트래블러스(TRV) 2026년 3분기 실적 발표 콜: 핵심 이익 19억 5,000만 달러 기록
트래블러스 컴퍼니는 2026년 3분기 핵심 이익 19억 5,000만 달러(희석주당 9.18달러), 연결 합산비율 86.8%, 기초 합산비율 84.1%를 기록하며 우수한 실적을 거뒀다. 세후 순투자이익은 전년 동기 대비 7% 증가한 9억 8,000만 달러로 사상 최대치를 기록했다. 2026년 연간 세후 고정수익 투자이익은 약 33억 달러, 2027년에는 36억 달러 이상일 것으로 전망된다. 경영진은 기초 인수이익의 지속가능성에 자신감을 보였으나, 2027년 실적은 더 높거나 낮거나 거의 변동이 없을 수 있다고 덧붙였다. 주주에게는 자사주 매입과 배당금을 포함해 총 18억 달러가 환원됐다.
트래블러스 컴퍼니스(NYSE: TRV)가 2026년 3분기 우수한 인수 및 투자 실적을 발표했다. 핵심 이익은 19억 5,000만 달러에 달했으며, 기초 합산비율은 9분기 연속 86% 미만을 유지했다.
핵심 요약
- 핵심 이익은 19억 5,000만 달러(희석주당순이익 9.18달러)를 기록했다. 핵심 자기자본이익률(ROE)은 분기 기준 22.1%, 지난 12개월(TTM) 기준 24.1%를 기록했다.
- 연결 합산비율은 86.8%로 개선되었으며, 기초 합산비율은 84.1%를 기록했다. 세전 인수이익은 총 14억 달러를 기록했다.
- 세후 순투자이익은 전년 동기 대비 7% 증가해 사상 최대치인 9억 8,000만 달러를 기록했다. 경영진은 2026년 연간 세후 고정수익 투자이익이 약 33억 달러, 2027년에는 36억 달러 이상일 것으로 전망했다.
- 순작성보험료는 총 115억 달러를 기록했다. 기업보험(Business Insurance) 부문이 59억 달러, 보증 및 특수보험(Bond & Specialty Insurance) 부문이 12억 달러, 개인보험(Personal Insurance) 부문이 44억 달러를 기록했다.
- 트래블러스는 자사주 매입 15억 달러와 배당금 2억 6,100만 달러를 포함해 총 18억 달러를 주주에게 환원했다. 주당 조정 장부가치는 전년 동기 대비 15% 증가한 172.47달러를 기록했다.
- 경영진은 기초 인수이익의 지속가능성에 대해 자신감을 재확인하면서도, 2027년 실적은 더 높거나 낮거나 거의 변동이 없을 수 있다고 덧붙였다.
주요 재무 데이터
| 지표 | 2026년 3분기 실적 | 변동 및 맥락 |
|---|---|---|
| 핵심 이익 | 19억 5,000만 달러 | 희석주당 9.18달러 |
| 핵심 자기자본이익률(ROE) | 22.1% | 지난 12개월 기준 24.1% |
| 순작성보험료 | 115억 달러 | 캐나다 사업 매각에도 불구하고 소폭 증가 |
| 합산비율 | 86.8% | 전년 동기 대비 개선 |
| 기초 합산비율 | 84.1% | 9분기 연속 86% 미만 유지 |
| 세전 인수이익 | 14억 달러 | 기초 수익성 및 우호적인 준비금 변동에 힘입음 |
| 세후 순투자이익 | 9억 8,000만 달러 | 전년 동기 대비 7% 증가, 분기 사상 최대치 |
| 세전 대형재해 손실 | 5억 3,800만 달러 | 미국 중부 지역의 토네이도 및 우박 피해가 주원인 |
| 전년도 순우호적 준비금 변동 | 2억 3,400만 달러 | 세전 기준, 3개 사업 부문 전체에서 우호적 실적 기록 |
| 영업활동 현금흐름 | 39억 달러 | 연초 대비 누적 80억 달러 |
| 주당 조정 장부가치 | 172.47달러 | 전년 말 대비 9% 상승, 전년 동기 대비 15% 상승 |
| 자본 환원 | 18억 달러 | 자사주 매입 15억 달러 및 배당금 2억 6,100만 달러 |
사업 및 영업 성과
기업보험
기업보험 부문은 3분기 기준 사상 최대인 10억 4,000만 달러의 부문 이익을 기록했다. 합산비율은 2%포인트 개선된 90.9%를 나타냈으며, 기초 합산비율은 88.9%를 기록했다.
순작성보험료는 59억 달러에 달했다. 국내 보험료는 4% 증가했으며, 재물보험을 제외하면 6% 증가했다. 회사는 요율과 조건이 리스크 및 수익 목표에 부합하지 않는 전국 단위 재물보험의 보험료 비중을 지속적으로 축소했다.
갱신 보험료 변동률은 4.1%였으며, 재물보험을 제외하면 7%로 상승했다. 유지율은 86%를 유지했고, 신규 계약은 4% 증가한 6억 9,900만 달러를 기록했다. 중견기업(Middle-market) 신규 계약은 89%의 유지율과 5.4%의 갱신 보험료 변동률에 힘입어 10% 증가한 4억 3,100만 달러를 기록했다.
석면 관련 항목을 제외하면, 이 부문은 전 종목에 걸쳐 3억 3,600만 달러의 전년도 순우호적 준비금 변동을 기록했다. 연례 석면 검토에서는 2억 9,500만 달러의 손실 비용이 발생했다.
보증 및 특수보험
보증 및 특수보험 부문은 사상 최대인 3억 9,000만 달러의 부문 이익과 77.3%의 합산비율을 보고했다. 순작성보험료는 12% 증가한 12억 달러를 기록했다.
임원배상책임보험(Management Liability) 유지율은 89%를 기록했고, 갱신 보험료 변동률은 전분기 대비 개선된 3.8%를 나타냈으며, 신규 계약은 18% 증가했다. 보증보험(Surety) 순작성보험료는 대형 시공사들의 활동과 신규 고객 관계 형성에 힘입어 21% 성장했다.
개인보험
개인보험 부문은 7억 6,000만 달러의 부문 이익을 거두었다. 합산비율은 83.5%를 기록했으며, 기초 합산비율은 1%포인트 개선된 76.7%를 나타냈다.
자동차보험의 합산비율은 87.1%, 기초 합산비율은 87.3%를 기록했다. 해당 실적에는 당해 연도 이전 분기 추정치 재조정으로 인한 약 1.5%포인트의 이익 개선 효과가 포함되었다.
