Hartford takes $1.12B from Berkshire's NICO to end A&E reinsurance cover

The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. said that on September 25, 2026 Hartford Fire Insurance Company received $1.12 billion from National Indemnity Company, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, commuting and terminating the Aggregate Excess of Loss Reinsurance Agreement that had provided asbestos and environmental adverse development cover since December 31, 2016, and resolving related arbitration under a September 23 Commutation Agreement (Form 8-K AccNo 0000874766-26-000064).

The Hartford closed out a decade-old asbestos and environmental adverse-development cover with Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity Company on September 25, 2026 — taking in $1.12 billion of cash, ending the treaty, and resolving a confidential arbitration in the same filing.

$1.12 billion ends the NICO cover

On September 23, 2026, Hartford Fire Insurance Company and certain affiliates (together, the Hartford Insurers), each a wholly owned insurance-company subsidiary of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), entered into a Reinsurance Commutation and Release Agreement with National Indemnity Company (NICO), a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary.

Under that Commutation Agreement, the Hartford Insurers and NICO agreed to commute and terminate their existing Aggregate Excess of Loss Reinsurance Agreement, which had provided asbestos and environmental adverse development cover since December 31, 2016, along with certain related transaction documents. The Commutation Agreement also resolves the confidential arbitration over the parties' dispute under the Reinsurance Agreement.

On September 25, 2026, Hartford Fire Insurance Company received a cash payment of $1.12 billion. Upon receipt, the Reinsurance Agreement was commuted and terminated, and the Hartford Insurers and NICO were released from liabilities and obligations under the Reinsurance Agreement and related documents.

Expected third-quarter P&L — and what does not move

In a Regulation FD disclosure tied to the same Form 8-K, The Hartford said that for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026 it expects to recognize a before-tax net gain of $497 million and an increase in net income of $393 million, with no impact on core earnings. The before-tax gain reflects the release of the deferred gain on retroactive reinsurance after giving effect to the commutation.

Those P&L figures are the company's expectations for the period — not yet reported GAAP results. The filing does not print the original reinsurance limit, any remaining limit, or the size of the arbitration claims that the commutation settles.

What the filing settles versus what it leaves open

The AccNo 0000874766-26-000064 Form 8-K is a termination / commutation close, not a new reinsurance purchase and not a debt issue. Item 1.02 carries the September 23 Commutation Agreement and the September 25 $1.12 billion cash receipt that extinguishes the 2016 Aggregate Excess of Loss cover with NICO. Item 7.01 frames the expected deferred-gain release and the no-core-earnings impact. Item 9.01 has no separate exhibit of the Commutation Agreement text in this filing package.