United Fire CFO Says Expense Ratio May Fall With Growth Around 10%

United Fire Group's third-quarter underwriting expense ratio increased from a year earlier, even as CFO Eric Martin said growth around 10% may bring it down about half a percentage point.

Martin made the conditional estimate while responding to analyst Paul Newsome during a Nov. 4 earnings call. “As we grow at around 10% rate, we think we can see the expense ratio coming down 0.5 point or so,” Martin said. He did not define the growth measure or give a timeframe for the possible reduction.

The insurer recorded $371.4 million in net written premiums for the quarter ended Sept. 30, a 13% increase from the same quarter in 2025. Net income was $35.1 million, down $4.1 million, or 10%, year over year. Net income and adjusted operating income each came to $1.34 per diluted share.

The underwriting expense ratio reached 34.9% for the quarter, 0.3 percentage point above the year-earlier result. For the first nine months of 2026, the ratio was 35.1%, a decrease of 0.7 percentage point from the comparable period in 2025.

United Fire's combined ratio rose 2.7 percentage points from a year earlier to 94.6%. Its components included a 57.3% underlying loss ratio, a 2.4% catastrophe loss ratio and a 34.9% underwriting expense ratio, with no prior-year reserve development.

Management put the average renewal rate change at 2% for the quarter. Property rates faced the most pressure, while casualty rates showed some moderation. The quarter's higher expense ratio and the lower nine-month figure reflect different reporting periods.