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Slide 1: THE PROGRESSIVE CORPOR ATION JUNE 2004 repor t on LOSS R E SERV ING PR AC T ICE S
Slide 2: Preface The primary purpose of this report is to help interested stakeholders better understand our loss reserving process and how it affects our financial results. Consistent with Progressive’s culture of self-examination, our analysis of loss reserves demands continuous change and continuous improvement. Each section of this report focuses on a different aspect of our reserving process. • • Section I provides an overview of our financial objectives and results, and explains why accurate reserving is important Section II describes how reserve development affects our financial results, and how we have performed relative to our goal of having total reserves that are adequate and develop with minimal variation Section III defines the types of reserves, how they are related and how we analyze them Section IV describes how and why we estimate our required reserves by segment Section V presents the process enhancements we introduced in 2003 Section VI defines many of the terms we use throughout the report Sections VII and VIII in the Appendix present two case studies of segment reserve reviews -one for loss reserves and one for loss adjustment expense (LAE) reserves, including discussion of the issues we consider and the calculations involved • • • • • We enhanced our Report on Loss Reserving Practices this year in the following ways: • • • • • • Expanded our explanation of how reserve development impacts our financial results (in Section II) Added a section that summarizes our internal reporting of reserve development (in Section II) Expanded the terms that we define in Section VI Added more links to the Appendix throughout the report Added an illustration that explains how a change in closure rate influences the average adjuster case reserves and the average paid severity (in Section VII of the Appendix) Revised our case study of the Defense and Cost Containment (DCC) expense category of the LAE reserve review (in Section VIII of the Appendix) to include the enhancements we made to this analysis in 2003 Despite the technical nature of our reserve analysis, we strive to make this report as accessible and understandable as possible to a wide audience. We welcome your comments so that we may continue to enhance this report. Comments and questions should be directed to Kevin Rosenstein, Corporate Actuarial Manager at The Progressive Corporation, 6300 Wilson Mills Road, Mayfield Village, Ohio 44143 or e-mailed to kevin_rosenstein@progressive.com. 01-00102A (06-04) Copyright © Progressive Casualty Insurance Company. All Rights Reserved.
Slide 3: Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this report that are not historical fact are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those discussed herein. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, uncertainties related to estimates, assumptions and projections generally; inflation and changes in economic conditions (including changes in interest rates and financial markets); the accuracy and adequacy of the Company’s pricing and loss reserving methodologies; pricing competition and other initiatives by competitors; the Company’s ability to obtain regulatory approval for requested rate changes and the timing thereof; the effectiveness of the Company’s advertising campaigns; legislative and regulatory developments; the outcome of litigation pending or that may be filed against the Company; weather conditions (including the severity and frequency of storms, hurricanes, snowfalls, hail and winter conditions); changes in driving patterns and loss trends; acts of war and terrorist activities; court decisions and trends in litigation and health care and auto repair costs; and other matters described from time to time by the Company in releases and publications, and in periodic reports and other documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, investors should be aware that generally accepted accounting principles prescribe when a company may reserve for particular risks, including litigation exposures. Accordingly, results for a given reporting period could be significantly affected if and when a reserve is established for a major contingency. Reported results, therefore, may appear to be volatile in certain accounting periods.
Slide 4: Table of Contents Section I: About Progressive Our Business .............................................................................................................1 2003 Business Highlights ..........................................................................................1 Our Financial Objectives ...........................................................................................1 Relationship Between Loss Reserving and Pricing Functions ..................................2 Section II: About Reserves and Development Definition and Stated Goals.......................................................................................4 Calendar Year versus Accident Year ........................................................................4 Paid Development Patterns.......................................................................................5 Reserve Development ...............................................................................................6 External Reporting of Reserve Changes and Reserve Development .......................9 Internal Reporting of Reserve Changes and Reserve Development ......................10 Section III: Types of Reserves Loss Reserves .........................................................................................................11 Case Reserves ..............................................................................................11 Incurred But Not Recorded (IBNR) Reserves................................................14 Loss Adjustment Expense (LAE) Reserves ............................................................15 Salvage and Subrogation ........................................................................................16 Involuntary Market Operating Loss Reserves .........................................................16 Section IV: Estimating Loss Reserves Segmentation of Reserves for Analysis ..................................................................18 Projections of Ultimate Losses ................................................................................19 Section V: Process Enhancements Introduced in 2003 Analysis of LAE reserves.........................................................................................21 Allocation of IBNR reserves.....................................................................................22 New statistics to track adjuster estimates ...............................................................22 Additional segment reviews.....................................................................................22 Analysis models.......................................................................................................22 Communication........................................................................................................23 Monthly reporting by channel ..................................................................................23 Section VI: Terms and Definitions ...................................................................................24 Section VII: Case Study: Loss Reserve Review .................................................Appendix Section VIII: Case Study: Loss Adjustment Expense Reserve Review ...........Appendix
Slide 5: Section I – About Progressive Our Business Since the Progressive insurance organization began business in 1937, we have been innovators – growing into new markets and pioneering new ways to meet consumers’ needs. In 1956, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company was founded to be among the first specialty underwriters of nonstandard auto insurance. Today, The Progressive Corporation’s insurance subsidiaries and affiliate (collectively referred to as “Progressive” or the “Company”) offer competitive rates and 24-hour, in-person and online services to drivers throughout the United States. We seek to become Consumers’ No. 1 Choice for Auto Insurance through creation of a consumer proposition that is faster, fairer and better than any competitive offering. The Company predominantly writes insurance for personal and commercial automobiles, as well as motorcycles, recreation vehicles and watercraft. Our business is generated by the Company’s network of more than 30,000 independent insurance agencies and insurance brokers, or is written directly by the Company via the telephone (1-800-PROGRESSIVE) or the Internet (progressive.com). 2003 Business Highlights In the words of our President and CEO Glenn Renwick, “Sometimes things just click − in 2003 things clicked for Progressive.” In addition to being the third largest private passenger auto insurer in the country, we solidified our position as the third largest commercial auto carrier. The profitable growth phase of the insurance cycle continued for the Company. We surpassed the $10 billion premium milestone in 2003, as net written premiums grew 26%. The premium growth was driven by improved customer retention and increased new business applications. We performed over 200 rate and program revisions designed to maintain rate adequacy and reflect our best rating science in the markets we serve. We attained a 12.7% underwriting margin, which was assisted by automobile accident frequency falling to the lowest level in recent history. Our underwriting expense ratio of 19.9% was an improvement of 1.6 points from the previous year. Our Financial Objectives At Progressive, we measure ourselves against two specific goals designed to maximize the value of our Company. Our most important goal is for our insurance subsidiaries to produce an aggregate calendar year 4% underwriting profit. Second, we seek to grow our business as fast as possible so long as doing so is consistent with our profitability objective and our ability to provide high quality service to our customers. We communicate these two corporate goals to every Progressive employee and work together to achieve these goals. In 2003, our achievement of these two goals resulted in a Return on Shareholders Equity (ROE) of 29.1%1 and a Comprehensive ROE of 35.0%2. 1 2 Based on net income. Use of Comprehensive ROE is consistent with the Company’s policy to manage on a total return basis and reflects changes in unrealized gains and losses on securities held in our portfolio. For Progressive, Comprehensive ROE consists primarily of: [Net income + changes in unrealized security gains, net of tax] / [average shareholders’ equity]. To review all components of Progressive’s Comprehensive ROE, refer to our Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity and related Notes in our 2003 Annual Report to Shareholders, which is attached as an appendix to the Company’s 2004 Proxy Statement. Page 1
