Texas E&S premium increased 14.4% in 2019

The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) has revealed that E&S premium in the state reached a record $6.95bn in 2019, up 14.4 percent over 2018’s $6.08bn of premium.

SLTX noted that 2019 produced record-breaking totals, with year-end premium setting a new high and each month of the year setting a record for that month.

Many lines of business increased over the year. Cyber liability was up 41.6 percent, flood increased by 28.5 percent, and oil and gas liability coverage grew 25.9 percent.

Fire and allied lines, which is the largest coverage code in the Texas market, increased by 21.8 percent – to $2.12bn from $1.74bn.

Excess liability premiums also increased significantly, up 23.3 percent to $1.17bn from $949.6mn.

The 14.4 percent increase in Texas E&S premiums for the full-year was up less than the increase reported for the first nine months, however. The $5.35bn premium in that period was up 16.2 percent on the same period of 2018.

Texas E&S filing totals were up in 2019, but not to the same degree as the premium growth.

Last year 1,093,760 items were filed with SLTX, up 4.4 percent from 1,047,318 in 2018. This total includes all transactions, such as endorsements, cancellations, and renewals.

The rapid growth of premiums in Texas mirrors a broader increase in the E&S market across the US last year.

While full-year figures are not yet available for the US E&S market, SLTX revealed in August that the 15 E&S stamping/service offices across the US reported premiums of $17.9bn for the first half of 2019 – up 12.7 percent on the prior period in 2018.