April 2022 Sees Texas Surplus Lines Premiums Top $1.02B

SLTX recorded an unprecedented $1.02B in premium for April, with a total of $3.22B year-to-date. A 36% increase over April 2021, and 17.1% increase year-to-date. April is the largest month reported in SLTX’s 33-year history, shattering the $970.3M record in March 2022 by nearly $47 million.

Premium reported (59.0%) is attributed to renewal policies, accounting for 38.1% items reported. Additionally, 35.8% (29.1% of items) are related to new business, and 5.2% (32.7% of items) are a result of non-policy transactions such as endorsements, cancellations, audits, installments, etc. The largest portion of non-policy transactions is attributed to Premium Endorsements (20,242 items or 69.2% of the 32.7%) followed by Cancellations (6,721 items or 23.0% of the 32.7%).

More than half of lines of business experienced growth over April 2021. The largest increase, Excess / Umbrella coverage rose $75.9M (or 55.7%). Additionally, Fire / Allied Lines (residential, commercial, and historical codes) and Commercial General Liability coverages recorded growth, up $50.5M (23.5%) and $46.6M (44.6%) respectively. 64% of total premium increases can be attributed to these coverages.

April reflected a decrease in overall transactions, with 89,408 items, down 4.8% over April 2021. This same period compared to 2021 reflected a 4.0% decrease in policies filed (60,140), with average premium per item ($11,376) up 42.9%. Transactionally, the decrease can be attributed to record-keeping transactions (name, number, or insurer change endorsements; reversals; etc.) and new business, down 49% and 6% respectively. Item counts for renewal business and other non-policy transactions remained relatively flat, with a trivial increase of 75 total items over April 2021. When considering March 2022’s unparalleled item count (103,462), April 2022 decreases are equitable amongst all types: 17% in non-policies, 14% new business, 12% renewal business, and 10% record-keeping.
Texas surplus lines premiums continue to trend with existing hard-market conditions, including results of changes to diligent effort requirements (TX87 SB1367). SLTX will continue monitoring Texas surplus lines market and share additional data and analysis as it is recorded or completed.