By Josh Chetwynd
One of the country’s biggest jumps in surplus lines insurance premiums during the first half of 2015 occurred in the Northeast. New York’s stamping office for surplus lines, which is the region’s biggest location for processing surplus lines insurance, saw an increase year-over-year of 14.4% in the first six months of the year, according to a bi-annual national study performed by the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas.
That surge was the third largest in the country among the United States’ 14 stamping offices, following only Oregon (22.7 percent) and California (16.4 percent). New York’s total premium levels were also high, coming in at $1.8 billion, which placed it fourth behind Florida ($2.88 billion), California ($2.57 billion) and Texas ($2.54 billion).
In addition, New York’s total number of filings year-over-year, increased by 16.7 percent, which was tied for the biggest jump nationwide. New York had 139,075 items, which also placed it fourth.
The uptick can be attributed in large part to the building boom in that area, according to Norma Essary, who is the Executive Director of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas.
“The good majority of their growth is really due to the construction piece,” said Essary, whose office released the report. “They’ve had an uptick in post-Hurricane Sandy construction” which has caused “market expansion” in that industry.
Elsewhere in the region, Pennsylvania’s stamping office saw an 8.8% increase in premiums, reaching $574.6 million on 92,280 items, which was a slight 0.8% decrease in total filings compared to the same period in 2014.
In total, the Northeast accounted for 19 percent of total premiums processed. That said, with only two offices in the region (New York and Pennsylvania), the area is relatively small. By contrast, the West, which has seven offices, took in 31 percent of national premiums.
Stamping office statistics are a key indicator of the surplus insurance business as approximately 60 percent of all surplus lines insurance is processed through these locations. Overall, stamping offices saw a total of more than $13 billion in surplus lines premiums during the first six months of 2015. That was an increase of 9.5% from 2014.
