrophe losses sustained by U.S. insurers during all of last year.