Co-operators General Insurance Co. is reporting a after-tax loss of $3,364,000 for the third quarter ended September 30, compared to a profit of $267,000 during the same period in 2001.

“Escalating costs associated with serious bodily injury claims continue to depress earnings despite double-digit premium rate increases. The situation is not helped by limited investment yields in the current volatile markets,” said Kathy Bardswick, Co-operators president and CEO, in a news release. “We are encouraged by the improvement in year-to-date financial results over 2001.”

Gross written premium in the third quarter increased 8.1% to $480 million, compared to $444 million in the third quarter of 2001. The claims ratio for the quarter was 80.9%, compared to 86.4% during the comparable period last year. The combined ratio of claims and operating expenses was 108.9%, compared to 112.7% for the third quarter of 2002. The underwriting results have improved $12 million from the third quarter a year ago.

Gross written premium on a year-to-date basis was $1.3 billion, reflecting an increase of 6.5% over last year. Earned premium growth was 5.6% above the previous year. A net profit of $1.4 million was recorded for the nine months ended September 30, 2002, compared to a net loss of $8.2 million for the comparable nine month period in 2001. Investment income at $94.5 million decreased 8.6% from the $103.4 million reported for 2001.