Slide 6: Loss reserving is an activity that is central to the achievement of our goals. It involves estimating the magnitude and timing of future claim payments on accidents that have already occurred. These estimates take into account not only claims that are in the process of being settled, but also claims on accidents that have happened but have not yet been reported to the Company. At year-end 2003, Progressive’s estimated gross loss and LAE reserves amounted to $4.6 billion. Accurate reserving is important for capital adequacy, investment strategy and pricing. Our Risk Management area identifies, quantifies and in some instances manages risks to which Progressive is subject. We define risk as the chance that actual events turn out to be significantly different than expected and result in a loss of capital. We classify our risks into the following three categories, listed with their associated goals: • • • Underwriting -- maintaining an adequate profit on insurance operations Financing -- maintaining adequate capital to support growth Investing -- maintaining a liquid, diversified investment portfolio that withstands adverse market trends Loss reserving is an underwriting risk because significant variations in loss reserve estimates will affect our underwriting profit. Relationship Between Loss Reserving and Pricing Functions Unlike most industries, insurers do not know their costs until well after a sale has been made. One of the most important functions in our Company, therefore, is setting rates or “pricing.” The goal of our pricing function is to properly evaluate future risks the Company will assume but have not yet written. Estimates of future claim payments are essential for accurately measuring Progressive’s underwriting profit and for determining whether pricing changes are needed to achieve the Company’s target four percent underwriting profit. Reserve estimates that are too low can lead to the conclusion that pricing is adequate when it is not, so we may fail to achieve our underwriting target in future periods, and we may experience unprofitable growth. Reserve estimates that are too high may limit growth opportunities and establish a price umbrella for competitors. Our product-focused business units continue to seek ways to advance the science of rate making to achieve accurate cost-based pricing at the lowest level our data will support. This allows us to more accurately match our rates with expected loss costs by risk classification. The role of the pricing function is to determine rates that are adequate to achieve our profitability goals without being excessive or unfairly discriminatory to our customers. Although the pricing function is very different from the loss reserving function, both functions use similar data to do their jobs. Typical information that the loss reserving area shares with the pricing organization includes: • • • • • • • • • Overall changes in the level of reserves by type of reserve (see Section III) History of claim development and selected ultimate losses by accident period Changes in selected ultimate loss amounts over time Selected severity by historical accident period and resulting trends Selected frequency by historical accident period and resulting trends Changes in actuarially determined case average reserves by age Changes in the level of average adjuster-set case reserve estimates Changes in claim closure rates Changes in the rate of claims closed without payment (CWP rate) Page 2
Slide 7: Judgments made by both the loss reserving and pricing areas consider additional issues. Growth and process changes may cause claims to settle faster or slower than previous experience. Changes made by state insurance departments and changes in the underwriting process may also contribute to unexpected changes in the data. We use a cost-plus strategy in pricing, beginning with the projected ultimate losses and loss adjustment expenses (LAE). Pricers estimate the ultimate losses and LAE for each coverage for the state under review. Their projection methods are similar to those used by the loss reserving area, as described in Section IV. Trend selections have a significant impact on how much the rates will change. Changes in the average cost of a claim (severity trend) and changes in the proportion of insured cars that have a claim (frequency trend) are analyzed and selected. The loss reserving team meets regularly with the product management, pricing and claims teams to discuss these issues. Page 3
Slide 8: Section II – About Reserves and Development Definition and Stated Goals Reserves are liabilities established on the Company’s balance sheet as of a specific accounting date and are estimates of the unpaid portion of what the Company ultimately expects to pay out on claims. They are estimates of future payments for insured events (claims) that occurred prior to the accounting date, whether or not those claims have been reported to the Company. These estimates are reported net of the amounts recoverable from salvage and subrogation. Loss reserves are the Company’s best estimate of future payments to claimants, and loss adjustment expense (LAE) reserves are the estimated future expense payments to adjust the claims. The types of reserves are explained further in Section III. We estimate the needed reserves based on facts and circumstances known at the time of the reserve evaluation. There is inherent uncertainty in the process of establishing property and casualty loss and LAE reserves, caused in part by changes in the Company’s mix of business (by state, policy limit, etc.), changes in claims staffing and claims processes, inflation on automobile repair costs and medical costs, changes in state legal and regulatory environments, and judicial decisions regarding lawsuits, expanded theories of liability, and interpretation of insurance policy provisions. Our goal is to ensure that total reserves are adequate to cover all loss costs while sustaining minimal variation from the time reserves are initially established until claims are fully paid and closed. The Corporate Actuary is accountable for the reserve adequacy and accuracy. The loss reserving area reports to the Corporate Actuary and is part of the corporate finance department. Product management and pricing are in the four marketing areas -- Agency, Direct, Commercial Auto and Special Lines (RV, motorcycle, boat). The loss reserving area works closely with the marketing and claims areas to fully understand the underlying data used in our reviews. The Corporate Actuary uses this information to make the reserving decisions independent of the marketing and claims areas. In order to make the most accurate estimation, we analyze our reserves by segment, defined as specific state/product/coverage groupings with reasonably similar loss characteristics. Reserve estimation and segmentation are further explained in Section IV, and our analysis of reserves is described in greater detail in the Appendix, which presents reserve reviews for losses and loss adjustment expenses for sample segments, including discussion of the issues we consider during the analysis and the calculations involved. Calendar Year versus Accident Year Financial statements report data on a calendar year basis. However, payments and reserve changes may be made on accidents that occurred in prior years, thus not giving an accurate picture of the business that is currently insured. Therefore, it is important to understand the difference between calendar year and accident year losses. (Note that calendar year and accident year concepts may apply to periods other than annual periods, but the term “year” is often used generically). Calendar Period Losses consist of payments and reserve changes that are recorded on the Company’s financial records during the period in question, without regard to the period in which the accident occurred. Calendar period results do not change after the end of the period, even as new claim information develops. Page 4
Slide 9: Accident Period Losses consist of payments and reserves that are assigned to the period in which the accident occurred. Accident period results will change over time as the estimates of losses change due to payments and reserve changes for all accidents that occurred during that period. Projection of ultimate losses by accident period is an important part of the reserve analysis. Paid Development Patterns Incurred losses consist of payments and reserve changes, so it is important to understand paid development patterns. The longer a claim is expected to stay open (not settled), the more difficult it is to establish an accurate reserve at the time the accident is reported. Since injury claims tend to take longer to settle than property claims, reserve estimates for injury claims are more sensitive to the uncertainties mentioned above, such as changes in mix of business, inflation, and legal, regulatory and judicial issues. As more information is obtained about claims, the reserves are revised accordingly, however, the ultimate amount is not known until the claims are settled and paid. The following chart compares the time it takes to settle a bodily injury liability claim vs. a property damage liability claim. Exhibit 1 Paid Development Patterns Bodily Injury and Property Damage Claims 99.6% 100% 91.0% 97.4% 92.6% 80% 82.9% 99.9% 99.9% 99.9% Percent Paid 60% 63.5% 40% 20% 26.2% 0% 0 1 2 3 4 Bodily Injury Cumulative % Paid 5 Years of Development Property Damage Cumulative % Paid Page 5
