Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Information

The Company conducts and manages its business through four segments. The three operating segments, representing the major lines of insurance business, are: Property and Casualty, primarily personal lines automobile and property insurance products; Retirement, primarily tax-qualified fixed and variable annuities; and Life, life insurance. The Company does not allocate the impact of corporate-level transactions to these operating segments, consistent with the basis for management's evaluation of the results of those segments, but classifies those items in the fourth segment, Corporate and Other. In addition to ongoing transactions such as corporate debt service, net investment gains (losses) and certain public company expenses, such items also have included corporate debt retirement costs, when applicable.

The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in Note 1 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies. The Company accounts for intersegment transactions, primarily the allocation of operating and agency costs from Corporate and Other to Property and Casualty, Retirement and Life, on a direct cost basis.

Summarized financial information for these segments is as follows: 

($ in thousands)	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Insurance premiums and contract charges earned
Property and Casualty	$	665,734		$	648,263		$	620,514
Retirement	31,269			28,003			24,937
Life	120,330			118,437			113,695
Total	$	817,333		$	794,703		$	759,146
Net investment income
Property and Casualty	$	40,104		$	36,178		$	38,998
Retirement	262,634			261,994			249,410
Life	74,399			76,195			73,567
Corporate and Other	142			78			66
Intersegment eliminations	(772		)	(815		)	(855		)
Total	$	376,507		$	373,630		$	361,186
Net income (loss)
Property and Casualty	$	(14,243	)	$	17,790		$	25,644
Retirement	41,736			88,473			50,674
Life	18,754			77,595			16,559
Corporate and Other	(27,904		)	(14,399		)	(9,112		)
Total	$	18,343		$	169,459		$	83,765

($ in thousands)	December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Assets
Property and Casualty	$	1,236,362		$	1,217,394		$	1,110,958
Retirement	7,866,969			8,063,912			7,449,777
Life	1,821,351			1,815,732			1,912,771
Corporate and Other	149,014			143,784			140,104
Intersegment eliminations	(41,800		)	(42,482		)	(36,786		)
Total	$	11,031,896		$	11,198,340		$	10,576,824

Additional significant financial information for these segments is as follows:

($ in thousands)	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
DAC amortization expense
Property and Casualty	$	79,073		$	76,967		$	74,950
Retirement	23,186			17,759			14,635
Life	7,630			7,459			7,147
Total	$	109,889		$	102,185		$	96,732
Income tax expense (benefit)
Property and Casualty	$	(6,622	)	$	(3,279	)	$	4,627
Retirement	10,000			(19,498		)	20,334
Life	4,979			(51,876		)	9,775
Corporate and Other	(7,163		)	(6,119		)	(4,269		)
Total	$	1,194		$	(80,772	)	$	30,467