The American Insurance Association and Property Casualty Insurers Association of America are in talks for a possible merger to create a single group representing the property casualty insurance industry.

The boards of AIA and PCI have begun negotiations for bringing their groups together, the associations said in a joint statement. AIA is a $20 million-revenue association in Washington, D.C., led by CEO John Degnan. PCI is a $43 million-revenue group in Chicago led by CEO David Sampson. Both represent property casualty insurers.

"The respective boards of AIA and PCI believe there is great benefit in a more unified policy and advocacy voice for property casualty insurers, given the unprecedented pace of change in the world and the resulting potential opportunities and challenges," the associations said.

"A merged trade association would speak for approximately 60 percent of the U.S. property casualty market, representing the full breadth of the industry and creating an even more influential voice," they added.

Both groups noted that "a great deal of work" must be done before a merger could take place. They did not define what organizational structure the new group would take or when a proposal would be presented to each association's memberships.

"Our goal would be to combine the best of both organizations into one preeminent thought leadership and advocacy voice for personal, commercial and specialty property casualty companies, while providing valuable information and compliance services," the groups said.

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