Slide 10: Reserve Development Ultimate paid losses and loss adjustment expenses may deviate, perhaps substantially, from point-in-time estimates of reserves contained in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s actual claim payments may exceed or may be less than its loss reserves causing the Company to incur losses in subsequent calendars years that are higher or lower than anticipated. Changes in the estimated ultimate cost of claims are referred to as development. There are several ways for reserve development to occur. They are: • • • • Claims settle for more or less than the established reserves for those claims Adjuster-set reserve estimates on open (reported) claims change Average reserves set by the actuaries for open (reported) claims change Unreported claims emerge (reported after the accounting date) at a rate greater or less than anticipated. This can be due to either or both of the following: o The actual number (frequency) of “late reported” claims differs from the estimate o The average amount (severity) of these claims differs from the estimate Actuaries’ estimates of future emergence patterns on unreported claims change Salvage and subrogation recoveries are greater or less than anticipated • • Exhibit 2 illustrates our reserve development over the past ten years. It shows our booked reserves at each year-end, and the re-estimated reserves at each subsequent year-end (down the column for each original accounting date). The last “diagonal” on the chart represents our evaluation as of December 31, 2003, of reserves for each respective year-end. The difference between the current evaluation (last diagonal) and the original booked amount of reserves in each column represents cumulative reserve development for that accident year and all prior accident years combined. This measures our performance against the goal, stated above, that total reserves are adequate and develop with minimal variation. Exhibit 2 Analysis of Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense (LAE) Development (in millions of dollars) (not covered by report of independent accountants) For years ended Dec. 31, Loss and LAE reserves, net 1993 1,012.4 1994 1,098.7 1995 1,314.4 1996 1,532.9 1997 1,867.5 1998 1,945.8 1999 2,200.2 2000 2,785.3 2001 3,069.7 2002 3,632.1 2003 4,346.4 Re-estimated reserves as of: One year later Two years later Three years later Four years later Five years later Six years later Seven years later Eight years later Nine years later Ten years later Cumulative Development: Conservative/(Deficient) % of Original Reserves 869.9 837.8 811.3 794.6 782.9 780.1 788.6 787.5 787.0 787.7 1,042.1 991.7 961.2 940.6 945.5 952.7 952.6 949.7 950.9 1,208.6 1,149.5 1,118.6 1,137.7 1,153.3 1,150.1 1,146.2 1,147.4 1,429.6 1,364.5 1,432.3 1,451.0 1,445.1 1,442.0 1,445.6 1,683.3 1,668.5 1,673.1 1,669.2 1,664.7 1,674.5 1,916.0 1,910.6 1,917.3 1,908.2 1,919.0 2,276.0 2,285.4 2,277.7 2,272.3 2,686.3 2,708.3 2,671.2 3,073.2 3,024.2 3,576.0 224.7 22.2% 147.8 13.5% 167.0 12.7% 87.3 5.7% 193.0 10.3% 26.8 1.4% (72.1) (3.3)% 114.1 4.1% 45.5 1.5% 56.1 1.5% Page 6
Slide 11: In every year shown other than 1999, the original reserves were conservative, resulting in subsequent favorable development. In other words, claims will cost us less than we originally estimated. Reserves that are conservative can lead to over-pricing, which may limit growth opportunities and establish a price umbrella for competitors. Reserves that are deficient can lead to under-pricing, which may contribute to unprofitable growth. It is important to recognize both favorable and unfavorable development as quickly as possible, so that these inefficiencies are corrected. Note that we recognized our 1999 reserve deficiency and moved to an adequate reserve position within the next year. The favorable reserve development from 1993 through 1998 was primarily due to decreasing bodily injury severity. This period of decreasing severity for the Company was not only longer than that generally experienced by the industry, but also longer than at any time in the Company’s history. The reserves established as of the end of each year assumed that the current accident year’s severity would increase over the prior accident year’s estimate. As the experience continued to be evaluated at later dates, the realization of the decreased severity resulted in favorable reserve development. Reserves developed favorably during 2003 (as shown at the bottom of the 2002 column), with $56.1 million or 1.5% favorable development from accident years prior to 2003, which represents 0.5% of our 2003 earned premium. This level of reserving accuracy contributes to the Company’s solid pricing data, which supports our efforts to maintain rate adequacy. The majority of the favorable development during 2003 was driven by a change in the amount of business assigned from the New York Automobile Insurance Plan. We make many projections in loss reserve analyses, which may change as the claims mature. The least mature claims are those that occurred during the most recent accident year, so the Company believes that the estimated severity for the 2003 accident year is the projection with the highest likelihood of change. If the Company were to change its estimate of severity by 1% for accident year 2003, the required reserves would change by approximately $41 million. For further discussion of the 2003 results, and how they are affected by loss and LAE reserves, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s 2003 Annual Report to Shareholders, which is attached as an appendix to the Company’s 2004 Proxy Statement. Note the following points regarding unpredictability in establishing our reserve liability: • • • Reserve development on claims that settle more slowly (e.g., bodily injury liability claims) can be highly variable and extremely difficult to evaluate. Regardless of how close our initial accident year estimates are, we will never get them exactly right, and there will always be development until all claims are settled. During years in which we experience significant reserve development in either direction, we learn from that experience, and are better at estimating future reserves. In addition, loss reserves can only be established for events that have already occurred. P&C companies cannot establish a reserve for a hurricane, hail, flood or other catastrophic event that may occur later in the year. This can cause substantial fluctuations in monthly results when catastrophic events do occur. Page 7
Slide 12: Reserve development influences reported earnings. Current year reported earnings would be under-stated when either or both of the following happen (and the relative impact of each): • • There is unfavorable development of prior accident years during the current year. Reserves for accidents in the current year are over-estimated (conservative). On the other hand, current year reported earnings would be over-stated when the opposite of these items is true. Exhibit 3 shows how reported earnings per share (EPS) are affected by the reserve development in Exhibit 2. It shows the reported EPS and what the EPS would have been if there was no reserve development. In other words, current year earnings would be based on only current year accidents. Each year’s adjusted EPS excludes prior accident years’ development during the current year and includes future development of only the current accident year. (Note that in our prior years’ Reports on Loss Reserving Practices, this adjustment included future development of current and prior accident years.) The following examples describe this relationship for three of the years shown on the exhibits. • In 1998, the reported earnings were over-stated. This was mainly due to year-end 1997 reserves (for accident years 1997 and prior) developing favorably during 1998, reducing incurred losses and increasing earnings during calendar year 1998. In 1999, the reported earnings were also over-stated. In this case it was mainly due to the under-estimated (deficient) reserves for 1999 accidents. In 2000, the reported earnings were under-stated. This was due to a combination of the year-end 1999 reserves (for accident years 1999 and prior) developing unfavorably during 2000, and the reserves for 2000 accidents being over-estimated (conservative). • • Exhibit 3 6.00 Earnings Per Share Impact of Reserve Development 5.69 5.52 5.00 Earnings Per Share (Dollars) 4.00 2.99 3.02 3.00 2.09 2.04 1.83 1.54 1.32 1.14 1.03 0.76 0.21 1.63 2.00 1.38 1.20 0.97 1.09 1.15 1.77 1.00 0.00 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Earnings Per Share on Calendar Year Basis (Reported) Earnings Per Share on Accident Year Basis Page 8
Slide 13: External Reporting of Reserve Changes and Reserve Development Since reserve changes affect earnings, we feel it is important to disclose reserve adjustments monthly as part of the Company’s earnings release. Beginning in January 2003, we have shown actuarial reserve changes by line (Personal Lines, Commercial Auto and Other) and by distribution channel (Agency and Direct for Personal Lines). In January 2004, we started disclosing reserve development monthly, in addition to the quarterly statutory reporting requirement. This information for the current month and year-to-date is included in the “Supplemental Information” section of our monthly earnings releases. The following data is from our March 2004 earnings release and is unaudited: March 2004 Year-to-Date ($ in millions) Net Premium Earned Actuarial Adjustments Total Calendar Year Adjustment Favorable/(Unfavorable) Reserve Decrease/(Increase) Prior accident years Current accident year Calendar year actuarial adjustment Prior Accident Years Development Favorable/(Unfavorable) Actuarial adjustment All other development Total development Calendar year loss/LAE Ratio Accident year loss/LAE Ratio Companywide Total $3,093.5 $11.5 $11.4 0.1 $11.5 $11.4 (34.3) $(22.9) 63.5 62.8 The table shows that we decreased our loss and LAE reserves during the first 3 months of 2004 by $11.5 million as a result of regularly scheduled actuarial reviews. Each month, we generally complete between 50 and 80 segment reviews, representing 25 to 35 percent of our total reserves. Some reviews result in increases to the carried reserves while others result in decreases. The total change is reported as “Actuarial Adjustments” in the table. A reserve decrease is shown as a positive value on the earnings report because it increases our earnings for the reporting period. Through March 31, 2004, $11.4 million of the actuarial reserve decrease was for claims in prior accident years, while the remaining $0.1 million decrease was for claims in the current accident year. However, the actuarial reserve decrease of $11.4 million that applies to claims in prior accident years is only part of the total development. The total prior accident years’ development through March 31, 2004, was unfavorable by $22.9 million. In other words, we now estimate that our reserves as of December 31, 2003, should have been $22.9 million higher than they were, based on updated information. As stated earlier in this section, favorable or unfavorable development is due to a combination of claims settling for more or less than the established reserves, changes to adjuster-set reserve estimates and averages on open claims, actual and estimated emergence of claims that were unreported as of the prior year-end, and salvage and subrogation recoveries greater or less than Page 9
