Travelers Income Drops 65% on Catastrophe Losses, Primarily California Wildfires

The Travelers Cos. said first quarter 2024 fell 65% on an underwriting loss of $305 million.

Travelers posted first quarter net income of about $395 million compared to about $1.1 billion during the first quarter of 2024. The underwriting loss for Q1 was compared to a gain of $577 a year ago during the same period.

The insurer paid out about $2.3 billion in Q1 catastrophe losses—more than three time more than the $712 million in catastrophe losses from a year ago. Catastrophe losses were mostly from the January wildfires in California as well as wind and hail storms in multiple states, Travelers said. California wildfire losses in Q1 were about $1.7 billion.

Favorable prior year reserve development was $378 million for the first three months of 2025. Travelers said favorable development was in all segments, including $237 million in the personal lines segment driven by better than expected losses experience in auto and home lines.

The New York-based insurer’s combined ratio was 102.5 for Q1 2025 compared to 93.9 for Q1 2024. Catastrophes net of reinsurance added 21.2 points to the combined ratio. The underlying combined ratio for Q1 improved to 84.8 from 87.7 for Q1 2024. Underlying underwriting income was $1.6 billion.

The personal insurance segment took a Q1 underwriting loss of $670 million on about $1.7 billion in catastrophe losses. The combined ratio here for Q1 was 115.2, more than 18 points higher than a year ago. Strong renewal premiums drove a 5% increase in net written premiums to $3.8 billion. Homeowners NWP increased 11% in Q1.

In business insurance, underwriting income dropped 41.6% to $195 million. Catastrophe losses were $509 million—$300 million more than Q1 2024. Favorable development in workers compensation insurance primarily drove development of $74 million for the quarter.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters California Profit Loss Wildfire