While some business that's rented space in the surplus lines market in recent years is migrating back to standard carriers, wholesalers say they are agile enough to switch gears, seizing a variety of new growth opportunities. Instead of simply cursing the turn of the market to soft conditions in many coverage areas, they are refocusing efforts on business that traditionally remains in the surplus market, while continuing to build relationships with retail customers and insurance company markets--the keys to growth in any market, they contend.
"We're up this year. It's not been that much of a challenge," said David Price, executive vice president and chief underwriting officer for Burns & Wilcox in Farmington Hills, Mich.
"The surplus lines business normally does quite well in a soft market once [wholesalers and E&S insurers] reposition themselves," he said--noting, for example, that "program business is doing well" at his firm. Programs for health, beauty and tanning salons "have gone along very nicely," for example, he said.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
