A new report has shown that the property and casualty industry for California insurance is responsible for bringing billions of dollars into the state.
The report, which was released by the Insurance Information Institute, showed that in 2008, that sector of the insurance industry brought $34.7 billion into the economy. It also showed that insurers are responsible for approximately 2 percent of the total gross state product for California.
In fact, in that state, there are more insurance professionals employed than in any other state in the country. In 2009, there were 287,270 people working for a property and casualty insurance company, representing almost 10 percent of the insurance workforce in the entire country. According to the report, as a result of those jobs, there is approximately $20 billion in compensation generated.
The non-lobbying and nonprofit trade association, the Insurance Information Network of California’s executive director, Candysse Miller, said that millions of people in the state are provided with “a blanket of security underwriting risks and contributing to the state’s economic engine” by various types of insurance, including automobile, homeowner, and business.
Other findings of the report include:
• 24 million cars are insured in California – notably more than any other state in the country
• There were $2.2 billion in premium taxes collected from insurance companies last year – that is a figure that is 64 percent greater than the taxes collected from insurers next highest state.
• Life insurance companies made almost $38.9 billion in payments for benefits and claims in the state in 2010
• Property and casualty insurers made $29.4 billion in Californian claim payments last year.
