Scope of Business

Insurance in the United States is divided into two broad categories: life and health insurance, and property and casualty insurance.

The Rocky Mountain Insurance Association focuses on property and casualty insurance. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) there were 5.965 property/casualty insurance companies in the United States in 2018. Insurance jobs employed more than 2.8 million people with P & C insurance invested assets totaling $1.7 trillion in 2018. Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor

P & C and Life & Health insurers paid $22.5 billion in premium taxes in 2018, or $69 for every person living in the U.S. Source: Insurance Information Institue

P & C insurers paid out $49.5 billion in property losses related to catastrophes in 2018, compared to $105.7 billion in 2017. There were 55 declared catastrophes in 2018 compared with 46 in 2017. Source: Insurance Information Institute

Colorado experienced record-setting wildfires in June 2013, then record flooding in September and was the 5th most costly catastrophe state with $907 million in losses.

Direct Written Premiums

Direct premiums written are premiums collected by an insurer from policyholders. They are a measure of how large a book of business each company has in a particular market. Direct premiums written by property and casualty insurers in 2018 totaled $618 billion. Source: Insurance Information Institute

Here's how the Rocky Mountain Region stacks up:

• Colorado: $13.3 billion
• New Mexico: $3.5 billion
• Utah: $5 billion
• Wyoming: $1.2 billion

California had the most direct premiums written ($80.9 billion), followed by Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois. For more detailed industry financial and economical data, please visit https://www.iii.org.