Insurance Xdate

Big thanks for having us on the show David R. Carothers, CIC, CRM, CWCA

WR Berkley has shed some of it’s 2023 premium gains, down $3.9MM vs the $10.5MM in gains seen a year prior. A definite middle-weight contender, averaging $25k in average WC policy size, with a $1MM Overhead Door Install contactor, and a fast-food restaurant clocking in at $700k. Policy count movement has sat in the middle, not a lot of lost accounts, not a lot of gained accounts (in any one class). Not a lot of love for new business with Accountants, Electrical Wiring, Jewelry Stores, Restaurants and Parks the exception. Overall renewals appear to be the favorite right now, averaging a 3% premium increase on renewal, vs 10% increase on new biz. 

Old Republic, which includes PMA and Bitco, is 5% down on premium ($20MM), 2% up on policy count for 2024. Worth noting is that PEO business is excluded from these reports, when included they are only down $6MM in premium, nominal changes to policy count b/c of how murky PEO reporting is. We’re looking at an average account size of almost $21k and several $1MM+ accounts in Trucking, Drilling and Retirement Living Centers. Mail/Parcel, the last-mile class, more than doubled in the past year adding $3.4MM from 102 new accounts. At the insured level we’re seeing some new biz preference, especially in their top class (by policy count) of Building/Property Maintenance where they’ve seen modest but consistent 2 year growth. Overall they’re pretty flat on renewals, the Aviation classes an exception, showing 10 and 18% increases being served up. 

2024 (well, 2023 renewals) has been a tough year for Markel, losing way more than was gained a year prior. Premium has dumped out of their main contracting classes- Painting ($2.8MM), Carpentry ($3.3MM), Cabinet Work (1.4MM), Residential Buildings (2.4MM). $10MM in four classes. It’s not all bad, not necessarily bright spots but there are Service industry upticks in Restaurants, Physicians, and Beauty Shops. They have an average account size of $2,600 and no single account over $200k in their top classes. PS to the 2-300 of you that download these reports, the net policy change (count) has been overstated on the past couple months’ reports, because we’re adding 14 new states to the database. They’ll be excluded until we have another year of renewals. https://lnkd.in/eX7VZG5d

Don’t get caught flatfooted with Employers. They’re aggressive and holding on to what they like. A minor exception, that you don’t see here, is to their Retail book, which is 1% lighter. Also not apparent here is how hard they’ve hit the Construction industry, doubling their policy count to over 8k records to end 2024. Top classes here are Landscaping (doubled), Painting (more than doubled premium and count), Plumbing (double), Electrical (take a guess). It goes on. And it’s been a 3 year trend. One thing to note, you won’t find many accounts north of $200k (Max premium on the far-right bar/dot chart). They have a hotel topping the list at $1.7MM, Wholesale Stores a distant second at $423k. Overall an average account size of $3,800 with insured’s seeing an average 3% decrease on renewal, a 22% decrease for new biz. 

Consistency appears to be Hanover’s mantra to growth. Architect/Engineering Firms saw the largest 2-year gain with $2.1MM in premium and 104 new policies (side note, their largest account in this class is $2MM, with the average at $5k). Restaurants shows some interesting growth considering 4.5% increases for new and renewal alike, amounting to $762k in new biz premium, a net gain of $338k in premium. Overall, they’ve added 2,990 policies from 23 to 24, $1.6MM in premium. Their average account size is $4,300. They are 5% low on new biz on average, and 1.45% up on renewals. 

State Farm is growing one little account at a time. They’ve added 5.5MM in premium and 15k policies in the last 2 years. Restaurants, Painters, Electrical, PLumbing and Carpentry Interior Cabinetry have seen some nice gains in premium and policy count. All of these classes have an average premium size of $2k to $2,500, well above their overall $1,760 average. Interestingly the policy holders are not seeing anything drastic on their pricing, with plumbers being the exception at 20% low on new biz, and an 11% decrease on renewals, so they want to keep them around. On the surface new clients are seeing an average 5.8% decrease, and renewals are seeing a 1.7% increase.

Accident Fund saw some nice gains in Schools, Property Management and HVAC, and that is about it. Home Health Care was also on the plus side for 2024, but no where near recovering the premium losses from 2023. Based on the numbers they took their biggest premium hit on Wholesale Stores, $9MM over two years. They have a net gain of 2k policies over the past 2 years, and horrible premium losses, about 15%. Insureds are seeing an average of 4.6% increase on renewal and they are coming in about 6% low on new biz, and carry an average account size of $20k with Roofers topping the list at $39k. 

CNA took some hits on Accountants, netting a 435 policy loss despite picking up over 600 new, and Physicians losing $4MM worth of premium, 273 policies lighter. A lot of their top 25 classes took a hit in premium and count, but they do have some decent gains at the bottom with Plumbing, Carpentry, Veterinary, and Overhead Door installation. Not really offsetting, but worth mention. Their average Plumbing account comes in at $44k, a distant second to Roofing at $73k. Overall CNA’s average account size is $12k. On the surface, insureds have seen an average premium increase of 4.3% on renewal, and an 11% decrease on new biz. They have a 2-year gain on policy count, and a net gain of $19MM in premium for the past 2 years, despite losing $5MM in 2024 renewals.

Erie’s presence in our states with Premium data is on the lower side, but Carpentry-Interior Cabinet Installation stands out as new biz more than doubled their total premium, and they only have a gain of 20 policies to show for it. And the insureds were looking at an average 25% increase to make the switch. Carpentry NOC tops their list with an average premium of $16k, $7,600 for all classes. Restaurants, Grocery/Tea/Coffee Dealers, Fast Food and Auto Service Shops are also seeing some nice policy count gains. Landscapers, Barbers Shops and Retail Stores seeing comparable losses. Sizable premium losses in those same Auto Service Shops, as well as Plumbing, Painters and Excavation. Overall Erie has been delivering flat renewals and 9% decrease on new biz.