Texas E&S premiums jump 14.5% YOY in May

In the latest evidence that growth in the E&S market shows no sign of slowing down, data from the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) revealed a record-breaking $884.75mn in premium for May, up 14.5 percent compared to the same month last year.

That took the total for the first five months of the year to $3.63bn in the state, up 14.2 percent over the same period of 2020.

The SLTX said May 2021 represented the largest single-month reported in its 33-year history, exceeding the $772.8mn record set in May 2020 by almost $112mn.

The stamping office said that the largest increase was seen in excess/umbrella coverage, with premiums up 23.9 percent, or $28mn. As previously reported, the excess/umbrella market has been one of the hardest segments of the US commercial insurance market over the last year.

The SLTX also highlighted commercial auto liability coverage as a fast-growing line of business for E&S premium. Between them, excess/umbrella and commercial auto liability accounted for almost half of the total premium increases seen last month, the stamping office said.

The update noted that May 2021 saw an 8.5 percent increase in the overall number of transactions filed (90,794), but that overall transactions filed in the year-to-date are 0.5 percent lower. There was also a 4.1 percent increase in the number of policies filed in May to 61,441, but policies filed were down 3.4 percent in the year-to-date.

“SLTX expects Texas surplus lines premiums to continue to trend with the existing hard-market conditions during the upcoming summer renewal cycle,” said the report.