Property and casualty insurer The Hartford on Thursday posted higher earnings for the fourth quarter and all of 2021, but had to overcome mounting disability and death claims linked to the latest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Company officials reported a higher level of short- and long-term disability claims in the final three months of 2021 compared to the “early stages of the pandemic,” which in turn drove up the cost of operations, including compensation and technology, needed to cover the influx. The firm’s group life segment also absorbed a $161 million pre-tax expense from “excess mortality,” primarily “caused by direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19.”
Still, strong performance from other units helped The Hartford close the fourth quarter of 2021 with net income of $724 million, or $2.10 per diluted share, up from $532 million, or $1.47 per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Written premiums climbed from $2.19 billion to $2.51 billion over the same interval.
For all of 2021, The Hartford generated earnings of $2.34 billion, or $6.62 per diluted share, up from $1.71 billion, or $4.76 per diluted share, in 2020.
Company officials attributed those gains to increasing net investment income, lower catastrophe-related losses and savings from the “Hartford Next” cost-reduction program.
