NU Online News Service, Feb. 6, 1:18 p.m. EST

Catastrophe losses in 2011 led to the U.S. property and casualty industry's largest underwriting loss since 2002, and while 2012 should see a "modest improvement" in pricing, a true hard market is likely "at least a year or two away," according to A.M. Best.

In a special report on theU.S.property and casualty industry's 2011 results, Best says $44.1 billion in catastrophe losses for the year helped drive net income down 49.2 percent to $21.9 billion. In 2010, industry net income was $43.1 billion and catastrophe losses totaled $19.6 billion.

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