Slide 14: expected. Note that the items in bold print are those that are included in actuarial adjustments. The other items are included in “all other development.” The $22.9 million unfavorable prior accident years’ development as of March 31, 2004 is included in our current calendar year results. As a result, our current calendar year incurred loss and LAE ratio of 63.5% is higher than our current accident year incurred loss and LAE ratio of 62.8%. The difference of 0.7 points reflects the $22.9 million unfavorable development through March 31, 2004, divided by the net earned premium of $3,093.5 million. It is not unusual that we decreased reserves for prior accident years (per the actuarial reviews) at the same time that total development was unfavorable. This situation can occur due to timing differences in the segments we review, as well as relative changes and development by reserve component -- loss case, loss IBNR and LAE (which are described in Section III). Reserve changes made as a result of actuarial reviews are intended to keep our current reserve liability adequate for the segments reviewed. We change the reserves for the reviewed segments based upon current information and our projections of expected future development. This is not the same as the aggregate development of prior year-end reserves. There are fluctuations in our monthly development, but Exhibit 2 shows how accurate our reserve estimates have been over the prior two year-ends (2001 and 2002). These prior two years have each developed favorably by about 1.5% as of year-end 2003, which is significantly less variation than most years in the Company’s recent history. Internal Reporting of Reserve Changes and Reserve Development After we complete each segment review, our loss reserving analysts send summaries of our reviews to all affected areas of the Company. For most state reviews, the loss reserving group meets with product management, pricing, and claims to exchange information regarding development, trend and other issues considered in arriving at the reserve change. Their participation is important so we can better understand changes in processes and business operations that may be affecting the underlying paid and incurred data. To help product management understand the case reserve changes shown on their income statements, we provide monthly “Decomposition (Decomp) Reports” that summarize the changes in the following categories. (Note that these terms are explained in Sections III and VI.) • • • • • • • • • • Features that closed Features that opened (including reopened features) Changes in reserve averages on new features (due to loss reserving) Changes in reserve averages on open features (due to loss reserving) Inflationary impact on open features (inflation factor applied to average reserves) Aging of open features (changing age groupings) Changes from adjuster-set to average reserve (reserve amount changes from above threshold to below threshold) Changes from average reserve to adjuster-set (reserve amount changes from below threshold to above threshold) Changes in adjuster-set reserves (reserve amount changes but stays above threshold) Changes due to resegmentation of data The business units are also provided with updated information regarding the impact of prior accident years’ development on their current calendar year results. We track case reserve development (on claims reported as of the prior year-end) separately from IBNR reserve development (on claims unreported as of the prior year-end). This allows us to retrospectively test our prior assumptions and apply that knowledge in future judgments. It also helps the business managers better understand how their earnings are affected by reserve development. Page 10
Slide 15: Section III – Types of Reserves Reserves are considered an operating liability on our balance sheet. At the end of 2003, we reported a $4.6 billion reserve liability ($4.3 billion net of reinsurance) on our balance sheet. We separate reserves into two categories -- loss and loss adjustment expense (LAE). While each of these two reserve categories is reported in aggregate on the balance sheet, when we analyze loss reserves, we further break them into two distinct types of reserves -- case and IBNR (Incurred But Not Recorded). In this section, we discuss these reserve types and how we evaluate them in order to get the total reserve balance as accurate as possible. Exhibit 4 is a chart illustrating the types of reserves as a percent of our total reserve liability. As you can see, 81% of our reserve liability (Loss case + Loss IBNR) is set aside to pay claimants while 19% of our reserve liability (LAE case + LAE IBNR combined) is established to accommodate costs associated with adjusting those claims. These costs are described in more detail later in this section. Exhibit 4 Reserve Distribution: Progressive Insurance (12/31/03) Total LAE 19% Loss Case 63% Loss IBNR 18% Loss Case Loss IBNR Total LAE Loss Reserves We evaluate our total indicated loss reserve need by sorting and analyzing claims by accident date. This analysis, discussed in detail in Section VII of the Appendix, is done concurrently with the evaluations of case and IBNR reserves for the same segments of business. Case Reserves Loss case reserves represented 63% of our total carried reserves at December 31, 2003. Case reserves are used to pay claims that have already been reported and recorded into Progressive's systems, but have not yet been fully paid. We evaluate our indicated case reserve need, as discussed in Section VII of the Appendix, by sorting and analyzing claims by record date, or the date the claim was recorded by the Company. For each open claim, the case reserve that is carried on the Company’s books (the financial reserve) is either an average reserve (determined by the actuaries) or an adjuster-set reserve. Average Reserves: All open claims estimated to cost the Company less than a certain dollar threshold (explained below) are assigned an average reserve, regardless of the individual claim characteristics. When a claim is first recorded by the Company, there may not be enough known Page 11
Slide 16: about the claim for an adjuster to determine its severity. The use of average reserves allows claims personnel to concentrate their efforts on adjusting claims rather than merely accounting for them. Therefore, use of average reserves provides more accurate financial reporting in aggregate, and they are not affected by changes in claims processes. The actuaries determine the average reserves, which vary by segment. Since we do not review all segments every month, we apply an inflation factor to our average reserves in all other months. The inflation factor is based upon our projected severity trend from the most recent actuarial analysis for that segment. Once an average reserve is assigned to a claim, we monitor the age of a claim. The age of a claim is defined as the length of time from the date of the accident to the current accounting date. The more severe bodily injury claims tend to remain open longer than less severe claims and tend to be more expensive due to litigation, medical treatments, etc. In order to recognize this cost differential, we generally increase the average reserves as the claims age. However, the averages for property damage, comprehensive and collision claims are not increased for age, since these claims tend to settle more quickly, and the length of time since the accident is not normally related to their severity. Threshold: Our objective is to use the average reserve for claims that have a more predictable level of severity. However, the amount we pay for claims above a certain dollar threshold (which varies by coverage) can vary significantly depending on individual claim characteristics. For claims above the threshold we depend on the adjuster-set reserve rather than the average reserve. Adjuster-Set Reserves: When the claims adjuster’s estimate of the cost of a claim is above the threshold, the financial reserve includes this estimate rather than the average reserve. The adjuster-set reserves more accurately estimate our ultimate liability for claims in excess of the threshold because the adjusters have typically spent a great deal of time on these larger claims and understand their unique characteristics. While only about 2% of our total open claim count for personal auto bodily injury is above the current threshold, these same claims represent about 20% of our total personal auto BI case reserve liability. Additional Needed Case Reserves (ANCR): We carry additional needed case reserves (ANCR) to cover expected future development of claims above the threshold. ANCR is an actuarially determined reserve that is mechanically allocated across segments using ANCR factors. ANCR factors vary by segment and by age, and are applied to bodily injury and uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury reserves in excess of the threshold (or slightly below the threshold – see example). These factors decrease as the claims age since more information is known about claims as they age, plus more claims emerge into this layer over time so the need for this reserve diminishes. We determine the ANCR during our segment review process by analyzing the development of claims over the threshold. Example: Exhibits 5 and 6 illustrate the life of a hypothetical auto bodily injury claim. When the claim was originally recorded, we assigned the actuarially determined average reserve. As the claim aged from the time it was recorded in February through the end of September, the average reserve changed due to inflation, actuarial reserve reviews and aging. Over this same period of time, the adjuster increased the reserve estimate (red line) multiple times as more information was obtained about the claim. Once the adjuster increased the reserve to just below the sample threshold of $75,000 (light blue line), the ANCR factor was applied. The resulting reserve amount exceeded the threshold of $75,000, so the booked reserve changed from an average reserve to an adjuster-set reserve. Note that the ANCR factor is mechanically applied to this claim in order to allocate the additional needed case reserves. It is not intended to improve the accuracy of individual claims. Page 12