주택소유자 및 기타 보험 부문은 80.5%의 합산비율과 68%의 기초 합산비율을 기록했다. 트래블러스가 재물보험 인수 여력을 선별적으로 운용한 결과, 주택소유자 보험 신규 계약은 3분기 연속 전년 동기 대비 증가했다.
경영진 가이던스
트래블러스는 2026년 연간 사업비율이 29%를 소폭 하회할 것으로 예상하고 있으며, 2027년에도 비슷한 수준을 유지할 것으로 전망한다. 이익 공유 및 특별 수수료를 포함한 변동비 증가에는 우수한 인수 수익성이 반영되어 있다.
경영진은 단기증권을 포함한 2026년 4분기 세후 고정수익 순투자이익이 약 8억 7,500만 달러에 달할 것으로 예상하고 있다. 2026년 연간 총액은 33억 달러에 이를 것으로 전망된다.
2027년 고정수익 순투자이익은 36억 달러 이상이 될 것으로 경영진은 전망하고 있다. 분기별 이익은 1분기 약 8억 7,500만 달러에서 4분기 약 9억 6,500만 달러로 증가할 것으로 예상된다.
10월 1일 자로 효력이 발생한 사이버 재보험 비례 출재 확대에 따라, 주로 보증 및 특수보험 부문을 중심으로 2026년 4분기에 약 1억 6,500만 달러, 2027년 연간으로는 2억 3,000만 달러의 순작성보험료 감소가 예상된다. 경영진은 이익에 미치는 영향이 미미할 것으로 예상한다.
추정 모델링과 관련해, 회사는 겨울철 날씨와 연휴 운전 증가로 인해 역사적으로 4분기 자동차보험 기초 손해율이 상반기 3개 분기 평균보다 5~6%포인트 높았다고 언급했다.
리스크 및 주시 영역
트래블러스는 사법제도 남용과 소셜 인플레이션이 일반배상책임, 초과배상책임(umbrella), 자동차 및 상업용 종합위험 보장 전반에 걸쳐 배상책임 손실 압박을 계속 가하고 있다고 밝혔다. 그럼에도 경영진은 현재의 손실 환경이 자사의 예상 범위 내에 있다고 설명했다.
금리 상승으로 인해 세후 순미실현 투자손실은 6월 30일 기준 20억 달러에서 9월 30일 기준 64억 달러로 증가했다. 경영진은 이러한 변화가 신용 위험이 아닌 금리 때문이며, 재투자 수익률 상승이 향후 투자 이익을 뒷받침할 것이라고 밝혔다.
고도화된 AI 모델이 복잡성을 더함에 따라 사이버 익스포저는 유동적인 상태를 유지하고 있다. 트래블러스는 보상 한도 관리, 재보험 및 리스크 관리 역량을 강조했으며, 사이버 보상 한도의 상당수가 100만 달러 이하라고 설명했다.
회사는 또한 보험금 지급 합의 관행에 대한 당국 및 법적 조사 가능성을 주시하고 있다. 경영진은 정당한 금액을 신속하게 지급한다는 자사의 보상철학에 변함이 없음을 밝히며, 내부 서비스 목표와 보상 처리 통제 시스템을 강조했다.
애널리스트 Q&A 주요 내용
- 인수 이익의 지속가능성: 경영진은 규모의 경제, 요율 결정 및 리스크 선별 능력, 지속적인 기술 투자를 이유로 들며 기초 인수이익의 지속가능성에 대한 자신감을 재확인했다. 2027년 인수 이익에 대한 구체적인 전망치는 제시하지 않았다.
- 손실준비금: 기업보험의 우호적인 준비금 변동에는 일반배상책임, 업무용 자동차, 재물, 상업용 종합위험 및 산재보상보험이 포함되었다. 경영진은 준비금 수준이 장기 배상책임 청구의 불확실성과 높은 변호사 수임률을 계속해서 반영하고 있다고 밝혔다.
- 기업보험 요율 환경: 경영진은 전반적인 요율 환경이 안정적이고 질서 있게 유지되고 있다고 평가했다. 재물, 일반배상책임, 초과배상책임 보험 요율의 전분기 대비 변동폭은 완만한 수준이라고 설명했다.
- AI 및 영업 레버리지: 트래블러스는 기술 도입을 통해 소프트웨어 개발 비용, 사고접수(FNOL) 인력 비용 및 증권 관리 비용을 절감했다고 밝혔다. 수익성 목표가 유지된다면 경영진은 이러한 영업 레버리지의 일부를 요율 산정에 재투입할 수도 있다.
- 판매 채널 변혁: 경영진은 AI 기반의 보험 판매 채널 도입이 아직 초기 단계라고 설명했다. 트래블러스는 자사의 소비자 직접 판매(D2C) 및 디지털 기업용 플랫폼이 고객 수용도 발전에 맞춰 대응할 수 있는 역량을 제공한다고 밝혔다.
- 장기 시장 지위: 경영진은 규모의 우위가 사업비율 및 손해율 측면에서 먼저 나타난 후 향후 성장을 뒷받침할 것으로 예상하며, 트래블러스가 시간이 지남에 따라 보험료 비중을 확대할 수 있는 입지를 갖추고 있다고 밝혔다.
실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 전문
전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록
경영진 발표
Operator
[Audio Gap]
As a reminder, this conference is being recorded on October 16, 2026. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Abby Goldstein, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Ms. Goldstein, you may begin.
Abbe Goldstein
Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Travelers' discussion of our Third Quarter 2026 results. We released our press release, financial supplement and webcast presentation earlier this morning. All of these materials can be found on our website at travelers.com under the Investors section. Speaking today will be Alan Schnitzer, Chairman and CEO; and Dan Frey, CFO; and our 3 segment presidents: Greg Toczydlowski of Business Insurance, Jeff Klenk of Bond & Specialty Insurance; and Michael Klein of Personal Insurance. They will discuss the financial results of our business and the current market environment. They will refer to the webcast presentation as they go through prepared remarks, and then we will take your questions.
Before I turn the call over to Alan, I'd like to draw your attention to the explanatory note included at the end of the webcast presentation. Our presentation today includes forward-looking statements. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statement involves risks and uncertainties and is not a guarantee of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors.
These factors are described under forward-looking statements in our earnings press release and in our most recent 10-Q and 10-K filed with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. Also, in our remarks or responses to questions, we may mention some non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations are included in our recent earnings press release, financial supplement and other materials available in the Investors section on our website. And now I'd like to turn the call over to Alan Schnitzer.
