European Insurers May See ‘Golden Year’ as Disasters Push Prices

Europe’s biggest insurers and reinsurers, including Allianz SE and Zurich Insurance Group AG, are using last year’s losses from natural catastrophes and auto underwriting to increase policy prices.

Allianz, Europe’s biggest insurer, expects higher profit this year, helped by the “high single-digit price increase” it secured for German motor insurance in 2011. Zurich Insurance, Switzerland’s biggest insurer, reported that general insurance rates rose by more than 3 percent last year.