Slide 17: Exhibit 5 Example of Case Reserving Over the Life of a Large Auto Bodily Injury Claim Private Passenger Automobile Policy Limit = 300,000 Sample Threshold = 75,000 Inflation Factor = 6% per year (Excludes Loss Adjustment Expense) Case Reserve Carried on Company Books Month End Transaction Date 1/5/01 Claim Activity Accident Occurs Age of Claim (months)* 1 1 2 2 2 3 Adjuster Estimate of Claim Amount N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 80,000 80,000 80,000 80,000 80,000 90,000 N/A Amount Paid 0 Explanation of Reserve Change Jan-01 2/12/01 2/15/01 Feb-01 Mar-01 Apr-01 5/20/01 May-01 Jun-01 July-01 8/10/01 Aug-01 Sep-01 10/25/01 Oct-01 Nov-01 Dec-01 Jan-02 Feb-02 3/10/02 Mar-02 Apr-02 May-02 Jun-02 7/15/02 Jul-02 Claim is Paid Adjuster revises estimate Adjuster revises estimate Adjuster revises estimate Adjuster sets up reserve Claim is Reported Claim is Recorded IBNR only 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90,000 90,000 5,829 7,121 7,157 8,391 8,433 9,789 10,250 10,301 87,500 87,500 87,500 80,500 80,500 92,000 92,000 88,000 88,000 0 Aggregate amount based on factor of EP for Segment Claim is in "Pipeline"; Still IBNR No estimate yet made by adjuster Actuarially determined Average Reserve for 1-2 mo. Age group Aging to 3-4 mo. Age group & Inflation Inflation This is below the Effective Threshold** Actuarial review & Aging to 5-6 mo. Age group Inflation Aging to 7-12 mo. Age group & Inflation This is below the Effective Threshold** Actuarial review revised Averages Inflation ANCR Factor for 7-12 mo. Age group = 1.25 (70,000) X (1.25) is greater than 75,000 Inflation NOT applied to adjuster-set reserves ANCR Factor for 13-24 mo. Age group = 1.15 (70,000) X (1.15) is still greater than 75,000 (80,000) X (1.15) Actuarial review revised ANCR Factor to 1.10 (80,000) X (1.10) Claim is Closed 4 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 10 11 12 13 14 15 15 16 17 18 19 19 * Age = [(# days since accident) / (30 days)] rounded up to the next whole number ** Effective threshold is (75,000) / (ANCR factor for age of claim) Exhibit 6 Example of Case Reserving Over the Life of a Large Auto Bodily Injury Claim Accident Occurred in January, 2001 Recorded in February, 2001 Claim Settled in July, 2002 for $90,000 100,000 Adjuster Estimate + ANCR 90,000 Case Reserve Amount 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 Ja n01 Fe b01 M ar -0 1 Ap r-0 1 M ay -0 1 Ju n01 Ju l-0 1 Au g01 Se p01 Oc t-0 1 No v01 De c01 Ja n02 Fe b02 M ar -0 2 Ap r-0 2 M ay -0 2 Ju n02 Average Reserves set by Actuaries; Changes due to Aging, Inflation, Reviews $75,000 Threshold Month-End Case Reserve Carried on Company Books Adjuster Estimate of Claim Amount Page 13
Slide 18: Incurred But Not Recorded (IBNR) Reserves We establish a reserve for claims we will be required to pay but they have not been reported by the claimants or recorded by the Company as of the accounting date. Incurred But Not Recorded (IBNR) Reserves are estimates of amounts needed to pay for these claims. At year-end 2003, the loss IBNR reserves were 18% of our total carried reserves. We evaluate our IBNR reserve need by the same segmentation process we use for case reserves. We perform this analysis by sorting historical claims according to the time lag between the accident dates and the dates that these claims were recorded by the Company. The case study in Section VII of the Appendix shows a detailed IBNR reserve analysis. Late reported claims are evaluated to determine the estimated ultimate losses for each accident quarter within each lag period. For example, "lag 1" consists of claims for which the accidents occurred during one quarter but were not recorded until the next quarter. Similarly, "lag 2" consists of all claims for which the accidents occurred during one quarter but they were recorded by the Company two quarters later. “Lag 0” claims were recorded in the same quarter they occurred. Exhibit 7 below shows our approximate percent of recorded features by record quarter lag for auto bodily injury. This exhibit shows that more than 82% of our features are reported by the claimant and recorded in our systems by the end of the quarter in which they occurred. However, that means about 18% of the features are not yet recorded and we therefore need to estimate IBNR reserves for these claims. Exhibit 7 Countrywide Auto Bodily Injury RECORDED FEATURE COUNT Lag Quarters* Incremental % 82.1% 13.6% 2.4% 1.1% 0.5% 0.3% Cumulative % 82.1% 95.7% 98.1% 99.2% 99.7% 100.0% Lag 0 Lag 1 Lags 2-3 Lags 4-6 Lags 7-9 Lags 10+ * Record Quarter = Accident Quarter Plus Lag Page 14
Slide 19: IBNR reserves are recorded at the end of each month (by segment) by applying IBNR factors to each 3-month-ending period of earned premium for the past 3 to 4 years. The largest IBNR factors are in the most recent accident periods, which makes sense because the greatest IBNR reserve need is for these accident periods. As our premium volume increases, our IBNR reserves also increase, which allow these reserves to keep up with growth and inflation. Loss Adjustment Expense (LAE) Reserves In addition to loss payments (which indemnify the claimants), the Company incurs expenses in the process of settling claims. Therefore, we need to estimate a reserve liability for loss adjustment expenses (LAE). At year-end 2003, the LAE reserves were 19% of our total carried loss and LAE reserves. There are two major categories of loss adjustment expenses -- Defense and Cost Containment (DCC) and Adjusting & Other (A&O). We review the LAE reserves by segment two times per year. These evaluations of DCC expense reserves and A&O expense reserves are performed independently of each other. Defense and Cost Containment (DCC) includes all defense and litigation-related expenses, as well as medical cost containment expenses. This category is comparable to, but not exactly the same as, what was called Allocated Loss Adjustment Expenses (ALAE) prior to the definition change by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in 1998. We evaluate our total indicated DCC expense reserve need by sorting and analyzing these expenses by accident date. We enhanced our analysis during 2003 by splitting the DCC expenses into the “Attorney and Legal” and “Medical and Other” components. This enhancement is discussed in Section V. In addition, Section VIII of the Appendix contains a detailed explanation of our analysis. Most of the same mechanisms that are used to allocate loss case reserves are also used to allocate DCC case reserves. We determine average reserves by age within each segment. The older-aged claims (based on the time between accident date and accounting date) carry higher averages, and these averages are increased each month based upon a selected inflation factor. When the adjuster estimates the DCC reserve to be over a certain threshold, we carry the adjuster-set DCC reserve rather than the actuarially determined average reserve. Carried DCC IBNR reserves are calculated as a percentage of the carried loss IBNR reserves for each respective segment. Adjusting & Other (A&O) includes all claims adjusting expenses, whether internal or external to the Company. This includes fees, salaries and overhead expenses relative to those involved in a claim adjusting function, as well as other related expenses incurred in determination of coverage. This category is comparable to, but not exactly the same as, what was called Unallocated Loss Adjustment Expenses (ULAE) prior to the definition change by the NAIC in 1998. For A&O expense reserves, we evaluate our total indicated reserve need by comparing adjusting and other expense payments with loss payments over the past several calendar quarters. The selected ratios are applied to the loss reserves and then modified to derive indicated A&O expense reserves. Section VIII of the Appendix contains a detailed explanation of our analysis. We calculate our carried A&O case reserves by applying the selected average A&O expense reserve to each open claim. Carried A&O IBNR reserves are calculated by applying the selected IBNR factor to the carried loss IBNR reserves. Page 15
Slide 20: Salvage and Subrogation Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) require that loss reserves be stated net of anticipated salvage and subrogation recoveries. Statutory Accounting Principles (SAP) allow us to reduce our reserves by the amounts we expect to recover, but do not require it. However, we do report our loss reserves net of anticipated salvage and subrogation recoveries. Salvage and subrogation are similar because they reduce the net claim amount, but they are different types of transactions. Salvage: Progressive generally assumes the title to a vehicle when it has been declared a total loss. We then sell the vehicle to a salvage dealer, and these proceeds are referred to as salvage. Salvage is most relevant for collision claims. Subrogation: When a Progressive policyholder is involved in an accident in which the other party is at fault or partially at fault, he/she may submit the claim to us. When we pay that claim, we obtain our policyholder’s right to recover damages from the at-fault party (usually the at-fault party’s insurance company). Subrogation is most relevant for collision (damage to vehicles) and personal injury protection claims (injuries in no-fault states). As we collect salvage or subrogation from third parties, it reduces our net paid and incurred loss amount for that claim. When we evaluate our claim data to determine needed reserves, the evaluation is completed net of these recoveries. Therefore, our estimated ultimate loss amounts are net of anticipated salvage and subrogation. Since recoveries generally occur after claims have been closed and then reopened, we carry negative IBNR reserves on the Company’s books for anticipated salvage and subrogation. Involuntary Market Operating Loss Reserves (Assigned Risk Reserves) Progressive is required by the laws of most states to participate in involuntary market plans. Below we discuss two examples of involuntary market plans. Private Passenger Assigned Risk Plan: State insurance regulations require us to participate in various assigned risk plans, which provide insurance to people who cannot find a carrier that will insure them voluntarily. We are obligated to write assigned risk business based upon our written premium volume and generally expect to incur an operating loss on these assignments in most states. Participation requirements in assigned risk plans differ from state to state. The reserves that we carry for the assigned risk plans comprised less than one-half of a percent of our total net carried reserves at year-end 2003. However, since this is a unique type of exposure, we evaluate it separately. The process of determining the assigned risk reserve for a state is as follows: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Determine our portion of the assigned risk pool by multiplying our projected market share by the estimated future size of the assigned risk pool in that state Reduce this by any credits a state may allow such as voluntarily writing policies that would have otherwise been considered assigned risk-type business Estimate the operating loss that we expect to incur from this business Page 16
