The Top Writers of Ocean & Inland Marine Insurance In Massachusetts

As we have done in the Spring over the past few years, over the course of the next couple of weeks Agency Checklists will be publishing the most current market share data on the major lines of insurance operating within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As always, all of our information comes courtesy of the Division of Insurance, which is charged with compiling and issue an annual report outlining the current state of the insurance marketplace in Massachusetts each year. In these specific reports, all of the data presented is from 2017, the latest year for which complete information is available.

Fast Facts about the Ocean & Inland Marine Insurance:

Marine insurance is actually the oldest line of insurance, with various publications dating it back to Ancient China and the Phoenicians. More recent history from the Middle Ages shows that marine insurance was well established during this era, with the Encyclopedia Britannica stating that it was part and parcel of many a medieval sea code. In the modern era, Lloyd’s is often credited with issuing the first

In the U.S., inland marine insurance, essentially a byproduct of ocean marine insurance, typically “indemnifies loss to movable or specialized types of property.” Nowadays, this includes a wide variety of coverages for property including everything from medical diagnostic equipment to fine arts, to wind turbines, movie equipment and musical instruments.

The following is a look at the size and composition of this marketplace here in Massachusetts.

• Two hundred and seventy-two insurance companies are currently licensed to write Ocean & Inland Marin insurance in Massachusetts. 
• There are 53 fewer companies in this line of insurance since the last time we took a look at this marketplace when 323 insurers were reported as writing this line of insurance in 2016.
• These 272 insurers have a combined Total Direct Written Premium of $610,163,522, up from the $587,269,313 dollars reported as the Total Direct Written Premium in 2016.
• As for the largest writers in this line, the top 20 Ocean & Inland Marine insurers Direct Written Premium totals $352,025,632 representing a 57.7% share of the market. This percentage is down slightly from the 60.3% share held in 2016.
• The remaining 252 insurers wrote $258,137,890 in Direct Written Premium representing a 42.3% market share

Are there any top insurers that are based in Massachusetts as well?

• No. While in the last report, Massachusetts-based Liberty Mutual was listed as the fourth largest writer of Ocean & Inland Marine insurance in the Commonwealth, it does not appear on the list this year. Interestingly, GEICO’s Marine Ins. Co. makes its first appearance with a 1.17% market share as the 20th largest writer here.

The list of the top 20 insurers in Ocean & Inland insurance…