Alan Schnitzer
Thank you, Abbe. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We're pleased to report excellent third quarter results. It was another in a run of successful quarters with very strong underwriting performance across all 3 segments, and a record result from our investment portfolio. We also continue to make steady progress on important strategic initiatives that will continue to set us apart. For the quarter, we had core income of $1.95 billion or $9.18 per diluted share, generating core return on equity of 22.1%. Over the trailing 4 quarters, we generated core return on equity of 24.1%. Underwriting income of $1.4 billion pretax was driven by strong levels of underlying underwriting income and net favorable prior year reserve development.
Profitability was excellent on both a reported and underlying basis. The combined ratio improved to 86.8%, and the underlying combined ratio remained very strong at 84.1%, with all 3 segments posting strong contributions.
Turning to investments. Our high-quality investment portfolio continued its trajectory of delivering higher levels of net investment income. After-tax net investment income increased by 7% to $908 million benefiting from strong and reliable returns from our growing fixed income portfolio and a strong result from our non-fixed income portfolio. Our underwriting and investment results, together with our strong balance sheet, enabled us to return $1.8 billion of excess capital to shareholders during the quarter, including $1.5 billion of share repurchases. Just since the beginning of 2025, we have returned $8 billion of capital through share repurchases, retiring 12% of the shares then outstanding in the process. Even after the return of capital and having made substantial investments in the business, adjusted book value per share at the end of the third quarter was 24% higher than at the beginning of 2025 and 15% higher than a year ago.
Turning to the top line. We generated net written premiums of $11.5 billion in the quarter. In Business Insurance, we grew in every line other than property, generating net written premiums of $5.9 billion. That's 4% higher than the prior year quarter, adjusting for the sale of our Canadian business. Across the board, the triad of renewal premium change, retention and returns reflects outstanding and deliberate execution. Renewal premium change in this segment was 4.1%, including renewal premium change of 5.4% in our core middle market business and 7.8% in our small commercial select business.
Excluding the property line, we know premium change in the segment was 7%. Retention, which as you've heard us say before, is an important indicator of marketplace stability, remained very strong at 86% and was higher or stable on every line. New business of $699 million was up 4% over the prior year quarter. To be growing 4% ex Canada at such strong returns is a terrific achievement. In Bond & Specialty Insurance, we also delivered trigger growth and strong returns. We grew net written premiums by 12% to $1.2 billion. In our Management Liability business, renewal premium change improved sequentially to 3.8% while retention remained steady at an excellent 89%. New business was up 18% over the prior year quarter. In our leading surety business, we grew net written premiums by 21% reflecting continued strong production across the portfolio. In Personal Insurance, we generated net written premiums of $4.4 billion with solid retention in both auto and homeowners and higher new business in homeowners. We will hear more shortly from Greg, Jeff and Michael about our segment results.
Before I turn the call over to Dan, I'd like to spend a few minutes on an important focus of our innovation work, defending our customers against legal system abuse. Lawsuit abuse raises cost for everyone from the businesses and families we insure to every corner of the broader economy. Liability across GL, umbrella, auto and CMP is a significant share of our loss costs. While conditions have been generally consistent with our expectations, the drivers remain active and continue to put upward pressure on liability losses. Our approach is straightforward, resolve legitimate claims fairly and promptly by paying what we owe. We were early to recognize the change in the litigation loss environment at the end of 2018 and that gave us a head start in investing in technology and developing innovative claim strategies.
We believe that gives us a meaningful early mover advantage and our innovation efforts are now giving us tools we've never had before. Let me share a few examples. For unrepresented claimants, we've developed a digital tool to help resolve claims promptly and fairly. It's grounded in our simple philosophy of empathy, education and empowerment which we've built directly into the experience. In a pilot, more than 80% of the claimants to whom we've offered the tool have engaged with it, and overall results are very encouraging. When the claimant has an attorney, we're using AI to sharpen our responses to their demands. It starts with the file. AI gives our claim professionals a faster, deeper command of claim files that can run hundreds of pages.
It services key facts and issues and help shapes arguments. That makes our people both more effective and more efficient. Consistent with our longtime practice of maintaining a tight feedback loop between claim and underwriting which is how we were so early to recognize social inflation in the first place. The technology also feeds granular loss information back to our underwriters. A more accurate view of loss information as better risk selection, pricing and claims strategies. We pay what's fair. And when we can't resolve a claim of what we believe is a fair outcome, we're prepared to defend our customers in litigation.
We choose our matters carefully, and the outcomes demonstrate that we're effective when we do. Beyond the direct financial impact of our successful litigation, our approach helps set realistic expectations from the start and that's part of the value proposition we bring to our customers. These are just a few illustrations of a broader proprietary effort that leverages talent, technology, behavioral science and more. What we're doing now isn't about doing what we've always done a little better. We've developed new and growing capabilities that let us do what simply couldn't be done before. We believe our expertise, capabilities and approach will help us bend the loss cost curve. As we continue to invest, we expect this to deliver growing value for our customers and shareholders, building on the benefits we've already seen from some of our initiatives.
To wrap it up, our excellent underwriting and investment results through the first 9 months of the year reflect our unmatched competitive advantages and the strength of the value proposition we offer to our customers and distribution partners. We are well positioned to close out an outstanding year. That momentum, the advances we are making on our innovation agenda and the best talent in the industry give us tremendous confidence heading into 2027 and beyond. And with that, I'm pleased to turn the call over to Dan.
Daniel Frey
Thank you, Alan. In the third quarter, we once again delivered excellent financial results on a consolidated basis and in each of our 3 segments. Core income for the quarter of $1.95 billion marked our sixth consecutive quarter with earnings of more than $1 billion and brings our trailing 12-month core return on equity to 24.1%. Both the quarter and the trailing 12 months reflect excellent underwriting results, coupled with strong investment income.
We generated slightly higher net written premiums despite the absence of the Canadian businesses we sold at the beginning of 2026, while delivering excellent combined ratios on both the reported and underlying basis. At 84.1%, the underlying combined ratio marked its ninth consecutive quarter below 86%. The combination of strong earned premiums and the excellent underlying combined ratio led to after-tax underlying underwriting income of $1.4 billion, continuing our run of historically strong underlying underwriting results. Our year-to-date after-tax underlying underwriting income of $3.9 billion is virtually identical to last year's record level despite moderating pricing and the sale of our Canadian business, demonstrating the durability of our underlying underwriting earnings power.
The expense ratio for the third quarter was 28.9%, bringing the year-to-date expense ratio to 29%. Regarding the expense ratio outlook, the continued strength of our consolidated underwriting performance I just described, results in variable expenses like profit sharing and contingent commissions coming in higher than planned. That's a trade we're very willing to make, and it results in an uptick for our expected full year expense ratio, which we now expect to come in a little below 29% for 2026 and about the same for 2027. Catastrophe losses in the quarter were $538 million pretax, consisting mainly of tornado hail events in the Central U.S.
