News

October 16th, 2024  

I’m writing this month’s newsletter from lovely Austin, TX. I’m here attending a meeting of the USA Alliance, which is a networking group comprised of independent, family-owned insurance wholesalers and MGAs. We get together twice a year to discuss the challenges that we face and talk about the various ways that we navigate through them. It’s a great organization and one that we’re proud to be a part of. 

The Excess & Surplus Lines Insurance segment has been experiencing tremendous growth, and that’s been a big topic of discussion at this year’s meeting. AM Best recently released their 2024 Market Segment Report on U.S. Surplus Lines business, and I’d like to share some of the notable takeaways from that report:

• AM Best reports 16.8% growth in surplus lines direct written premium in 2023. That’s a total of $115.1 billion, up from $98.5 billion in 2023.
• Surplus lines insurers underwriting and operating results continued to improve in 2023.  Most of the performance metrics used to judge these results far outpace the broader Property & Casualty insurance industry.
• AM Best reports no financial impairments in the surplus lines segment in 2023. This is contrasted against 11 impairments in the admitted P&C insurance space. Since 2003, AM Best has reported just one surplus lines company impairment, compared to 302 in the admitted P&C insurance market. 
• Surplus lines insurers’ market share has more than tripled since the start of the century, from 3.6% of total P&C direct premiums written in 2000 to 11.9% at the end of 2023. During that same time frame, the surplus lines market share of commercial lines direct written premium has also more than tripled, going from 7.1% to 23.7%.

What does this mean to you? Business continues to migrate from the admitted marketplace to surplus lines. As admitted carriers tighten their guidelines and restrict their appetite for certain risks, more and more of your clients will be looking to you to find creative solutions to their coverage needs. With their freedom of rate and form, surplus lines insurers have always been on the frontline of insuring emerging risks. Whether that’s addressing the increased exposures associated with our warming climate, or new(er) exposures such as cyber liability, the carriers that we represent have an appetite for, and an understanding of those risks that allow them to craft solutions for you and your clients.

At the Tuscano Agency, we also understand that for a lot of our customers, surplus lines premiums may make up less than 5% of their total overall book. Luckily, when you come to us, you’re hiring us for our expertise, not just for access to markets. Our fast, friendly, and professional underwriters take the time to walk you through the process and explain what it takes to deliver the best combination of pricing and coverage to your clients. 

This month, we’re highlighting our Allied Healthcare offerings. Our Professional Lines team has solutions for a wide range of healthcare related businesses from Medi-spas , Group homes and healthcare facilities to freestanding clinics of all types. This includes the more complex risks that can fall in the grey area of healthcare – such as search and rescue providers, humanitarian aid organizations, and social services, to name a few. We have a robust appetite and are able to use creative underwriting for those hard-to-place risks and they’d love to hear from you so they can share their expertise!

As always, I’d love to hear how we’re treating you. Please call or drop me a line to let me know!

Robin

robin@tuscano.com

(C) 724-454-3516