Slide 21: Commercial Auto Insurance Procedure (CAIP): Progressive is also required in certain states to share in the operating results of the involuntary commercial auto insurance plans, known as Commercial Auto Insurance Procedure. Due to the more complex nature of commercial business, these plans do not assign policies. Instead, they operate as a Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), and use a small number of carriers to service the business who do not bear underwriting risk. Progressive is a servicing carrier in 26 states. The servicing carriers transfer the insurance risk, or cede 100 percent of the business to the state CAIP pools, which then retrocede the operating results to all companies writing commercial automobile business in proportion to their share of the voluntary market for each respective state. If the plan generates an operating loss, we are assessed for our share of the loss. If the plan generates a profit, we benefit from our share of the profit. We establish an accrual based on our participation, to cover the assumed operating losses. Page 17
Slide 22: Section IV – Estimating Loss Reserves For loss reserve review purposes, we divide our book of business into smaller groups of data known as segments. A segment is defined by a specific state/product/coverage grouping with reasonably similar loss characteristics. During a segment review we generally estimate the ultimate loss amounts for the past seven accident years using six different projections. We may use additional techniques if there are wide variations between the six projections or if underlying process changes make those projections less reliable. To estimate the required reserve balance (i.e., unpaid losses) for the segment, we subtract the payments we have made on claims that occurred during that same period. We change the reserve level for that segment based upon this review. In this section we discuss segmentation, and describe the projections we consider in the review. The Appendix contains case studies that show more details involved in the segment reviews, including the calculations and the issues involved. However, the application of judgment is a key component of our reserve analysis. This is especially true in a dynamic, growing environment such as we have at Progressive, in which changes in mix of business (e.g., by policy limit and geographic area) can be significant. Segmentation of Reserves for Analysis Segments are identified to allow us to review reserve needs at the most detailed level our data supports, and provide us with the ability to identify and measure variances and trends in severity and frequency. They also allow process changes within states/regions to be identified and reflected in the reviews. Each segment is required to have enough data to deliver reliable (credible) results. Our objective is to achieve adequacy in the reserve levels with minimal variation for each segment. This enhances the accuracy of our financial reporting, supports the income statements of our business units, and allows us to make better business decisions. Many states are large enough that we can look at the data by state while other states are so large that we segment the data into regions within the state. There are also instances where the underlying data for the entire state is not large enough to be credible, so we combine states with what we feel are similar loss characteristics and review them together. Exhibit 8 is a map showing how we currently segment our loss reserve reviews for personal auto bodily injury. As we continue to grow, we expect to continue to further segment our reviews at both the state and regional levels. Page 18
Slide 23: Exhibit 8 2004 Auto BI Loss Reserve Segments With respect to personal auto bodily injury coverage, we analyze loss data related to policies with higher limits (greater than or equal to $100,000) separately from loss data related to policies with lower limits (less than $100,000). We do this because of the different severity, frequency and loss development patterns for the two groups of segments. For commercial auto analyses we also separate specialty truck types from light local truck types. Each identified segment is reviewed annually, semiannually or quarterly depending on the size, the volatility, and other unique aspects of the individual segment. Loss adjustment expense (LAE) reserves are analyzed using many of the same segmentation techniques as loss reserves. However, more states are aggregated when we review LAE because the volume of LAE reserves is much less than that of loss reserves and grouping states together produces more credible results. All LAE segments are evaluated at least two times per year. Projections of Ultimate Losses Our standard procedures are to review the results of six different projections in order to determine if a reserve change is required. Three of the six projections use paid data and the other three projections use incurred data (payments plus reserves). There are strengths and weaknesses to each of the projections. The three paid projections -- amount paid, average paid and Bornhuetter-Ferguson paid -- all use paid loss data. The paid projections estimate growth and development of claims in an accident period by looking at the paid development of earlier accident periods. This assumes that past paid loss development is a predictor of future paid loss development. The primary strength of using paid data is that it removes the potential for distortions that may be created by including estimated data. The drawback is that it is more difficult to accurately project ultimate losses in the most recent periods under review. For example, with longer-tailed lines of insurance such as bodily injury, the early development periods are more volatile because a large proportion of the payments are made later, as was illustrated in Exhibit 1 in Section II. Accurate paid projections also depend heavily on consistent claims closure or settlement practices. If the closure rate Page 19
Slide 24: changes, the paid projections could be misleading. In addition, shifts in mix of business (e.g., changes by policy limit) are not as readily identified in paid development as in incurred development. The three incurred projections -- amount incurred, average incurred and Bornhuetter-Ferguson incurred -- use paid losses plus case loss reserves in each accident period. They assume that historical incurred loss development will be predictive of our future incurred loss development. The primary strength of using incurred data is that we can make use of reserve estimates for open claims. These estimates are based on the judgment of claims adjusters in addition to our prior actuarial reviews. This is especially critical when estimating ultimate losses for longer-tailed claims such as bodily injury. The drawback of using incurred data for projection is that it depends heavily on consistent adjuster reserve estimates. The incurred projections could be distorted if the average adjuster reserve adequacy fluctuates over time. We identify changes in closure rates and average adjuster reserve levels through our segmentation and also through discussions with management. We adjust for these changes in our projections of losses. The case study in Section VII of the Appendix includes more thorough explanations of how changes in the closure rate affect paid loss development, and how changes in average adjuster reserves affect incurred loss development. The six standard projections we use to estimate ultimate losses are: 1. Amount Paid, in which we organize the total loss dollars paid by accident period and age of development into a triangular format and project them to estimated ultimate amounts. We base our selections of future loss development largely on the historical development of prior periods. 2. Average Paid, in which we organize the paid severity (average amount paid per feature) by accident period and age of development into a triangular format and project the severities to estimated ultimate levels. Ultimate loss amounts are then calculated as the ultimate severities multiplied by the estimated ultimate number of features to be paid. 3. Bornhuetter-Ferguson Paid, which uses the paid loss development pattern to determine the percent unpaid. We apply the percent unpaid to the expected ultimate loss amount to arrive at the expected unpaid amount, which is added to actual losses paid-to-date. 4. Amount Incurred, in which we organize the total loss dollars incurred by accident period and age of development into a triangular format and project them to estimated ultimate amounts. We base our future loss development largely on the historical development of prior periods. 5. Average Incurred, in which we organize the incurred severity (average amount incurred per feature) by accident period and age of development into a triangular format and project the severities to estimated ultimate levels. Ultimate loss amounts are then calculated as the ultimate severities multiplied by the estimated ultimate number of features to be paid. 6. Bornhuetter-Ferguson Incurred, which uses the incurred loss development pattern to determine the percent not yet recorded. We apply the percent unrecorded to the expected ultimate losses to arrive at the expected unrecorded amount, which is added to actual losses incurred-to-date. Page 20
Slide 25: Section V – Process Enhancements Introduced in 2003 During the past year, we implemented several enhancements to our loss and loss adjustment expense (LAE) reserving process. These enhancements, summarized below, are described in more detail following this summary: • • • • • • • Analysis of LAE reserves Allocation of IBNR reserves New statistics to track adjuster estimates Additional segment reviews Analysis models Communication Monthly reporting by channel Analysis of LAE reserves – The Appendix contains a review of LAE reserves for a sample segment. We enhanced our reviews of LAE reserves in 2003 by separating our Defense and Cost Containment (DCC) expenses into the following categories for analysis: • • Attorney and Legal Medical and Other We project ultimate DCC expense dollars and counts by accident period in total, as well as by the Attorney & Legal and Medical & Other components. We then make judgments on the following resulting parameters for the DCC expenses, in total and by each of the two components: • • • Utilization – Percentage of features for which we incur the respective DCC expense Severity – DCC expense dollars per feature that incurs the respective DCC expense Ratio of DCC expense dollars to ultimate loss dollars By breaking out the two major components we are able to identify trends by component and adjust our selections for reasonableness. We discuss these trends with claims management to determine if they are due to process changes, legal changes or other causes. We also analyze the features that close with DCC expense payment but no loss payment. If there are changes in the severity of these expenses or the percentage of these types of features, we may investigate further. In addition, we project the percentage of DCC features that have in-house attorney involvement versus outside attorney involvement. This enables us to better understand and explain differences in the overall utilization and severity of Attorney and Legal DCC expenses. Further, we look at the calendar quarter utilization and severity for each of the following components. • Attorney and Legal o In-House Counsel o Outside Attorney o Legal Non-Attorney Medical and Other o Medical o Other • We compare this calendar period data to the accident period selections in order to recognize trends and to check for reasonableness. The calendar period data is also helpful in discussions with claims management, as most of their data is on a calendar year basis. Page 21