Turning to prior year reserve development. We had total net favorable development of $234 million pretax with favorability in all 3 segments. In Business Insurance, the annual asbestos review resulted in a charge of $295 million. Excluding asbestos, Business Insurance had net favorable PYD of $336 million with favorability in every line. In Bond & Specialty, net favorable PYD was $95 million pretax with favorability in Fidelity and Surety as well as management liability. Personal Insurance had net favorable PYD of $98 million pretax with favorability in both home and auto.
Turning to investment income. For the first time ever, after-tax net investment income surpassed $900 million for the quarter, up 7% from the prior year quarter. Fixed maturity NII was again the driver of the increase reflecting both the benefit of higher invested assets and higher average yields. Through the first 3 quarters of 2026, we've grown our investment portfolio by approximately $6 billion even after having returned a record level of capital to investors through dividends and share repurchases.
Our outlook for fixed income NII in the fourth quarter, including earnings from short-term securities, is up slightly from the outlook we provided a quarter ago, now expecting approximately $875 million after tax in Q4, bringing the full year 2026 total to $3.3 billion. For 2027, we expect more than $3.6 billion with quarterly figures starting at around $875 million in Q1 and growing to around $965 million in Q4. New money rates on purchases during the third quarter were roughly 120 basis points above the yield embedded in the portfolio. The significant increase in interest rates during the quarter resulted in an increase in our net unrealized investment loss from $2 billion after tax at June 30 to $6.4 billion after tax at September 30. This is a good time to remind you that the unrealized loss in our investment portfolio is interest rate driven, not credit quality driven.
Remember, the changes in unrealized investment gains and losses do not impact how we manage our investment portfolio. We generally hold fixed income investments to maturity. The quality of our fixed income portfolio remains very high and the changes in unrealized gains and losses have little or no impact on our cash flows, statutory surplus or regulatory capital requirements. And of course, the same rise in rates that increased the unrealized loss is a tailwind for future results as we reinvested higher yields, it supports higher continued growth in net investment income.
Adjusted book value per share, which excludes net unrealized investment gains and losses, was $172.47 at quarter end, up 9% from year-end and up 15% from a year ago. Turning to capital management. Operating cash flows for the quarter of $3.9 billion were again very strong and brought the year-to-date operating cash flow figure to $8 billion. Also of note for Q3, in July, we issued $750 million of 5-year debt at an attractive rate of 4.95% as part of our ordinary capital management, maintaining a debt-to-capital ratio in our target range as we continue to grow the business. Sticking with the theme of capital management, we returned $1.8 billion of capital to our shareholders in the quarter with share repurchases of $1.5 billion and dividends of $261 million.
Before I wrap up, let me add 1 comment about the fourth quarter for your modeling purposes. Effective October 1, we increased the percentage ceded to our cyber reinsurance quota share. That will reduce net written premiums by about $165 million in Q4 and by about $230 million for full year 2027, primarily in the Bond & Specialty segment. We expect the impact on bottom line earnings to be de minimis in both years.
Recapping our results, Q3 was another quarter of excellent underwriting profitability on both an underlying and as-reported basis and another quarter of rising net investment income. These strong fundamentals delivered core return on equity of 22.1% for the quarter and 24.1% on a trailing 12-month basis, and we continue to be very well positioned to deliver strong results in the future. And now for a discussion of results in Business Insurance, I'll turn the call over to Greg.
Greg Toczydlowski
Thanks, Dan. Business Insurance had another very strong quarter, delivering record third quarter segment income of $1.04 billion and continued solid top line growth. This quarter's results reflect the continued benefit of strong underwriting results, driven by higher earned premiums and a combined ratio that improved 2 points to a terrific 90.9%. We're particularly pleased with our underlying combined ratio, which remains strong at 88.9%. Beyond our execution in the marketplace, we're encouraged with the contributions we're seeing from our ongoing strategic investments. For example, our ongoing advancement of analytical capabilities, including the utilization of sophisticated predictive models continues to enhance our risk selection and pricing segmentation. The expanded use of external data sources such as aerial imagery in combination with our proprietary historical claim data, further equips our frontline underwriters with the insights they need to make better decisions at the point of sale.
Within property, analytics have supported our improvements in insured to value and deductible adequacy, which has contributed to a stronger and well-positioned book. We believe these and other strategic investments will be important contributors to our continued success and long-term profitable growth.
Turning to the top line. Our net written premium reached a third quarter record at $5.9 billion. Domestic net written premiums grew 4%. Excluding the property line, domestic net written premiums grew 6%. Net written premiums in national property continued to decline, we remain focused on writing business only where pricing terms align with our view of the risk and our return objectives.
Turning to production across the segment. Renewal premium change was 4.1%. Excluding the property line, RPC was 7% and positive in all lines. Retention remained excellent at 86%, a reflection of strong returns and our continued focus on retaining our high-quality book of business. New business was strong at $699 million, up 4% from the prior year. We're pleased with these production results in our fields continued execution of our proven segmentation strategies, aligning price, terms and conditions with environmental trends for each life. As for the individual businesses, in select, renewal premium change was strong at 7.8%, while retention was steady at 81%. The new business of $139 million was up 3% over the prior year. These results reflect the industry-leading segmentation in our product offerings including BOP 2.0 and TCAP, our commercial auto product as well as the digital experience we deliver to our distribution partners.
In middle market, renewal premium change was 5.4% while retention remained exceptional at 89%. New business of $431 million was up 10% over the prior year. Our continued profitable growth is supported by predictive models that guide our underwriters' granular execution at every step from prospecting and quoting new business through renewals, once again another terrific quarter for Business Insurance. We're energized by both the strength of our current execution and the additional capabilities we continue to build capabilities that we believe will drive our continued success through the remainder of 2026 and beyond. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff.
Jeffrey Klenk
Thank you, Greg, and good morning, everyone. We're pleased to report that Bond & Specialty posted an outstanding quarter on both the top and bottom lines. We generated record segment income of $309 million, driven by strong earned premium and a terrific combined ratio of 77.3%.
Turning to the top line. We grew net written premiums by a very strong 12% in the quarter to $1.2 billion. In our high-quality domestic management liability business, we drove retention to a very strong 89% while improving real premium change by nearly 1 point sequentially. We are very pleased that we also increased new business by 18% from the prior year quarter. These results reflect terrific execution by our outstanding field organization, leveraging our strategic investments and enhanced pricing segmentation tools and sales effectiveness capabilities.
