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Happy Days Are Here Again! Well, Maybe

In an August review of the excess and surplus lines (E&S) market, A.M. Best noted that E&S enjoyed banner years in the not-so-distant past. "Direct premiums grew by 225 percent from year-end 2000

By Joan E. Collier, Joan E. Collier | Updated on January 31, 2009

In an August review of the excess and surplus lines (E&S) market, A.M. Best noted that E&S enjoyed banner years in the not-so-distant past. “Direct premiums grew by 225 percent from year-end 2000 through year-end 2003 for domestic professional surplus lines companies,” it said. However, it went on to note that with a softening market in 2004, premiums flattened in 2005, grew a bit in 2006, and declined a bit in 2007. Then along came 2008. While final figures for 2008 are still being gathered, it was, by all accounts, a year that many were glad to see end.

“I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in my 40 years in this business, and this past year was a unique ‘down,’” said Tom Enright of Enright & Wilson in Hollywood. Enright, whose firm writes commercial risks, mainly P&C and professional liability, reported rates in the E&S market were “20, 30, or even 50 percent lower than the year before. I’m hopeful that 2009 will be a better year for all of us. I sure don’t see how it could be any worse.”

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