Slide 26: Allocation of IBNR reserves – We enhanced our allocation of IBNR reserves in 2003 by enabling factors to vary by region (within a state) and by limit (upper vs. lower limits). New statistics to track adjuster estimates – The Appendix contains an explanation of our projections using incurred (and average incurred) losses. In the accident period and record period triangles, incurred losses include paid losses plus case reserves. The case reserves in these triangles use the adjuster estimates of the open features if the adjuster has made an estimate. However, for features that do not have an adjuster estimate, the case reserve included in the triangle is the average reserve from the case tables, as determined by the actuarial reviews. We enhanced our analysis during 2003 by adding new statistics that track the number and amount of case reserves for features that contain adjuster estimates versus those that do not. When there are changes in the percentage of features that contain adjuster estimates, it has an impact on the average reserve for all open features, which may have an impact on the incurred losses that we use in our projections. These statistics are valuable when we inquire about process changes with claims management. In our judgments, we use the information from these statistics as well as the information gained from claims management. Additional segment reviews – Our segmentation process was described in Section IV. We have about 300 segments for our loss and LAE reserve reviews, which is similar to the segment count at the end of 2002. Since we review each segment multiple times during the year, we completed about 830 segment reviews during 2003, which is about 10% more reviews than we completed during 2002. Although we did not increase the quantity of segments during 2003, we analyzed many of our groupings by limit and by state and made modifications as a result. • Limits - In any particular state, the average severity for claims on policies with lower limits is expected to be less than the severity on policies with higher limits. By analyzing the loss data for lower limits policies separately from upper limits policies, we can also see how losses develop differently. This allows us to make judgments regarding the frequency and severity of these segments separately and set our reserves accordingly. The pricing organization also benefits by having data at this level of detail. For auto and special lines (motorcycles and motor homes) bodily injury and uninsured motorists coverages, we implemented most of the limit splits during 2002. During 2003 we refined some of the splits, as well as the relativities of case average reserves between the limits. For commercial auto bodily injury we are giving increased attention to losses by policy limit, as the average limit for this business is much higher than it is for personal auto. • State groupings - For personal auto and commercial auto, we also looked at splitting some of our state groupings into smaller groupings and/or broke out individual states. In some cases, after looking at the splits we decided to group them back together. In other cases, we determined that the new segmentation makes sense. The decision to initiate a new segment is based upon the differences between parameters (e.g., frequency and severity) and/or differences in development patterns, as well as credibility of the data (based upon size and variability). We continue to look at ways to enhance our segmentation, which allows us to allocate reserves more appropriately. Analysis models – We have two major distinct analysis models -- one for analysis of loss reserves and the other for analysis of LAE reserves. Our analysis models have been developed internally and are continually being enhanced, increasing our efficiency, accuracy, allocation, Page 22
Slide 27: flexibility, information and/or communication. We revised these models to incorporate all of the process enhancements mentioned above. The Appendix contains excerpts from our analysis models for loss reserves and LAE reserves. Communication – Communication between the loss reserving group and the various business units is a very important part of the loss reserving process. • Segment review meetings – We continue to have monthly meetings with the business units to discuss our analyses. We invite managers and analysts from product management, pricing and claims to these meetings. We share information regarding our reserve analysis -- the effect of the reserve changes and why selections were made. We solicit information from the business and claims units regarding process changes and trends that may be affecting the data, historically and/or in the future. In addition, we now regularly provide exhibits that summarize trends in our growth and limit profiles. Trend Database – We participated on a team with product managers and analysts to compile and analyze trend data from various areas of the Company. After we complete our reserve reviews each month, we post our selected ultimate severities, frequencies and pure premiums for the relevant segments to a trend database. Other areas of the Company can readily access this information. Product managers are encouraged to attach notes to the postings that document discussions and other comments. In addition, we can access trend data that has been compiled by the pricing and product areas. • Monthly reporting by channel – Beginning in January 2003, we started reporting our actuarial reserve changes by distribution channel (agency versus direct) in our monthly financial releases. To support this, we produce detailed reports showing these monthly impacts by channel. Page 23
Slide 28: Section VI – Terms and Definitions Accident period losses: Losses for each accident are assigned to the period in which the accident occurred. Accident periods used in our analysis are generally three months (accident quarter), six months (accident semester), or twelve months (accident year). Payments and reserve changes, regardless of when they are made, are assigned to that same period in which the accident occurred. As a result, accident period results will change over time as the losses develop, i.e., as the estimates of losses change due to payments and reserve changes for all accidents that occurred during that period. Additional Needed Case Reserves (ANCR): See Case reserves. Adjuster-set reserves: See Case reserves. Adjusting & Other expense (A&O): A component of loss adjustment expense. Adjusting & Other expenses include all claims adjusting expenses, whether internal or external to the Company. This category includes fees and salaries of those involved in a claim adjusting function, and other related expenses incurred in determination of coverage. Assigned Risk: People unable to obtain auto insurance in the voluntary market apply for coverage in the state automobile plan. In most cases, the insurance coverage is not actually provided by the state but instead is “assigned” to an insurance company. Each insurance company must accept a proportionate share of these risks. Average reserves: See Case reserves. Bodily Injury (BI) liability coverage: Legal responsibility arising from injury or death to another person. In most states, this is a mandatory coverage. Each state mandates the minimum required limit. BI coverage pays when our insured is liable for an accident in which another party is injured. Bornhuetter-Ferguson method: The “BF” method is an actuarial methodology that smoothes the projected ultimate losses between a pure incurred or paid development method and an expected loss ratio (or expected pure premium) method. Calendar period losses: Payments and reserve changes which are recorded on the Company’s financial records during the period in question, without regard to the period in which the accident occurred. Calendar period results do not change after the end of the period, even as new claim information develops. Case reserves: Estimates of amounts required to settle claims that have already been reported but have not yet been fully paid. Case reserves represent the largest portion of the reserves for automobile insurance products. • • Additional Needed Case Reserves (ANCR): An actuarially determined reserve to cover expected future development of claims above the threshold. Adjuster-set reserves: The claims adjuster’s best estimate of how much a specific claim will cost. Only claims estimates above a specified threshold are included in financial reserves. Average reserves: When the adjuster estimate for a feature is below a specified threshold, the financial case reserve is the average reserve. These are determined by the actuaries and vary by segment. Within each segment, they may also vary by age (months since the accident occurred), policy limit, and geographic area. • Page 24
