General insurance gross written premium (GWP) for the September quarter was $8.47 billion, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) – well up on the corresponding period last year.

APRA’s quarterly performance report says general insurers recorded $7.8 billion GWP in the September 2009 quarter.

At the end of September there were 118 direct insurers and 12 reinsurers. The insurers wrote $7.9 billion in the quarter, with reinsurers writing $570 million.

The APRA report has separated out the fire services levy component of the collected premiums for the first time. It shows insurers reported $300 million in premium relating to fire services levies, representing 4% of the total premium.

Gross incurred claims for general insurance in the September quarter were $6.5 billion, up from the corresponding quarter in 2009 where claims were $5.3 billion.

APRA says the higher level of claims in this quarter was due to the Christchurch earthquake.

“However, higher reinsurance recoveries revenue of $1.9 billion meant that the industry’s net incurred claims for the September 2010 quarter were $4.1 billion,” the regulator said.

The net loss ratio for direct insurers in the September quarter was 65%, with reinsurers reporting a net loss ratio of 47%.

Net profit after tax for general insurers in the September quarter was $1.2 billion, representing an annualised return on net assets of 16%.

General insurers’ total assets are $101.5 billion, with direct insurers holding $92.7 billion of this figure. Liabilities at September 30 were $72.3 billion, resulting in net assets of $29.2 billion.

APRA says the capital base of insurers at the end of September was $27.1 billion – a solvency coverage of 1.91 times the minimum capital requirement.