Steven J. Johnston
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Cincinnati Financial
Yeah, thank you, Dennis. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to hear more about our second quarter results. Increased catastrophe losses and increasing inflation effect in the industry pressured our property casualty insurance results for this quarter. We are well-positioned to improve results through continued focus on pricing and risk selection. As we have in the past, we will follow our proven formula to successfully analyze and address challenged areas of our insurance operations.
Our financial strength remains excellent, and we are confident we can achieve profitable growth over the long-term and through all economic cycles. We reported a net loss of $808 million for the quarter due to the recognition of a reduction in the fair value of securities held in our equity portfolio. Non-GAAP operating income of $104 million for the second quarter of 2022 was down from last year's impressive $292 million, largely due to catastrophe losses that were $119 million higher on an after-tax basis.
Our 103.2% second quarter property casualty combined ratio was 17.7 percentage points higher than the 85.5% posted second quarter of last year. That increase reflected higher catastrophe losses and less favorable results on both the prior accident year and current accident year basis. We regularly disclose large losses exceeding $1 million for individual property casualty claims, excluding losses from catastrophes. Commercial property and commercial umbrella tend to account for the bulk of those losses, each typically about one-third of total large losses. We noted on our last call that commercial property large losses rose sharply in the first quarter of this year. That increase reversed in the second quarter when they declined 86% from the second quarter of 2021.
For our personal lines segment, net written premiums grew 16%. However, in the second quarter, commercial umbrella losses rose significantly, prompting reserve additions that we detailed in our 10-Q. That business has long history of profitability for us and has benefited from very strong pricing in recent years for both the industry and us.
Overall, premiums continued a healthy growth pattern with steady average renewal price increases for each of our property casualty insurance segments. We benefited from outstanding production from the finest independent agents, while our underwriters remain steadfast in seeking to retain and grow profitable accounts and address areas where they thought pricing is not adequate. Segmenting opportunities on a policy-by-policy basis.
Consolidated property casualty net written premium rose 15% percent for the second quarter of 2022. Our commercial lines insurance segment continue to experience estimated average renewal price increases in the mid single-digit percentage range, similar to the first quarter. Our excess and surplus lines insurance segment continued in the high single-digit range. Personal lines average renewal price increases were slightly higher than in the first quarter, remaining in the low single-digit range. Personal auto is an area where we plan to more aggressively raise rates in future quarters as we work to improve its loss ratio.
Underwriting process is designed to help premiums keep pace with rising property values, whether from outsized inflation or other changes and insured exposure amounts are another reason for significant increases in 2022 renewal written premiums. Our commercial lines segment grew second quarter renewal premiums by 10% and our personal lines segment also grew second quarter renewal premiums by 10%. The commercial lines segment grew second quarter 2022 net written premiums by 10% with the combined ratio of 106.3%, including higher than usual catastrophe losses and elevated inflation effects.
For our personal lines segment, net written premiums grew 16% percent mostly from our continued planned expansion of high net worth business produced by our agencies. The second quarter combined ratio of 112.1% also included higher than usual catastrophe losses and elevated inflation effects. The second quarter provided another example of the benefits of improving diversification over time by product line and geography. Profitability was very good for our operations in excess and surplus lines insurance, reinsurance, global specialty insurance and life insurance.
Our excess and surplus lines segment had an 85.1% combined ratio and continued strong growth with second quarter 2022 net written premiums growing 17%. Cincinnati Re and Cincinnati Global each continue to pattern a profitable growth. Cincinnati Re grew net written premiums by 31% for the second quarter of 2022 with a combined ratio in the low 80% range. Cincinnati Global grew net written premiums by 47% with the combined ratio of below 70%. Our life insurance subsidiary had another good quarter with net income of $21 million and a 91% increase in operating income, along with growth in term life insurance earned premiums of 8%.
We continue to emphasize the importance over time of the value creation ratio, our primary measure of long-term financial performance. VCR was negative 11.2% for the second quarter of 2022. Net income, before investment gains or losses, made a positive contribution, but was offset by lower investment valuations during the quarter.
Next, Chief Financial Officer, Mike Sewell, will discuss a few more important insights regarding our financial performance.
