Insurance industry's profits rose in 2006

"I've been doing bits and pieces as I can to get repairs done," she said. "I took my savings, I take my paychecks — and I have a good contractor who is working with me."

But, she added, "I've waited so long. It just doesn't seem fair."

A Lloyd's spokesman said that if a claim couldn't be resolved locally, it could be referred to the company's dispute resolution department. He added: "We have not received any formal complaint on this matter so are unable to comment any further."

Industry experts argue that the property-casualty insurers did amazingly well in handling Katrina — the most costly catastrophic event ever in the United States — and the other hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist with the New York-based Insurance Information Institute, points out that the industry has so far "paid $41 billion on 1.74 million claims for Katrina alone — and for the combined 2004-2005 hurricane season, we paid about $81 billion in insured hurricane-related losses."

The industry's profits rose in 2006 in part because there were far fewer storms, Hartwig said.

And, he added: "But the good results have more to do with fact that insurers saw good results in auto insurance, workers comp and a variety of other areas and in states that don't have a coastline."

Rating agency A.M. Best estimates that the property-casualty industry earned $68 billion in 2006, up from $49 billion in 2005, and that profits could total $62.2 billion this year if the storm season is relatively benign.

As a result, the policyholder surplus — essentially reserves to cover future claims — grew to a record of nearly $500 billion in 2006, A.M. Best estimates.

There also has been a change in how the industry actually makes its profits.

Insurance companies traditionally made most of their money by investing consumers' premiums, mainly in bonds. But increasingly, they're relying on so-called underwriting profits, which are premiums minus losses and administrative expenses.

As a result, Hunter, the consumer activist, says that insurance companies have sharply reduced the percentage of premiums paid out in claims. He estimates payouts fell below 70 percent of premiums in 2006, far below the 80 percent that prevailed in the 1990s.

Greg Heidrich, senior vice president for policy development and research with the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America trade group in Des Plaines, Ill., said it was unfair to look at the payout ratio for a single year or a short period of time.