Insurer makes £20m profit and posts 98.4% combined ratio

PPI complaints surge

Co-operative Insurance has swung to a £20m profit after tax in the first half of 2012 from a £2.4m loss in the same period last year.

Operating profit jumped 346% to £30.3m (H1 2011: £6.8m), and the combined ratio improved by 14 percentage points to a profitable 98.4% (H1 2011: 112.5%).

The Co-op attributed the turnaround to a rebalancing of its underwriting approach across its home and motor portfolios and a strong brand position.

Claims dropped 12.8% to £222.9m (£255.5m) and the insurer also cut expenses. The expense ratio dropped 0.6 points to 20.5% (H1 2011: 21.1%).

The improvement came despite a 20.6% drop in gross written premium to £284.5m (H1 2011: £358.4m).

Co-op Insurance H1 2012 results in £m (compared with H1 2011)

  • Gross written premium: 284.5 (358.4)
  • Net earned premium: 297.5 (289)
  • Claims: 222.9 (255.5)
  • Operating profit: 30.3 (6.8)
  • Profit after tax: + 20.0 (-2.4)

Ratios (%)

  • Combined ratio: 98.4 (112.5)
  • Expense ratio: 20.5 (21.1)

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