Texas Exceeds 2017’s Record-Breaking Premium

The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) has reported another record-setting year, with a recorded $6.08 billion in E&S premium for 2018. This represents an 11.4% growth over 2017.

Certain coverages have continued an upward trend of increased premium. Fire and allied lines showed a growth of 15.5% (from $1.51 billion to $1.74 billion), while cyber liability increased by 15.8% to $89.7 million. Additionally, pollution increased by 9.1% to $167 million and terrorism rose a whopping 50.7% from $3.4 million to $5.1 million.

It is evident that the increase can be attributed to general rate and pricing upticks, as SLTX saw only a marginal increase in filing totals for the year. In 2018, 1.05 million filings were recorded, compared to 1.03 million in 2017, a 1.24% increase.

Surplus lines premium has continued to increase over the past few years. In Texas, SLTX has experienced several years of record-breaking growth, each building on the last. This year’s total is double the amount recorded 15 years ago in 2003 at $2.95 billion. It will be informative to see the national growth as other states finalize premium and filing totals for the year. There is more to come in the new year as the market continues to evolve and grow.