Non-Life insurers' underwriting losses rise on higher claims, competition

Non-life insurers have been reporting underwriting losses along with high combined ratio for many years now and rely heavily on their investment income to sail them through.

Intense competition, frequency of catastrophes and higher claims are some of the reasons behind the losses.

This is in sharp comparison with the international experience, where the non-life segment has generally shown an underwriting profit, said CARE Ratings in a report.