2000 Market Share For Insurers in Texas

The books are closed on 2000 Texas premium and loss information for the insurance industry. IIAT’s annual review of market share data contains a few surprises, some good news and some bad news. Here are the highlights in review:

• Texas accounts for 7 percent of the national premium volume, unchanged from 1999.

• The aggregate loss ratio for all Texas companies for all lines of business is 78.5 percent (up from 65.2 percent in 1999), compared to the national loss ratio of 71.3 percent (up from 68.3 percent in 1999). This is thefirst time the Texas loss ratio has exceeded the national loss ratio since 1995.

• Texas independent agencies held their ground in the annual battle for personal lines market share.

• In homeowners, loss ratios are way above unprofitable levels for the firsttime since 1995.

• Loss ratios are way up in commercial multiperil as well.

• In commercial auto, loss ratios went up again and are still higher than they have been in over five years.

• In workers’ compensation, loss ratios have stabilized but are still at unprofitable levels.

Aside from the higher loss ratios in all lines, it was a ho-hum year—there was little movement in the top 20 carriers in any line and premium volumes in all lines stayed about the same. The following is a line-by-line analysis of the Texas premium, loss and market share data for 2000.

PERSONAL AUTO
The personal auto loss ratio has been going up since 1997 and seems to be unable to return to a profitable level. With big trouble brewing now in the homeowners line, it looks like personal lines in the independent agency will once again be something to avoid if possible. The Texas loss ratio is higher than the national loss ratio for the first time since 1995, something that always gets the attention of company home offices. At least independent agents maintained the same market share in personal auto as they had the year before.

There was little movement within the top 20 carriers in personal auto. Progressive lost some ground, switching places with USAA. Liberty Mutual broke into the top 20, replacing Foremost (now included within the Farmers/Zurich numbers).

County mutual insurance companies kept about the same market share as the year before—26.7 percent with a premium volume of $2.2 billion. Watch for upward movement in market share and premium volume for 2001, as Farmers and Allstate recently announced much of their standard auto business would be moved to their county mutual companies.

HOMEOWNERS
What a difference a year makes! And unfortunately, the difference is not good. The loss ratio jumped from 50.6 percent in 1999 to 82.6 percent in 2000. That’s the worst loss ratio for homeowners business since 1995, when it was 96.5 percent because of the Metroplex hail storms. The Texas loss ratio is 16 points higher than the national loss ratio, a fact that will surely be carefully noted at company home offices.

Insurers are already saying 2001 will be even worse due to mold claims, and many are in the process of implementing restrictive underwriting rules to cut back on their premium volume. Direct writers like Farmers are doing the same thing, so it will be interesting to see what changes will occur in market share in 2001. For now, independent agents are holding their own, with 17.8 percent market share compared to 17.7 percent in 1999.

There were no new carriers in the top 20, and little change in market share within that group. CNA lost some ground, moving from 10th to 12th, giving up market share to Liberty Mutual and Hartford.

COMMERCIAL MULTIPERIL
As homeowners goes, so goes commercial multiperil. The loss ratio is unprofitable for the first time since 1995 and more than 20 points higher than the national loss ratio.

Some carriers did quite well (State Farm, Chubb, ACE INA and Old Republic) while others had dismal results (CNA, Hartford, Fairfax, Kemper, GuideOne, Allstate and Liberty Mutual).

The top 20 includes two new carriers. ACE INA improved from 21st to 13th, replacing last year’s 9th-ranked carrier Zurich (combined now with Farmers). Winterthur Swiss (Republic) came on strong, from 27th to 18th, after entering the commercial lines arena just a couple of years ago.

The Farmers/Zurich combo ended up in 2nd place, taking advantage of the previous year’s 6th place ranking for Zurich and 9th place for Farmers. Great American fell out of the top 20 altogether.

