Industry needs to take a cycle-proficiency test

Making underwriting profits from general insurance in the UK has always been difficult and in its darkest hours at the bottom of the cycle this often appears to be impossible.

The margins are extremely thin and from 1993-2004 the industry made underwriting losses of over £11bn on total gross written premiums of £360bn. This represents a 3% negative margin. Only three out of 12 years produced an underwriting profit, with the largest in 2004. This was a profit of £1.36bn on income of £42bn - a