Intact’s $295M Catastrophe Loss: Property, Not Auto

Article Summary

Intact Financial Corporation reported $295 million in Canadian catastrophe losses during Q2, with personal property accounting for 85% of losses and personal auto representing only $6 million or 2% of the total, driven primarily by weather events including flooding and storms.

Personal auto accounted for only $6 million of Intact Financial Corporation’s $295 million in Canadian catastrophe losses during the second quarter.

The Toronto property and casualty insurer provided the preliminary estimate in a July 8 release. The Canadian total included $252 million in personal property catastrophe losses, $37 million in commercial lines and $6 million in personal auto.

The personal auto figure represented about 2% of Intact’s Canadian catastrophe losses for the quarter.

The figure does not represent Intact’s total personal auto claims, ordinary collision claims or total repair-related auto costs. It refers only to personal auto losses tied to catastrophe events that met Intact’s reporting threshold.

In Canada, catastrophe losses were driven by weather events, including torrential storms that caused flooding, water damage and wind damage across several regions.

The release did not point to a major personal auto catastrophe hit in the quarter. The larger Canadian impact was in personal property, which accounted for about 85% of the Canadian catastrophe total.

For context, Intact’s first-quarter financial materials showed a nil catastrophe loss ratio in Canadian personal auto. That does not mean there were no auto claims in the quarter. It means personal auto catastrophe losses were not meaningful enough to register in that line.

Ordinary personal auto claims are much larger. In the first quarter, Intact reported $1.827 billion in Canadian personal auto operating net underwriting revenue and a 73.6% underlying current year loss ratio. That works out to about $1.34 billion in current-year personal auto claims before catastrophe losses and prior-year claims development.

Intact’s full-year materials also show that personal auto catastrophe losses can vary sharply by period. Canadian personal auto current-year catastrophe losses were $23 million in 2025 and $105 million in 2024. The 2024 figure included a $113 million third-quarter impact.

Across all markets, Intact estimated second-quarter catastrophe losses at about $416 million before tax and net of reinsurance. Canada accounted for $295 million of the total, while the U.K. and Ireland accounted for $121 million. No U.S. catastrophe loss was listed in the release.

Intact also disclosed unusually high large losses in the quarter. Large losses are significant individual claims that fall below the catastrophe threshold.

The impact of above-expectation large losses was three points overall on the underlying current year loss ratio. The release listed a three-point impact in Canadian personal property, a three-point impact in Canadian commercial lines and a seven-point impact in the U.K. and Ireland.

The large losses included a higher frequency of fire claims and other property losses across various regions and risk segments. The release did not list a Canadian personal auto large-loss impact.

Combined, catastrophe losses and large losses were $247 million above expectations on a pre-tax basis, net of reinsurance. After tax, that equals $1.08 per diluted common share.

“Our claims teams and extensive supply chain network are mobilized to provide our customers fast, local support,” said Charles Brindamour, chief executive officer of Intact Financial Corporation.

Brindamour also said the events “reinforce firm market conditions.”