Insurance
Home›Insurance›Industry & Deals›Brit Insurance reports 89.5% H1 combined ratio as Lloy…
Brit Insurance reports 89.5% H1 combined ratio as Lloyd's pricing softens
The Lloyd's insurer posted $1,767.3 million in premiums for the six months to June 30, and its profit before tax rose to $326.8 million despite a 7.3% drop in risk-adjusted premium rates.
Brit Insurance, a Lloyd's market specialist and subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings, posted an undiscounted combined ratio of 89.5% for the first half of 2026, alongside profit before tax of $326.8 million. Insurance Business said the stronger underwriting result helped offset lower investment returns and higher attritional losses tied to Middle East conflict exposure.
The insurer wrote $1,767.3 million of premiums for the six months to June 30, up 4.4% from $1,692.2 million a year earlier, and 3.6% higher on a constant exchange rate basis. It also reported an improvement of 5.7 percentage points in the undiscounted combined ratio from 95.2% in the prior period, while the discounted combined ratio tightened to 83.9% from 87.4%.
Insurance Business reported that Brit's insurance service result climbed 45.1% to $200.4 million from $138.1 million. The company said risk-adjusted premium rates fell 7.3% across the portfolio in the first half of 2026, with the biggest reductions in property treaty, property and specialty, cyber, and programmes and facilities.
Despite the rate pressure, Brit said its approach to managing its Lloyd's book became more selective, steering capital toward lines where margin held rather than defending volume. The group also reported a capital ratio of 197.9%, up from 175.2% at December 31, 2025, while its claims ratio was broadly flat at 52.6%.