Texas surplus lines premium up 15.6% in July

The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) has recorded $836.1mn in premium for July, up 15.6 percent over July 2020 but breaking the run of largest ever single months for premium set in May and June.

The $884.8mn in premium in May 2021 had set a new record for a single month, which was broken the following month by the $947.5mn of premium recorded in June.

While not a record-breaking month, the $836.1mn of premium in July 2021 is the highest premium recorded for a July on record. It is also the fourth largest monthly premium in SLTX’s 33-year history, with it also coming in behind the $877.5mn in March this year.

Total premium recorded by SLTX year to date as of the end of July is $5.42bn, up 16.3 percent from $4.66bn in the first half of 2020.

In July 2021 various lines of business experienced notable growth over the same month in 2020.

The largest increase came in excess/umbrella coverage, which rose almost $28mn, or 25 percent. Fire/allied lines were up $18.6mn, or nearly 7 percent, while commercial general liability was up $13.1mn, or 13 percent.

These three coverages accounted for 53 percent of total premium increases in July 2021.

The overall number of transactions filed in July was 91,571, down 1.6 percent over the same period in 2020. Policies filed fell by 0.6 percent to 62,689.

In a continuation of the trend seen so far this year, 60.4 percent of premium reported in July 2021 is attributed to renewal policies, which accounted for 38 percent of the items reported.

“SLTX expects Texas surplus lines premiums to continue to trend with the existing hard-market conditions during the remainder of the summer renewal cycle and into the fall,” the office said.

The July figures follow SLTX recording a 13.4 percent increase in premium for the second quarter of this year.

As this publication reported, Lloyd’s was the top insurer of Texas surplus lines business in the second quarter with a 20 percent share of premium, while Berkshire Hathaway moved up into the second spot.