Turning to our market-leading surety business. We posted excellent net written premium growth of 21% from the prior year quarter, continuing the recent trend of strong production across our high credit quality portfolio. Our growth this year is primarily attributable to our portfolio of premier contractors that are well positioned to deliver on large public and private infrastructure projects that have driven construction spending as well as meaningful contributions from new account relationships as more customers choose a carrier with exceptional financial strength, market-leading value-added services and an unparalleled team. So bonded Specialty Insurance delivered terrific profitability and excellent growth in the quarter while continuing to make strategic investments to further extend our competitive advantages. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Michael.
Michael Klein
Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to share that Personal Insurance delivered third quarter segment income of $706 million. Strong underlying income and favorable prior year reserve development, both contributed to this excellent bottom line result. The combined ratio of 83.5% was a terrific result in the quarter. Catastrophe losses were favorable to our plan and continue to benefit from the actions that we've taken to reduce volatility across our portfolio. The underlying combined ratio of 76.7% improved by 1 point compared to the prior year and continues to demonstrate strong profitability in both automobile and homeowners and other. Net written premiums for the segment were $4.4 billion in the third quarter as pricing continued to moderate, reflecting strong profitability, while retention remains solid. New business premium and homeowners was higher year-over-year as we thoughtfully deployed property capacity in support of our efforts to generate profitable growth.
Third quarter homeowners net written premiums also benefited from our decision not to renew the PI property XOL treaty, which would have taken effect July 1. As Dan mentioned last quarter, it was more cost effective to obtain the coverage we sought through the lowering of the attachment point on the corporate catastrophe XOL treaty. In auto, the third quarter combined ratio of 87.1% reflects a strong underlying combined ratio and favorable net prior year development. The underlying combined ratio was 87.3%, a 1 point improvement compared to the prior year. This strong result was driven by continued favorable loss experience across coverages.
This quarter's results included about a 1.5 point benefit related to the re-estimation of prior quarters in the current year. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2026, it's important to remember that the fourth quarter auto underlying loss ratio has historically been about 5 to 6 points above the average for the first 3 quarters because of winter weather and holiday driving. In Homeowners and Other, the third quarter combined ratio was a very strong 80.5% and the underlying combined ratio of 68% was outstanding and comparable to the prior year.
Turning to production. In auto, retention was 81%, while renewal premium change was slightly negative as we continue to incorporate sustained levels of profitability into our pricing. We remain pleased with the high-quality profile of the new business we're writing as we maintain our disciplined approach to managing base rate levels and further enhancing our sophisticated segmentation.
In homeowners and other, retention of 85% remained strong, while renewal premium change continued to moderate, reflecting strong profitability and replacement costs that are generally aligned with insured values. We were pleased that for the third consecutive quarter, new business premium was higher year-over-year, driven by our intentional and disciplined efforts to deploy property capacity. We continue to invest in strategic capabilities that will deliver sustainable profitable growth. At the same time, we're executing complementary marketplace actions that include expanding distribution by appointing new agents and actively pursuing book consolidation opportunities. These deliberate efforts, combined with our strong agent relationships, portfolio solutions for customers and industry-leading claim capabilities position us to be the undeniable choice for consumers and an indispensable partner for our agents.
To sum up, this was another great quarter for Personal Insurance on the bottom line, and we continue to focus on taking a measured, thoughtful approach to profitably growing our business over time. Now I'll turn the call back over to Abbe.
Abbe Goldstein
Thanks, Michael. We are ready to open up for Q&A.
Operator
[Operator Instructions]
Your first question comes from the line of Paul Newsome with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.
Abbe Goldstein
We can come back to Paul, maybe we'll take the next caller.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of David Motemaden with Evercore ISI.
질의응답
David Motemaden
Alan, you've discussed and Dan as well, you guys have discussed the durability of the $5.5 billion of underlying underwriting income. I didn't hear you guys say that again explicitly. And so it sounds like you guys are definitely on pace for that this year. But I'm wondering how you're thinking about that into next year, just given the moving pieces with the market cycle and where we are?
Alan Schnitzer
David, thanks for the question. We would absolutely reiterate the durability of underlying underwriting income. And just to give you a little color behind that. I mean putting in some historical context, we are a larger, more profitable company than we've been historically, strong competitive advantages with a strong value proposition demonstrated success with innovation and investing. We think AI gives us tremendous opportunity. And as I've been saying, I think I read for the first time in my 2022 annual letter, we think scale is going to be increasingly important. So we think all of that will continue to give us the ability to out select and out price. And so that gives us great confidence in the durability of the underlying underwriting impact.
Daniel Frey
David, it's Dan. The only thing I'd add to that is you shouldn't mean that doesn't mean it's not going to move a little bit one way or the other. The other comment that Alan has made relative to that metric is we don't know if 2027 is going to be a little higher than that, a little lower than that or flat. But the ZIP code that we're in now is just a completely different ZIP code than we used to be in, and we don't see any reason that that's likely to change.
David Motemaden
Got it. That's helpful. And then just maybe on the favorable PYD in Business Insurance. So it sounds like that was across all lines. So I'm assuming that, that included general liability. Could you just confirm that, maybe talk about which accident years you're seeing that? And maybe just how you guys are thinking about the level of IBNR that you guys have been putting up over the last few years?
Daniel Frey
Yes, David. So we feel great about where the balance sheet is, as we've said now for a couple of years. It was all lines across the board. So we saw favorability in commercial auto, commercial property, CMP, general liability, workers' comp, None of them were particularly outsized, although in aggregate, a number as big as we talked about on the call, is a very good result. So I would say we continue to be thoughtful about the reserves that we carry on the book, respectful of the long-term loss trends that should come out of the liability or the comp lines.
And as things emerge somewhat favorably to what we had provided for in our prior picks, we're getting PYD. But yes, across the board, including GL.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Gregory Peters with Raymond James.
Charles Peters
So I guess kind of building on the last question, but I'd like to see if you could give us some comments on your view of loss cost trend inside business insurance. And I guess I'm looking at it because I'm watching the renewal rate change premium slide down? And also, I was intrigued by your comments, Alan, about the commercial auto liability and the other casualty claims and the pressure you continue to see there. And I just kind of brought to my mind, are you foreshadowing another negative step change in sort of how the loss cost trend is moving in those lines?
Alan Schnitzer
No. Quite the contrary, actually. There's -- just looking at the loss environment broadly, I would say it's as we've expected. No surprises at all, whether we're talking about social inflation or anything else. And so no surprises at all in terms of the loss environment.
