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Loss And Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Insurance Loss Reserves [Abstract]  
Loss And Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves
The following table presents the activity in loss and loss adjustment expense reserves:
 Three Months Ended March 31,
 20252024
 (Amounts in thousands)
Gross reserves, beginning of period$3,152,031 $2,785,702 
Reinsurance recoverables on unpaid losses, beginning of period
(28,645)(32,148)
Net reserves, beginning of period3,123,386 2,753,554 
Incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses related to:
Current year1,271,847 909,810 
Prior years(51,034)(5,845)
Total incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses1,220,813 903,965 
Loss and loss adjustment expense payments related to:
Current year406,513 301,198 
Prior years529,188 527,348 
Total payments935,701 828,546 
Net reserves, end of period3,408,498 2,828,973 
Reinsurance recoverables on unpaid losses, end of period384,083 30,247 
Gross reserves, end of period$3,792,581 $2,859,220 

The decrease in the provision for insured events of prior years during the three months ended March 31, 2025 of $51.0 million was primarily attributable to lower than estimated losses in the automobile line of insurance business, and the homeowners line of insurance business, including favorable development on the prior years' catastrophe losses. The decrease in the provision for insured events of prior years during the three months ended March 31, 2024 of $5.8 million was primarily attributable to lower than estimated loss adjustment expenses in the private passenger automobile line of insurance business, partially offset by unfavorable development on prior years' catastrophe losses.
For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company incurred catastrophe losses net of reinsurance of approximately $447 million and $72 million, respectively. The majority of 2025 catastrophe losses resulted from Southern California wildfires. The majority of 2024 catastrophe losses resulted from winter storms and rainstorms in California and convective storms in Texas and Oklahoma. The Company experienced favorable development of approximately $12 million and unfavorable development of approximately $4 million on prior years' catastrophe losses for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

In January 2025, extreme wind-driven wildfires caused widespread damage across parts of Southern California, primarily in the communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena. The two largest of these Southern California wildfires are known as the Palisades and Eaton fires. The Company recorded net catastrophe losses and loss adjustment expenses ("LAE") before taxes from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires of approximately $414 million in its consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2025, which consists of approximately $331 million net losses and LAE incurred by the Company and approximately $83 million for the Company's share of FAIR Plan losses, after reduction for $25 million of recoupable assessment. The Company's current estimate of gross catastrophe losses and LAE from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires before reinsurance, excluding its share of FAIR Plan losses and estimated subrogation recoveries, is approximately $2,150 million. The Company offset approximately $525 million of estimated subrogation recovery against the $2,150 million gross catastrophe losses and ceded approximately $1,294 million of the gross catastrophe losses to its reinsurers, which resulted in approximately $331 million in net catastrophe losses incurred by the Company from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.

The Company’s catastrophe reinsurance program provides approximately $1,290 million of limits on a per occurrence basis after covered catastrophe losses exceed the Company’s retention of $150 million. To the extent that losses are reinsured, the reinsurance program calls for reinstatements of limits to cover future events. If the full $1,290 million limits are used up, then the total reinstatement premium would be approximately $101 million. The Company treated the Palisades and Eaton fires as one event for reinsurance purposes for the three months ended March 31, 2025 exhausting the full $1,290 million of limits. Limits totaling $1,238 million have been reinstated and are eligible to cover losses in excess of $150 million on future catastrophe events or for a second event determination on the Eaton and Palisades fires (see additional information below on the option to treat the Palisades and Eaton fires as two events for reinsurance). The $1,290 million of limits used for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires was reduced by $6.5 million for ineligible parametric coverage. The Company also utilized $10 million from a separate property excess of loss reinsurance treaty making the total reinsurance used for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires $1,294 million. The written and earned reinstatement premiums recorded for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was approximately $101 million and $50 million, respectively. Approximately $50 million of the total written reinstatement premiums will be earned in the second quarter of 2025.

