Texas surplus lines premium up 12.6% in January to $690.9mn

The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) recorded $690.9mn in premium during January, a 12.6 percent increase on the same month last year, which follows 14.9 percent full-year 2021 growth in surplus lines premium in the state.

The $77mn increase in Texas surplus lines premium during January 2022 made it the highest recorded January for SLTX and the 18th largest premium in its 33-year history.

Nearly half of the lines recorded by SLTX experienced growth over January 2021.

The largest increase was for fire/allied lines coverage (residential, commercial, and historical codes), which was up $50.0mn, or 37.5 percent. Commercial general liability was up $22.5mn, or 28.0 percent.

SLTX noted that 94 percent of total premium increases were attributable to these two lines of coverage.

The majority of premium reported, 51.9 percent, was attributed to renewal policies, which accounted for 37.9 percent of items reported.

Additionally, 41.9 percent of premium and 27.7 percent of items reported was related to new business, and 6.2 percent of premium and 34.4 percent of items was a result of non-policy transactions such as endorsements, cancellations, audits and installments.

Overall transactions fell 0.8 percent in January with 88,335 items, while policies filed increased 3.2 percent to 48,700 and average premium per item of $9,299 was up 13.5 percent.

The January figures followed the SLTX recording a record-breaking $9.10bn of premium for the 2021 full year, up 14.9 percent compared with 2020. This included nearly $830mn in premium during December, the fifth highest monthly total in the office’s 33-year history.

The 15 US surplus lines stamping offices in total reported $51bn in surplus lines premium in 2021 – up 22.3 percent compared with the previous year – according to figures released last month by the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association.

The stamping offices account for around 60 percent of total surplus lines premium.