Charles Peters
Okay. I guess then a pivot this year -- this quarter's new development was the rollout of us. And obviously, there's other tech initiatives that are spooking the market with their potential to disrupt distribution. Maybe it's mostly focused in personal lines, but there is some crossover into the small and middle market commercial area, too. So maybe you could just step back and provide us some perspective on your value of your current agency distribution model? And maybe also give some nuggets on how you are working with these new initiatives to help get to your objectives.
Alan Schnitzer
Thanks for the question, Greg, Mike, you want to take that?
Michael Klein
Sure. I'll take it, Greg, because to your point, Muse in particular, at least today is mostly focused in the personal insurance space, certainly Greg's team and mine have been collaborating and he can chime in as well. The first thing I would say just broadly about Muse and AI assistance, it's early days, right? I mean the actual volume of observable activity is pretty minor. And I think there are a lot of things that could potentially impede the pace and scope of change there. We've got to pay attention to consumer adoption. We've got to work through technology and data dynamics. There's a variety of legal and regulatory considerations as we deal with these developments and work in this space.
And just to put a point on it, if and when you're engaging with an AI assistant, you got to confirm a number of things, right? First and foremost, is that AI assistant actually authorized by the consumer that's doing the shopping. Secondly, is the consumer affirming and confirming that the information provided is accurate. And third and probably most importantly, does the customer actually understand what they're buying. And those things aren't sort of particularly transparent and clear as you engage digitally in this space. And those considerations grow in importance with the size and the complexity of the asset or the risk that you're insuring.
So we're engaged in exploring the opportunities and the threats here. We're going to continue to test and learn and make sure that we're prepared to respond and we've been building digital capabilities across the organization for a really long time. On the commercial side, we've got Simply Business and Zen. In Personal Insurance, we've got Insurer Match and D2C. And I think we'll be prepared for wherever this goes.
Alan Schnitzer
Yes, Greg, I would just add to that, that if you look at a continuum of risk from the most complex to the least complex, the stuff that trades digitally today, and I do think it's important to remember that customers can trade digitally today, but the things that actually trade digitally are way over at the simplest end. It's renters, it's [indiscernible], it's that sort of stuff, you get mildly more complicated. People might use the technology to shop and do some price discovery, but very often, they opt out to talk to a person. And so unlike a lot of other commerce where you can imagine digital trading being more popular in a complicated domain like insurance. So far, it hasn't been the case. But to Michael's point, going back 20 years talking about D2C we contemplated the world would get more digital. And that's -- we didn't invest in D2C because we thought we were going to be a leader in D2C. We invested in D2C 20 years ago because we wanted to make sure we have the capabilities of a digital company.
We wanted -- certainly, we want to understand distribution, but we also wanted to understand how to engage with our distribution partners, how to service our customers. And then more recently, when we acquired Simply Business and [indiscernible], that was also with the thought that the world was going to be more digital. So you can get a sense of our view that we think this is going to be sort of a measured adoption to the extent there is adoption. But wherever it goes, we are very prepared for.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Tracy Benguigui with Wolfe Research.
Tracy Dolin-Benguigui
I want to go back to David's reserve development question. It sounds like you built conservative loss picks. So the loss experience might be more favorable to that. I'm just curious how much time needs to pass to assess that. I appreciate your confirmation. The releases came from GL and commercial auto. But I think it's important to have a better understanding of those accident years. I noticed in the 10-Q, you said that it was more recent year.
Daniel Frey
Yes. Tracy, it's Dan. So I don't know that I would use the word conservative when we came up with our loss picks. I think what we've tried to say is we're making certain that we're leaving a provision for the level of uncertainty that comes out of those long tail lines and more recent changes in development patterns and attorney rep rates and things like that.
Look, we had a number of years contribute to the favorability in PYD this year. I think if you just look at the gravity of where most of the reserves and particularly IBNR is it is naturally going to be in the most recent accident year. So I think not a big surprise there. You shouldn't read that as saying that we've changed our view in terms of whether there still needs to be consideration for and respect for the potential uncertainty in those lines and the health of the IBNR that we continue to maintain. But as quarter after quarter goes by, and we've seen things come in a little bit better. We we felt it was appropriate to take some reaction here. We certainly have not run to the other side of the boat.
Tracy Dolin-Benguigui
Okay. Got it. So select renewal premium change improved in the second quarter, but you gave that improvement back in the third quarter, and the slowdown was driven mostly by rather than exposure. So I'm just curious, which quarter was the anomaly and how we should be thinking about the underlying trend from here?
Greg Toczydlowski
Tracy, this is Greg. Yes, I did share with you last quarter that depending on what filings state-by-state get approved quarter-to-quarter, you can have some variation. And of course, you have separate accounts that are coming up for renewals in each quarter. So I wouldn't say 1 quarter was an aberration more than the other. Every day, we look at that business in terms of what the returns are in that business and what the pricing and new business needs to be, and that's how we execute.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Katie Sakys with Autonomous Research.
Katie Sakys
A quick one for me. Just kind of wanted to get your thoughts here on the Business Insurance segment. Premium growth results, I think, pro forma ex property quite a strong result there this quarter. If I think about where RPC has trended this year and might continue to trend going forward as well as Greg's prepared remarks on underwriting discipline. How are you guys thinking about growth momentum as you start looking at 2027 in BI.
Alan Schnitzer
I don't think we're going to give outlook on the top line other than to say we feel great about the execution and the growth we put on the books this quarter, and we feel like we've got all the capabilities and value proposition to continue to be successful executing in the market. So we're -- we feel great about next year, and we're optimistic, but we're going to stop short of indicating a trend or giving you a number.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Josh Shanker with Bank of America.
Joshua Shanker
Yes. The margins are fantastic, and I'm sure that you'd like to get every piece of business that fits your underwriting appetite, but the growth across a lot of lines is flattish or not moving very much. As you innovate with all these opportunities in technology and artificial intelligence, and you're able to save money, to what extent is the goal to pass those savings on to the customers to make your value proposition more attractive than your competitors in terms of price actions? Do you see an opportunity for you to outgrow your competitors by cutting costs with no impact on your margins?
Alan Schnitzer
Yes, Josh, I do think that there will be an opportunity for us to do that. We know that we are generating operating leverage. And just to -- just to give you a little bit of color into that. So there are some things that we know and we have a lot of confidence in. So let me give you a couple of examples. Our cost per unit of software development much improved. Our labor costs associated with first notice of loss down, our cost to service a policy has come down. There are just some areas where we know, and that goes into operating leverage. There are other areas where attribution is a little more difficult. So for example, we're very confident we're giving our underwriters better insights. And you can look at the excellent underwriting result, but it's hard to draw a very straight line from the improved insights for giving the underwriters and exactly that outcome. So it's a little bit harder to see that. But taking a step back, the combination of the ways that we can deploy the operating leverage and the benefits that we can't quantify are embedded in the results that we have. And if we decide that we want to redeploy some of those into pricing without compromising our return objectives, we'll do that.
