P/C Direct Premium Written Up 4.5 Percent

September 18, 2017 by

Direct premium written (DPW) for property/casualty insurance companies continues to increase, albeit gradually. At year-end 2016, approximately $606 billion of DPW was reported, a record high for the industry. For 2016, total DPW for all P/C insurers aggregately increased 4 percent from 2015, an increase of $23.4 billion. Through the second quarter of 2017, the industry’s growth trend has continued, as DPW for all P/C insurers aggregately increased 4.5 percent from 2016.

For the six months ending June 30, 2017, P/C companies comprising the Top 25 insurers in terms of DPW increased their DPW 13.3 percent during the first six months of 2016. This continues the Top 25 insurers’ impressive display of premium growth and financial stability. The Top 25 accounted for 56 percent of the growth in the P/C insurance industry’s DPW. In contrast, the remainder of the industry reported an increase in DPW of 2.4 percent, or $5.9 billion year over year.

Although the market continues to exhibit signs of firming and DPW continues to increase, P/C insurers should not expect a traditional hard market in the near future. More importantly, it is possible that the double-digit premium growth experienced in the historical hard market cycles may have created unrealistic premium growth expectations for this current recovery.

It is more realistic that expectations should relate to gradual, stable growth. There is always a fair amount of uncertainty in making projections based on second quarter data, but if the industry holds to its 10-year historical pattern, growth in 2017 would again result in the highest level of year-end DPW ever reported by the P/C industry.

Company Name DPW 6/30/2017 DPW 6/30/2016 $ Growth % Growth
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. $19,831,055,960 $18,260,514,642 $1,570,541,318 8.60%
GEICO General Insurance Co. $4,661,208,619 $4,213,673,249 $447,535,370 10.62%
Stratford Insurance Co. $382,763,406 $9,333,778 $373,429,628 4000.84%
Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc. $1,664,890,626 $1,342,546,646 $322,343,980 24.01%
GEICO Casualty Co. $2,096,015,446 $1,783,811,175 $312,204,271 17.50%
American Family Insurance Co. $623,087,556 $315,701,635 $307,385,921 97.37%
GEICO County Mutual Insurance Co. $797,234,705 $507,651,840 $289,582,865 57.04%
GEICO Indemnity Co. $2,870,509,364 $2,581,849,811 $288,659,553 11.18%
Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. $4,043,457,036 $3,765,498,373 $277,958,663 7.38%
USAA General Indemnity Co. $1,886,597,185 $1,615,428,431 $271,168,754 16.79%
USAA Casualty Insurance Co. $3,045,908,101 $2,788,118,193 $257,789,908 9.25%
Liberty County Mutual Insurance Co. $567,510,433 $311,729,070 $255,781,363 82.05%
American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida $2,022,772,924 $1,773,126,261 $249,646,663 14.08%
GEICO Advantage Insurance Co. $647,160,882 $408,859,979 $238,300,903 58.28%
Farmers Insurance Exchange $2,168,403,214 $1,945,193,044 $223,210,170 11.47%
Government Employees Insurance Co. $2,866,018,904 $2,644,221,503 $221,797,401 8.39%
United Services Automobile Association $3,803,982,871 $3,593,960,181 $210,022,690 5.84%
Ohio Security Insurance Co. $977,508,984 $770,302,702 $207,206,282 26.90%
LM General Insurance Co. $1,655,506,187 $1,454,308,541 $201,197,646 13.83%
ACE American Insurance Co. $2,310,937,099 $2,113,566,604 $197,370,495 9.34%
Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Co. $1,055,267,124 $867,659,980 $187,607,144 21.62%
Auto-Owners Insurance Co. $1,649,258,957 $1,466,491,110 $182,767,847 12.46%
Integon National Insurance Co. $631,910,766 $456,707,592 $175,203,174 38.36%
NAU Country Insurance Co. $1,138,440,243 $974,336,822 $164,103,421 16.84%
Progressive County Mutual Insurance Co. $1,157,723,108 $994,503,447 $163,219,661 16.41%
Top 25 P/C Companies by DPW Growth $64,555,129,700 $56,959,094,609 $7,596,035,091 13.34%
All Other P/C Companies $252,455,168,112 $246,515,741,803 $5,939,426,309 2.41%
Total $317,010,297,812 $303,474,836,412 $13,535,461,400 4.46%