Gross premiums written by leading reinsurers in the U.S. 2019

The leading reinsurer in the United States as of the fourth quarter in 2019, National Indemnity Company, had 25.78 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of gross premiums written.

Reinsurers

Reinsurance is a type of insurance that other insurance companies take out to reduce risk. Essentially, it works to restrict the amount of money an insurer can possibly lose and, in turn, protects their own customers from losses. There are two procedures for reinsurance, facultative and treaty. Facultative reinsurance is when an insurance company buys insurance for a specific instance or occurrence. Treaty reinsurance covers a set of predetermined risks over a period of time. Facultative is seen as a one-time deal whereas treaty reinsurance is long term. There are several types of reinsurance which include proportional, non-proportional, risk attaching basis, losses occurring basis, and a claims-made basis. The proportional structure of reinsurance means that the reinsurer will handle a part of the losses, in which it gets a prorated share of the insurer’s premiums. The non-proportional reinsurance structure means the agreement will start when the insurer’s losses surpass a certain amount.

Leading companies

In 2018, National Indemnity Co. was the leading reinsurer in net premiums earned that year, having a significant lead over all other companies. They also had the highest value of policyholder surplus generated that year. However, it was Odyssey Reins. Group that wrote the most direct premiums that year.