Joshua Shanker
Well, do you have a confidence if we look 5 years out, you will be taking a greater share of your agent business overall, a higher percentage of their footprint, I guess, that you have right now?
Alan Schnitzer
Josh, it's really hard to look 5 years out, I think, in any business, but we've said for a long time that we think there are meaningful benefits of scale, including the ability to invest at the level that we're investing and I think the early benefits come through expenses and the loss ratio, so we'll see it in margins. And over time, that's going to translate into growth. So I do think that Travelers will be a consolidator of premium.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Mike Zaremski with BMO.
Michael Zaremski
In Commercial Lines, I don't believe there was any kind of color on RRC rate change drivers this quarter. If you would be willing to kind of just unpack whether there's any particular line or lines that kind of are driving the downwards trend line?
Alan Schnitzer
Yes. Let me just step back and just make a few observations about the overall pricing environment. If there is there's 1 word over the top to describe it, I would say it's stable. I'm not going to get into what RPC did by every single line, but just for example, the sequential change in our PC and property was small, it was very small. We're not prepared to call the bottom. Certainly, you couldn't call a bottom off 1 data point and who knows what's going to happen 90 days from now, but we were very pleased to see a very, very small change there. The sequential movement in RPC in the liability lines, and now I'm talking about GL umbrella was also modest. So all in all, pretty orderly. And we talk all the time about the fact that we execute 1 account at a time. We're looking at the next account and deciding whether we want it in the portfolio and at what price. And it's also just a reflection of the returns by line. If you look at by line pricing, retention and return, it's a perfectly rational picture across the board. It's just -- the execution couldn't be better.
Michael Zaremski
Got it. And my follow-up, just going back to A lot of the good color you've given on, kind of, Travelers innovation on the claims front and underwriting front. And I think, Alan, you talked specifically about expecting to bend the loss curve I believe, in casualty. If I juxtapose that with IBNR levels currently in the long-tail casualty line specifically commercial auto and commercial casualty, noncomp. Is it fair to say that the current IBNR are, kind of, higher than the company's long-term targets. And if you do bend the loss curve trend, the IBNR levels would kind of mean revert over many years, lower?
Daniel Frey
Mike, it's Dan. I'll try that. Look, I think 1 thing that's happened, especially if you want to look at the components of reserves between case and IBNR now versus 3 years ago or 5 years ago or 10 years ago, I don't think we're ever literally ever going to go back to the levels that we saw 10 years ago because attorney report is higher, that lengthens the tail, more claims come in later. So -- and that's really the point that we made a few years ago in 2024 when we started talking about an uncertainty provision to allow for the possibility that those trends would continue. And so when Alan referenced earlier in his comments, pressure on the loss cost, which somebody else asked about, that just means loss costs continue to go up, but they are not going up by any more than we anticipated than we anticipated in our picks. So I think the component of our ultimate loss pick is perfectly logical given the current development patterns. If, in fact, the actions that we're taking in our client organization, translate into a better outcome than for sure, there's going to be some IBNR that we ultimately don't need, but we are not projecting that as we sit here today.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Elyse Greenspan with Wells Fargo.
Elyse Greenspan
My first question is on the expense ratio guide. I think you guys said right, a little under 29 this year. And then guided to the same level next year. Understanding right this year is a little higher than expected on variable comp. But as we think about the next year or some improvements around AI maybe being offset by other things that you expect '27 to be more or less stable with where you're now expecting '26?
Daniel Frey
Yes, Elyse, it's Dan. So -- look the expense ratio, as we say all the time, we'll decide what we want the expense ratio to be and then dial into that number. A big component of that is what do we think we need the expense ratio to be in order to have a competitive position in the marketplace. And -- so we're pretty copacetic with where that is right now. As you mentioned, and as I said, keep in mind that pretty much the largest component of the expense ratio is commissions, which includes the contingent commission and the profit sharing. And so we're in a very strong position from a margin perspective. I don't expect that to reverse itself in the near term. So about where we are is pretty good with us for right now.
Elyse Greenspan
And then my second question is on the Business Insurance underlying loss ratio. That went up by about 50 basis points from last Q3. You guys didn't call it anything in the prepared remarks, so maybe there was nothing not significant, but was there a non-cat weather or anything else you would describe as the drivers of the year-over-year change there?
Daniel Frey
Yes, Elyse, it's Dan. So I think you're right in the first place, not a very big change and nothing in particular to call out. It's a great number, and it moved by about 0.5 point year-over-year, which could have easily moved to 0.5 point the other way. A bunch of stuff in there as there always is, the impact of pricing, product mix, there are changes in non-cat property losses. There's base year changes, there's the impact of strategic investments we're making, as Greg mentioned in his remarks again, but none of those things were particularly noteworthy this quarter.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Kligerman with TD Cowen.
Andrew Kligerman
I'm looking at Slide 7 of your presentation, and it just really strikes me how strong net investment income improved year after year. So the question is, is that now finally -- and your combined are fantastic. Is that going to start to weigh into your pricing? How are you thinking about net investment income with respect to pricing?
Alan Schnitzer
We do have a link between our expectation for net investment income and our insurance pricing. It's it's, of course, part of the model. Just a couple of things to think about, though, the portfolio turns over relatively slowly. So it takes a while to earn in. And as the risk-free rate goes up, our hurdle returns go up. So you, sort of, have to put all that into the blender to figure out what the impact is.
Andrew Kligerman
Got it. Personal Lines, so we saw renewal premium change go down 0.6% in auto, it was down 3% in auto, down 4% in homeowners. Could you talk a little bit about the competitive landscape in personal lines. And with all this competition, how are you defending the for? How are you going to keep if up rather than down?
Michael Klein
Sure, Andrew. It's Michael. I mean, I think the comments that I made in my prepared remarks are really key to what we're doing there. And to be clear, we're definitely not want to chase premium growth at all costs in any given short period of time, right? Our objective is to profitably grow this business over time. We do that by matching price to risk. And so you see that activity in the RPC numbers that you're looking at, right? In the third quarter of this year, we took about 10 rate decreases in auto. Again, still in that same low single-digit range that we've been talking about. But as we monitor our performance and look at loss costs, we adjust pricing.
