AM Best’s mid-year update shows a mixed picture for US property and casualty insurers. In H1 2025, upgrades edged up to 18 from 16 a year earlier.
Downgrades stayed flat at 20. Affirmations dominated, making up 80% of rating actions, with 261 recorded.
Breaking it down: personal lines logged five upgrades but 13 downgrades, nearly identical to last year’s tally of six and 13. Commercial lines fared better.
They saw 13 upgrades and seven downgrades, compared with 10 and seven in H1 2024.
Most downgrades this year hit homeowners and personal property insurers. Catastrophe losses, worsening secondary perils, and reinsurance costs piling up with higher retentions drove the pressure.
Around 30% of downgrades came from weak operating performance as inflation and extreme weather hammered results.
The main upgrade trigger wasn’t better underwriting but structural change. Roughly 44.4% stemmed from insurers merging into higher-rated groups. Improved operating performance accounted for a third.
Top 25 P&C insurers
| Rank | Company or Group Name | Net Premiums Written ($bn) | Admitted Assets ($bn) | Policyholder Surplus ($bn) |
| 1 | State Farm Group | 56.5 | 304.41 | 149.28 |
| 2 | Progressive Ins Group | 42.27 | 116.43 | 30.84 |
| 3 | Berkshire Hathaway Ins | 39.45 | 550.92 | 314.58 |
| 4 | Allstate Ins Group | 28.13 | 86.71 | 19.32 |
| 5 | Travelers Group | 20.96 | 113.51 | 26.76 |
| 6 | Liberty Mutual Ins Cos | 18.28 | 124.75 | 33.81 |
| 7 | USAA Group | 18.03 | 67.09 | 30.77 |
| 8 | Chubb INA Group | 13.0 | 103.47 | 21.47 |
| 9 | Farmers Ins Group | 10.42 | 50.51 | 9.21 |
| 10 | Hartford Ins Group | 9.14 | 59.78 | 16.83 |
| 11 | Amer Family Ins Group | 8.53 | 40.91 | 10.95 |
| 12 | Nationwide P&C Group | 8.48 | 58.27 | 22.14 |
| 13 | Auto-Owners Ins Group | 8.34 | 38.79 | 16.62 |
| 14 | Fairfax Financial (USA) Group | 7.41 | 46.07 | 12.98 |
| 15 | Erie Ins Group | 6.69 | 28.2 | 9.17 |
| 16 | Amer Intl Group | 6.29 | 62.2 | 17.11 |
| 17 | W. R. Berkley Ins Group | 5.83 | 35.85 | 9.4 |
| 18 | Tokio Marine US PC Group | 5.56 | 45.06 | 13.38 |
| 19 | CNA Ins Cos | 5.2 | 51.89 | 11.18 |
| 20 | Cincinnati Ins Cos | 5.06 | 26.39 | 8.85 |
| 21 | Munich-Amer Hldg Corp Cos | 4.43 | 30.23 | 7.1 |
| 22 | Auto Club Enterprises Ins Group | 4.24 | 21.92 | 10.44 |
| 23 | Zurich Ins US PC Group | 3.96 | 38.97 | 5.99 |
| 24 | Arch Ins Group | 3.91 | 22.6 | 5.01 |
| 25 | CSAA Ins Group | 3.62 | 16.43 | 4.4 |
Initial ratings crept up too. AM Best issued 17 in H1, up from 15, mostly in commercial lines. Fewer ratings landed on the Under Review list – 10 compared to 20 last year.
AM Best linked the drop to slower M&A and a smaller catastrophe footprint, though early-year wildfire activity still left scars. In total, rating actions slipped to 326 from 337.
Helen Andersen, industry analyst at AM Best, pointed out that personal lines carriers, especially homeowners’ insurers, continue to struggle with elevated catastrophe losses, secondary perils, and rising reinsurance costs. Those higher attachment points just add weight.
Commercial lines, by contrast, keep finding footing. They’ve managed economic and social inflation with stronger underwriting results, solid reserve development, disciplined pricing, and consistent execution.
According to our analysts, the divide between personal and commercial lines looks set to persist through 2025.
