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California Surplus Lines Weathered Pandemic, Wildfires, Civil Unrest
In a year marred by a pandemic, massive Western U.S. wildfires, civil unrest, and a contentious election, California’s surplus lines market “didn’t miss a beat.”
That was the message from Ben McKay, CEO and executive director of the Surplus Line Association of California, who said surplus lines premiums in 2020 in California grew 22.7%, while the surplus lines item count grew 8%, despite the pandemic that gripped the world.
The disparity in premium and item growth points to a potential hardening market, McKay added.
He was speaking during the group’s annual meeting held virtually in early February.
Hearing on California Export List Covered Record Number of Items
A dozen doesn’t sound like a lot, but it may be a record in the world of the California Export List.
More items were proposed for the list than in recent memory during a California Department of Insurance hearing conducted via a telephone conference on Thursday.
Proposed items for the list included coverages for cyber, parametric products, earthquake, and COVID-19.
The 12 items this year compares to the typical number of between zero and two items proposed for the list each year, according to records from the Surplus Line Association of California.