So that's certainly a lever that we pull. We continue to make strategic investments in products and services and capabilities that make sure that we have the products and services our customers want to buy and our agents want to sell. And then we do quite a bit around distribution management, making sure that we've got the agents appointed that we need and that we are taking advantage of opportunities to solve problems for them.
When I talk about book consolidation opportunities, as an example, that's when we're working with an agent or a broker who's having issues with another carrier, and we talk to them about bringing that business over to travelers. So there are a number of things that we're doing from an appetite, pricing and distribution management standpoint, both to defend the force to use your words, but also to play offense to make sure that we're leveraging the capabilities we have to profitably grow the business over the long term.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Yaron Kinar with Mizuho.
Yaron Kinar
I want to start maybe with the cyber insurance. Just given hugging phase, AI agents, maybe more hacking activity and capabilities, is this the line of business that is a viable business line for the private market? Do you need maybe more government support or more systemic intervention here? How are you thinking about that?
Jeffrey Klenk
This is Jeff. As consistently highlighted by the Travelers Business Risk Index, Cyber is 1 of the most important topics that our customers are facing. It's a dynamic exposure, and it has been, and there's no question that the advanced AI models are adding to that dynamic. I'd remind you when you think about our portfolio, it's heavily weighted toward the middle market Main Street businesses. We've always been focused on limits management. If you look inside our book of business, a substantial majority of our limits are at $1 million or less. Those accounts that are above that are predominantly at $5 million or less. And that's before you take into account any reinsurance that we have in place, and cyber has always been one of our most heavily reinsured lines of business.
And then the last thing I'd share with you is that we've really invested heavily in risk control capabilities, including our acquisition of Corvus a few years ago that we've shared with you. We're not just assessing these accounts on the front end as we put them into the portfolio. We've got ongoing risk control capabilities to help them manage the risk. And so I think we are investing to address the exposure in partnership with our customers in many ways.
Alan Schnitzer
Yaron, to the extent that was a public policy question and a question about whether we need a government backstop. I don't really know. I mean there's active conversations about that now, and we'll see how that plays out.
Yaron Kinar
Okay. And then maybe going back a second to Business Insurance. So obviously, you see a little bit of noise quarter-over-quarter. But if I look at the year-to-date numbers, they're flat, right, on the combined ratio of the loss ratio. Is that kind of a fair way of thinking about where the company is today and what the expectations would be going forward?
Alan Schnitzer
We should start with the noise comment. I mean these are spectacular numbers. And so there really is no noise in them. There are, as always, a bunch of puts and takes, some things some things are favorable. Some things are going the other way, but this is a spectacular number.
Daniel Frey
And I think to Alan's earlier comment on top line, we're not going to give guidance on combined ratio expectations in any of the segments other than to reiterate, like the profitability of the business is really strong. We're generating all-time high levels of underlying underwriting income, and we think that's got some staying power.
Yaron Kinar
Okay. And just to be clear, I did not mean noise, right? I meant puts and takes to your point.
Alan Schnitzer
Thank you for the clarification.
Operator
We have time for 1 last question, and that question comes from the line of Matthew Heimermann with Citi.
Matthew Heimermann
I guess the question I had was just we're seeing more at an industry level scrutiny of just claim settlement practices in general. There's some litigation Oklahoma, California obviously has been active. I'm just curious, I know that your claims practices are unique to your company and the industry isn't necessarily represented a view. But I'm curious, just how you would frame the risk from continued scrutiny on practices? Just from a regulatory perspective, I have given me a value in the back of my head as -- I don't know if it's the right analog, but something similar where claims practices were scrutinized and you saw some changes on the back of it, both in terms of coverage and how companies operate.
Alan Schnitzer
Yes, let me just start, and you referenced our practices. I should just say there have been a couple of articles recently about this. One we weren't in at all, and the other, we were profiled as pretty favorable. So I just want to distinguish that from what's going on out there. Do you want to talk about close to that page and the things that could impact that, Michael?
Michael Klein
Yes, sure. I mean I think again, those couple of articles really focused on close without pay percentages across carriers. To Alan's point, in that first article, we looked favorable. That said, comparing close without paid percentages across carriers is very fragile. The definition of claims, when they're established, why they're established, what causes them to be paid with and without -- or close with and without payment vary from 1 insurer to the next just from a definitional standpoint. But you can have a claim filed and have the loss be below the deductible, for example, as a reason that, that claim gets closed without payment.
And then, I guess, to your broader question about seeing these cases in Oklahoma and other places against other carriers for their claim handling practices, just reinforcing Alan's comment. I mean we have well-established claim handling practices. They're grounded in the philosophy to pay what we owe to deliver exceptional customer experience and do that as efficiently and effectively as possible. And I would say our claim handling and our claim organization is the best in the business. We're proud of it. We hear from our agents and brokers that it's one of the reasons they are proud to represent and sell travelers. So I think we've really got a strong foundation in that space.
Alan Schnitzer
Matt, with all that said, let me try to answer your question. We are very active as a company and just an effort to be an honest broker out there in state capitals and with insurance commissioners and with the media and our trade association is very active in the same places, making sure that we're educating people and people understand the good work this industry does, the billions of dollars that we do pay out, the speed with which we pay it out, the risk control services that we provide. So we are very attentive to this as a topic of interest, and we are very engaged in speaking to it.
Matthew Heimermann
I appreciate that. If I could sneak one last in mindful of time is just is it fair to say then when you think about creating benchmarks for measuring the performance of your claims organization and how you organize it that, that's an internal effort rather than relying on third parties to shape practices and targets, et cetera.
Alan Schnitzer
I'm not exactly sure of the question, but I mean we certainly have our internal benchmarks and our service level objectives. For example, our objective is to close 90% of claims within 30 days after every catastrophe. And over the course of the year, we routinely achieve that objective. But our real objective is to pay what we owe and to pay it quickly. And we are very disciplined about that.
Matthew Heimermann
Yes, that's fair. I'm sorry, I butchered the question. I really meant the source of some of the litigation at least is use of third-party consultants shaping policies and procedures and other incentives within the organization, and that seems contrary to at least my historical recollection and experience with our company.
Alan Schnitzer
Yes. We and others endeavor to use the data that we have about the good work we do to rebut some of the data others are using to try to make the other case. I think this industry is highly responsible and disciplined. And we use the data that we have to make that case.
Operator
We have reached the end of our call. I will now turn the call back to Abbe Goldstein for closing remarks.
Abbe Goldstein
Thanks very much for joining us today. As always, if there's any follow-up, please reach out to Investor Relations, and have a good day.
Operator
This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.
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