The Company is actively pursuing subrogation against Southern California Edison ("SCE") on the Eaton fire. In several previous wildfire events caused by utility company equipment, the Company sold its subrogation rights but has not determined whether it will do so with the Eaton event although the Company has been approached by brokers, banks and hedge funds with offers to purchase its subrogation rights on the Eaton fire. The Company recorded approximately $525 million in estimated subrogation recoveries, or approximately 55% of its estimated ultimate losses on the Eaton fire, as an offset against loss and loss adjustment expense reserves in the first quarter of 2025. Although SCE has not admitted that its equipment caused the Eaton fire, significant evidence indicates that SCE's equipment was the cause of the Eaton fire. Based on the history of settlement payouts on prior wildfires by SCE and other utility companies in similar situations where the utility equipment caused the wildfires and such companies settled the subrogation claims without admitting fault, the Company believes $525 million is a reasonable estimate of probable recovery on the Eaton fire.

For utility caused California wildfires occurring since 2017, the utility companies, including SCE, have paid out average amounts equal to over 60% of the losses incurred with a range as low as 55% to over 70%. The Company believes that SCE has the wherewithal to settle the subrogation claims on the Eaton fire in a similar range of settlement amounts as on the recent past wildfires and SCE also has access to the California Wildfire Fund which provides additional funding to reimburse member utilities to pay wildfire claims. There is a very active market of brokers, banks and hedge funds offering to purchase subrogation rights for amounts that are supportive of at least a 55% subrogation recovery from SCE. Based on the Company's review of the evidence of cause of the Eaton fire as well as the Company's assessment of the subrogation amount that is probable of recovery, as described above, the Company believes $525 million or 55% of its estimated ultimate losses on the Eaton fire is a reasonable estimate that is probable of recovery through subrogation. The Company will continuously monitor the subrogation processes and reevaluate the subrogation recovery estimate to be recorded in its consolidated financial statements each quarter.

The Company is a member of the California FAIR Plan, the state's fire insurer of last resort. To the extent the FAIR Plan
has losses exceeding its capital and reinsurance coverage, the FAIR Plan can assess its member companies for the shortfall based on each company’s California market share. The FAIR Plan had significant losses from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, and the Company's share of the FAIR Plan losses from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires was approximately $108 million (an amount based on information provided to the Company directly from the FAIR Plan), which was recorded as part of the Company's losses from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires in its consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The FAIR Plan assessed the Company $50 million to strengthen the FAIR Plan's capital position following the Southern California wildfires in the first quarter of 2025. The California DOI allows for recoupment of 50% or $25 million of the $50 million assessment via a temporary surcharge to the Company's policyholders. The Company has filed with the California DOI to begin recouping the $25 million and has offset the $25 million recoupable amount against the $108 million of the Company's share of the FAIR Plan's losses from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires in its consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2025.

The Company’s catastrophe reinsurance treaty allows the Company to consider catastrophe events that occur within a 150-mile radius as a single occurrence or separate occurrences for reinsurance purposes. Although the Company recorded the Palisades and Eaton fires as one event for reinsurance purposes, it retains the ability to consider them as two separate events for reinsurance purposes. Under a two-event scenario, the Company may elect to use reinsurance limits of up to $1,290 million for the first event and reinstated limits up to $1,238 million for the second event. In this scenario, the Company would be responsible for the first and second event retentions of $150 million each. In addition, the Company would be responsible for up to $101 million in reinstatement premiums. Had the Company treated the Palisades and Eaton fires as two separate events, its reported net catastrophe losses from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires would have been approximately $296 million excluding the Company's share of FAIR Plan losses compared to approximately $331 million under the single-event scenario, and written and earned reinstatement premiums would have been approximately $92 million and $46 million, respectively, compared to approximately $101 million and $50 million, respectively, under the single-event scenario, for the three months ended March 31, 2025. As more information becomes available to the Company, including any updated subrogation recovery estimates and the impact on future reinsurance premiums under the two-event scenario, the Company may re-evaluate whether it will consider the Palisades and Eaton fires as two separate events.
As of March 31, 2025, the Company has paid out approximately $1,076 million for claims related to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. The Company sent an initial billing amounting to approximately $606 million to its reinsurers in January 2025 and has collected 100% on that billing. In addition, the Company sent a second billing amounting to approximately $224 million to its reinsurers on April 11, 2025 and has collected approximately $136 million as of May 1, 2025 on that billing.