According to the Big “I” 2022 Market Share Report, 62% of all property-casualty insurance written in the U.S. is placed through independent agencies. NAIC market share data emphasizes the dominance of independent agencies in the commercial lines market by estimating that almost 88% of all commercial lines written premiums are placed by the independent agency channel.
According to Chris Boggs, Big “I” vice president of agent development, education, and research, “The demise of the independent agency channel has been predicted by various sources for many years, but the Market Share Report affirms the reality that independent agents have and continue to place the majority of all P&C business.” Independent agents, in particular, “continue to demonstrate their dominance in commercial lines.”
Along with being the undisputed leaders in commercial lines, independent agencies in the U.S. place 37% of all personal lines premiums. About 50% of the $765 billion in premiums written in the U.S. were for personal lines. Slightly more than 38% were for commercial lines; and the remaining 12% were for “unclassified” coverage, which is coverage that cannot clearly be classified as either personal lines or commercial lines. Most of this “unclassified” business is placed by independent agents—about 85%.
Workers’ compensation was the only line among the top 10 lines written by independent agents that did not see at least some growth in the percentage written by the independent agency channel over the five years ending in 2021. The number of independent agents writing on all other lines either increased or remained constant.
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