NAPSLO Affirms Condition of Specialty Lines

The National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices Ltd. (NAPSLO) (www.napslo.org), as part of its recently launched education and awareness campaign, issued a statement affirming the strength, stability and accessibility of the wholesale specialty lines insurance industry, including surplus lines.

"Given recent developments in the financial services industry and related concerns about stability of the U.S. insurance industry, NAPSLO believes it's important to reiterate the strength and solvency of the specialty lines insurance market, including wholesale brokers and surplus lines carriers," said NAPSLO President John Wood. "The member companies and wholesale brokers that make up NAPSLO provide strong, stable markets for placement of specialty insurance."

NAPSLO is comprised of approximately 500 wholesale brokers and 100 insurance companies, and the surplus lines industry wrote more than $36 billion in premium in 2007.

According to Wood, the industry's stability was reaffirmed by the 2008 Special Report, "U.S. Surplus Lines – Market Review," published by the A.M Best Company. The survey of the excess and surplus lines market reported that "surplus lines insurers outperformed the property/casualty industry in underwriting and operating performance in 2007." Since 1994, the annual A. M. Best report has found that the solvency record of the specialty insurance industry is as good, if not better, than the overall industry.

"We encourage retail agents and brokers looking to place specialty insurance to work through wholesale brokers, who have access to a broad array of strong, stable specialty lines carriers and can find the best coverage often using innovative solutions for the difficult insurance problems retailers and their clients face," Wood said.