Estimated title losses

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Insurance [Abstract]

Estimated title losses

Estimated title losses. A summary of estimated title losses for the three months ended March 31 is as follows:

	2018		2017
	($000 omitted)
Balances at January 1	480,990		462,572
Provisions:
Current year	18,880		20,537
Previous policy years	101		164
Total provisions	18,981		20,701
Payments, net of recoveries:
Current year	(2,564	)	(2,988	)
Previous policy years	(15,708	)	(20,909	)
Total payments, net of recoveries	(18,272	)	(23,897	)
Effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates	(1,894	)	766
Balances at March 31	479,805		460,142
Loss ratios as a percentage of title operating revenues:
Current year provisions	4.5	%	4.9	%
Total provisions	4.5	%	4.9	%