Underwriting, Operating and Related Expenses. Underwriting, operating and related expenses for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased by $48,742, or 19.0%, to $305,322 from $256,580 for the comparable 2023 period. The increase is driven by an increase in base commissions resulting from the increase in written premiums, offset by a decrease in contingent commission expense. Our GAAP expense ratio for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased to 30.2% from 30.7% for the comparable 2023 period.
Other Expense: Other expense includes the operating and related expenses associated with SNIA.
Interest Expense. Interest expense was $509 and $818 for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Interest expense primarily relates to the borrowing from the FHLB as noted within Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 10, Debt, of this Form 10-K. The credit facility commitment fee included in interest expense was $60 and $75 for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Income Tax Expense. Our effective tax rates were 21.3% and 22.7% for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The effective rates for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were higher than the statutory rate primary due to the impact of stock-based and executive compensation.
The comparison of results for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 can be found in the Company’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As a holding company, Safety’s assets consist primarily of the stock of our direct and indirect subsidiaries. Our principal source of funds to meet our obligations and pay dividends to shareholders, therefore, is dividends and other permitted payments from our subsidiaries, principally Safety Insurance. Safety is the borrower under our credit facility.
Safety Insurance’s sources of funds primarily include premiums received, investment income and proceeds from sales and redemptions of investments. Safety Insurance’s principal uses of cash are the payment of claims, operating expenses and taxes, the purchase of investments and payment of dividends to Safety.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $128,688, $52,114, and $44,326 during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively. Our operations typically generate positive cash flows from operations as most premiums are received in advance of the time when claim and benefit payments are required. These positive operating cash flows are expected to continue to meet our liquidity requirements.
Net cash used for investing activities was $54,541 during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to net cash provided by investing activities of $24,269 for December 31, 2023, and net cash used for investing activities of $19,988 for the year ended December 31, 2022. This fluctuation was driven by purchases exceeding proceeds from sales, paydowns, calls and maturities of fixed maturity and equity securities in 2024.
Net cash used for financing activities was $53,325, $63,531, and $62,641 during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Net cash used for financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 consisted of dividend payments to shareholders.
The Insurance Subsidiaries maintain a high degree of liquidity within their respective investment portfolios in fixed maturity and short-term investments. We do not anticipate the need to sell these securities to meet the Insurance Subsidiaries cash requirements. We expect the Insurance Subsidiaries to generate sufficient operating cash to meet all short-term and long-term cash requirements. However, there can be no assurance that unforeseen business needs or other items will not occur causing us to have to sell securities before their values fully recover; thereby causing us to recognize additional impairment charges in that time period.