TOP 20 COMMERCIAL MULTIPERIL CARRIERS IN TEXAS—2000 ’00 Rank Co. Name ’99 Rank Total Premium* Mkt. Share Loss Ratio 1 Travelers 2 118.3 10.8% 72.1% 2 Farmers/Zurich 6,9 112.1 10.2% 85.6% 3 CNA 1 87.8 8.0% 133.0% 4 CGU Group 3 65.3 6.0% 87.7% 5 Hartford 5 62.7 5.7% 116.9% 6 State Farm 4 48.5 4.4% 57.5% 7 SAFECO 7 43.9 4.0% 83.1% 8 Chubb 10 40.6 3.7% 36.7% 9 Allianz of America 8 39.0 3.6% 90.7% 10 Fairfax Financial 12 26.7 2.4% 135.0% 11 Kemper 11 26.2 2.4% 138.1% 12 Nationwide 13 23.0 2.1% 59.7% 13 Ace INA Group 21 22.4 2.0% 12.5% 14 GuideOne 18 20.5 1.9% 138.3% 15 Allstate 14 20.4 1.9% 108.7% 16 Liberty Mutual 16 19.9 1.8% 184.3% 17 Royal & SunAlliance 15 19.3 1.8% 89.6% 18 Winterthur Swiss 27 18.6 1.7% 74.3% 19 Church Mutual 17 Topics Carriers Texas Auto Profit Loss Personal Auto Homeowners Was this article valuable? Yes No Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. 4,800 Claims Handled by Unlicensed Adjusters in Florida After Irma, Lawsuit Says Growing Progressive Set to Hire 10,000+ in Claims, IT, Other Roles Florida Governor Signs Wind-Mitigation Funding Bills for Homes, Condos Allstate Tops Profit Estimates on Higher Premiums, Investment Returns From This Issue September 3, 2001 Insurance Journal Magazine View Issue Subscribe Texas Market Review Interested in Auto? Get automatic alerts for this topic. Submit Email This Subscribe to Newsletter Email to a friend Facebook Tweet LinkedIn Print Article Companies: ACE INA Holdings Inc., Allianz S.p.A., Allstate Insurance Company, Amica Mutual Insurance Company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Foremost Insurance Company, GEICO, IIAT, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Travelers, Unitrin, Inc., USAA, ZurichCategories: FeaturesTopics: Commercial Auto, Commercial Lines, Indiana, Insurers, Markets/Coverages, P&C Companies, Personal Lines, Texas, Workers Compensation Have a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk@insurancejournal.com Insurance Jobs Field Auto Adjuster – Charleston, SC - Charleston, SC Health & Benefits North America – Product Leader - Chicago, IL Commercial Lines Account Manager or Customer Service Rep (CSR) – Insurance – REMOTE - Remote Commercial Lines Underwriter I - Bedford, NH Auto Total Loss Claim Representative Trainee - Centennial, CO Why Millennials and Gen Z Just Aren’t Loving Insurance: How Organizations Can Win the Next Generations of Insurance Consumers A Look at the Liquor Liability Landscape How to Sell Yacht Insurance Amidst a Rising Tide Squeezed from All Sides: Restaurants Pressured by Labor, Food, Insurance Costs Extreme Weather, Cyber Risks Top Concerns When Insuring Farms Hundreds Rescued in Flooded Neighborhoods From Houston to East Texas Southern Brazil Hit by Worst Floods in Over 80 Years, Killing at Least 39 People Colleges, NCAA Weighing $2.9 Billion Antitrust Settlement With Revenue-Share for Athletes US Class Action Settlements Flooded With Fraudulent Claims by Scammers: Reuters Geico Settles Case Claiming It Encouraged Employees to Call the Cops on Pro-Union Co-Workers May 9 Cannabis and the Homeowners' Policy May 16 Business Income Limits and Coinsurance May 23 Broke as a Joke in 2024: Commercial Property Edition May 30 The US Legal System and Legal Liability