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Workers' comp stays profitable as combined ratio nears inflection point
AM Best analyzed full-year 2025 results and cited an accident-year combined ratio of 102 for 2025, a level above 100 that indicates current-year losses exceeded premiums before reserve releases.
Workers’ compensation has kept a combined ratio below 100 for twelve straight years among private carriers, according to NCCI, supporting continued underwriting profits across the line.
Insurance Business reports that AM Best’s analysis of full-year 2025 results placed the sector’s calendar-year combined ratio at 93.2, below major long-tailed casualty lines and below the commercial lines segment overall.
The outlet adds that NCCI’s 2026 State of the Line report, covering private carriers in 38 states, put the calendar-year combined ratio at 91 but noted an accident-year combined ratio of 102 for 2025, which excludes the impact of prior-year reserve releases.
An accident-year combined ratio above 100 means the line is paying out more in losses and expenses on current-year business than it collects in premium before any favorable prior-year development is reflected, Insurance Business said.