Slide 29: • Financial reserves: The case reserves carried on the Company’s financial records. Below a specified dollar threshold, we use an average reserving approach. For claims in excess of the threshold, adjuster-set reserves are used. Catastrophe: A term applied to an incident, storm or series of related incidents resulting in a significant number of claims with losses totaling more than $25 million in property damage for the insurance industry. Cede: To transfer a risk from an insurance company to another entity (e.g. a reinsurance company or JUA). Claim: A demand for payment by an insured or an allegedly third party under the terms and conditions of an insurance contract. Claimant: One who submits a claim. Closed Without Payment (CWP): A claim that was reported but did not require a loss payment and is now closed. Note that there can be loss adjustment expenses for a CWP claim. Closure rate: The number of claims from a specific accident period which are closed with payment at a specific evaluation date, divided by the estimated ultimate number of claims to be paid for that accident period. Collision coverage: A coverage of the automobile insurance policy that indemnifies the insured when his/her automobile is damaged due to physical contact with another object (except a bird or other animal), or due to upset (e.g., overturning). Combined ratio: The sum of the loss and loss adjustment expense ratio and the underwriting expense ratio. This represents the percentage of each premium dollar an insurer spends on claims and expenses. A combined ratio less than 100% indicates an underwriting profit, while a combined ratio in excess of 100% indicates an underwriting loss. Comprehensive coverage: A coverage of the automobile insurance policy that pays for damages to the insured’s vehicle due to any cause (except collision), including damage due to windstorm, hail, theft, falling objects, explosion, riot, glass breakage and other causes of loss. Credibility: A statistical measure of the ability to infer generalizations from a data sample. Credibility increases as sample size increases or variability within the sample decreases. Decomposition (Decomp) reports: Monthly internal management reports that decompose the financial case reserve changes into categories that explain the reasons for the changes. Defense and Cost Containment expense (DCC): A component of loss adjustment expense. DCC expenses include defense, litigation and medical cost containment whether internal or external to the Company. DCC expenses include but are not limited to accident investigation, surveillance, litigation management, and fees of attorneys and others if working in defense of a claim. Development: Change in the estimated or actual losses or reserves over subsequent evaluations. When compared to expectations or prior estimates, it is referred to as either favorable or unfavorable development, based on whether the estimate has decreased or increased. Page 25
Slide 30: Development factor: The quotient of the paid or incurred value for an accident or record period evaluated at time “t” divided by the value for that same accident or record period evaluated at time “t-1.” Diagonal: The cumulative or incremental values or factors for all accident or record periods being evaluated as of a common date. If we are evaluating accident semester paid losses at 6month intervals, then the last diagonal of the paid loss triangle is made up of the cumulative paid loss amounts for each accident semester as of the most recent evaluation date. The development of that last diagonal would be the paid losses during the last six months for each accident semester. Earned car year: An exposure unit that is the basic rating unit underlying an insurance premium. One automobile insured for a period of twelve months is one earned car year. Earned premium: That part of the premium proportional to the segment of time a policy has been in force. It is the premium for protection actually provided during the experience period. Emergence: Generally used in the context of IBNR reserves, it refers to the recording of claims (or dollar amount of the claims) after the date of the accident, usually into at least the next quarterly or annual period. For example, if an accident occurred in October 2002 and it was recorded in February 2003, it was part of the estimate of IBNR at year-end 2002, and it emerged in 2003. Expense ratio: The sum of all underwriting and operational expenses, excluding loss adjustment expenses, divided by premium. Exposure: The basic rating unit underlying an insurance premium. The unit of exposure will vary based upon the characteristics of the insurance coverage involved. For automobile insurance, one automobile insured for a period of twelve months is one earned car year or one exposure. Feature: The smallest divisible part of a claim. This is a loss on one coverage for one person. Often a claim will involve multiple features. It can involve multiple coverages, such as bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD), or it can involve multiple claimants. However, each coverage for each person is one feature. Financial reserves: See Case reserves. Frequency: Number of claims divided by exposure count. This provides a measure of the proportion of insureds that have a claim in a year. Incurred But Not Recorded (IBNR) reserves: These are estimates at a given evaluation date of amounts that will be needed to settle claims that have already occurred but have not yet been recorded by the Company. Incurred losses: The sum of payments and reserve changes for claims. Indication: An actuarial estimate, based upon analysis of the data. Lag: Generally used in the context of IBNR reserves, it refers to the period of time from the date of the accident or occurrence to the date the claim is recorded on the Company’s books. The data is grouped into quarterly lag periods for analysis of IBNR reserves. Light local commercial vehicles: Commercial vehicles that generally have a gross vehicle weight under 26,000 pounds. These vehicles are used in the insured’s business but are not the primary source of revenue for the business. Page 26
Slide 31: Loss Adjustment Expenses (LAE): Expenses related to claim settlement. Total Loss Adjustment Expenses (LAE) = [Defense and Cost Containment (DCC) expenses] + [Adjusting & Other (A&O) expenses] Loss ratio (Incurred loss ratio): (Paid losses + changes in loss reserves) divided by (earned premium). Net loss reserves: Net indicates that we have deducted the expected reinsurance recoverable from the sum of case and IBNR reserves. Sometimes, net reserves refer to reserves that have been reduced for the expected salvage and subrogation recoveries. Paid losses: Payments for claims. Parameters: Variables that determine the characteristics or behavior of a statistical model and can be estimated by calculations from sample data. For example, the parameters of frequency and severity are estimated in the loss reserve analysis model. Personal Injury Protection (PIP): Coverage in which an insurer pays, within specified limits, the medical, hospital and funeral expenses of the insured, others in his vehicles and pedestrians struck by him. The basic coverage implemented under no-fault automobile statutes. Physical damage: Damage to the insured vehicle. This generally includes the comprehensive and collision coverages. Property Damage (PD): A coverage protecting the legal liability of the policyholder for damage to, or destruction of, property. Pure premium: Loss dollars divided by exposure count. Pure premium is also equal to frequency times severity. The pure premium is equivalent to the loss component of the full policy premium. Record period losses: Losses for each record period are assigned to the period in which the accident is recorded on the Company’s books. Record periods used in our analysis are generally three months (record quarter), six months (record semester), or twelve months (record year). Payments and reserve changes, regardless of when they are made, are assigned to that same period in which the accident was recorded. As a result, record period results will change over time as the losses develop, i.e., as the estimates of losses change due to payments and reserve changes for all accidents that were recorded during that period. Relativity: The magnitude by which a measure of a subset of data differs (expressed as a quotient) from the same measure for the entire set of data. For example, if the countrywide average paid BI claim was $4,500 and Florida’s average BI claim was $5,200, then Florida’s paid BI claim relativity would be 1.156. Reopened claim: A claim that was closed (with or without payment) but reopened again at a later date due to the discovery of additional information. We reserve for future reopened claims as IBNR. Reserves: Estimates of the unpaid portion of what the Company ultimately expects to pay out for losses and loss adjustment expenses on claims that occurred prior to the accounting date, whether or not those claims have been reported to the Company. Page 27
Slide 32: Salvage: The property in which an insurance company secures an ownership interest as a result of paying a claim for total loss or damage based on the true value of the property in its undamaged state or before the loss occurred. Anticipated salvage is carried on the Company’s books as negative IBNR reserves. Segment: A specific state/product/coverage combination with reasonably similar loss characteristics that is grouped together when assessing reserve adequacy. Severity: Loss dollars divided by number of features. This indicates the dollar amount of the average feature. Specialty commercial vehicles: Commercial vehicles that generally have a gross vehicle weight of at least 26,000 pounds. These include tow trucks and local cartage (e.g. delivery vans, box trucks, dump trucks and flatbeds). These vehicles are used in the insured’s business and are the primary source of revenue for the business. Subrogation: An insurance company, upon payment of a loss to the insured, is entitled to the insured’s legal and equitable rights against third parties in relation to the loss. Reserves for the future recoveries we expect to subrogate are carried on the Company’s books as negative IBNR reserves. Threshold: The point above which the adjuster’s estimate of a claim is carried in our financial case reserves, versus an average reserve being assigned by the system. Trend (exponential fit): Exponential fitted trends tell us the estimated average annual change in severity, frequency, or pure premium by fitting an exponential curve to the selected values. These can use any number of data points. We generally use two-year or four-year fitted trends. Triangle: The triangle is a tool used by actuaries to show how estimates of incurred and paid-todate amounts have changed or developed over time. Usually, the evaluation periods are columns organized from left to right, and the data periods are rows organized from top to bottom. The oldest data periods have been evaluated the most times, while the more recent data periods have been evaluated the least amount of times. Thus, the historical data forms a triangular shape. Ultimate: The final selected amount, count, or ratio that we estimate by analyzing the data. For example, the selected ultimate loss amount for an accident period represents our estimate of the total cost of all claims for that accident period after they have all been paid and closed. Utilization (DCC utilization): Percentage of features for which we incur expenses for defense and cost containment. Written premium: The total amount charged to an insured for a policy during its entire effective period. Page 28