Descartes' full-stack insurer profitable in 2024 with 152% growth

By Henry Gale

April 24 - (The Insurer) - Descartes Insurance, the full-stack insurer owned by parametric specialist Descartes Underwriting, grew its gross premiums by 152% in 2024 and recorded its first full-year profit, according to the company's solvency and financial condition report.

Paris-based Descartes Insurance wrote 16.6 million euros ($18.9 million) of gross premiums in 2024, up from 6.58 million euros in 2023, its first year of operation. Its net income after tax was 621,000 euros, after it posted a loss of 435,000 euros in 2023.

The insurer's combined ratio gross of reinsurance and brokerage commissions was 42% in 2024, down from 110% last year. The company attributed the reduction in combined ratio to low claims volumes and absorption of costs as the business grew.

Descartes said most of its premiums were classified as pecuniary loss, a category of the European Union's Solvency II framework that includes covers for business interruption and bad weather. It underwrites parametric coverage in European countries for reduced crop yields; weather events such as droughts, rainfall, frost and flooding; and cyberattacks that cause business shutdowns.

Descartes Underwriting was founded as an MGA in 2018 and launched subsidiary Descartes Insurance in December 2022. The group wrote more than $200 million in premiums in 2024, Descartes said in February.