Liability for Unpaid Losses and Loss Adjustment Expense | Liability for Unpaid Losses and Loss Adjustment Expense The Company establishes reserves for unpaid losses and LAE which represent the estimated ultimate cost of all losses incurred that were both reported and unreported (i.e., incurred but not reported losses, or "IBNR") and LAE incurred that remain unpaid at the balance sheet date. The Company reserves for loss after considering all information known at each reporting period. At any given point in time, loss reserves represent the best estimate of the ultimate settlement and administration cost of insured claims incurred and unpaid. Since the process of estimating loss reserves requires significant judgment due to a number of variables, such as fluctuations in inflation, judicial decisions, legislative changes and changes in claims handling procedures, the ultimate liability will likely differ from these estimates. The Company revises the reserves for unpaid losses as additional information becomes available, and reflects adjustments, if any, in earnings in the periods in which the adjustments are deemed necessary. The liability for unpaid losses is recorded on an undiscounted basis. The following table represents a reconciliation of changes in the liability for unpaid losses and LAE. Year Ended December 31, 2020 2019 2018 Unpaid losses and LAE reserves at beginning of period $ 406,716 $ 340,415 $ 277,671 Less losses ceded through reinsurance (304,005) (257,421) (206,323) Net unpaid losses and LAE at beginning of period 102,711 82,994 71,348 Acquisition of subsidiary, net of losses ceded through reinsurance 7,050 6,366 — Incurred losses and LAE related to: Current period 65,587 54,933 41,635 Prior period (14,813) (10,272) (5,906) Total incurred losses and LAE 50,774 44,661 35,729 Paid losses and LAE, net of reinsurance, related to: Current period 15,411 11,852 7,724 Prior period 22,962 19,458 16,359 Total paid losses and LAE 38,373 31,310 24,083 Net unpaid losses and LAE at end of period 122,162 102,711 82,994 Plus losses ceded through reinsurance 335,655 304,005 257,421 Unpaid losses and LAE reserves at end of period $ 457,817 $ 406,716 $ 340,415 As a result of changes in estimates of insured events in prior years, the provision for unpaid losses and LAE decreased by approximately $14,813 and $10,272 and $5,906 for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively, primarily attributable to the development in the Company’s workers’ compensation book of business. The Company purchased annuities from life insurers under which the claimants are the payees. The purchase of these annuities allowed the Company to reduce reserves for unpaid losses by approximately $2,553 in previous years. Under the terms of settlement with the claimants, the Company remains liable for payments to the claimants of approximately $1,717 and $1,773 as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, in the event of default or insolvency of the life insurers. Loss Development Tables The following tables represent cumulative incurred loss and allocated loss adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance by accident year and cumulative paid loss and allocated loss adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance by accident year, for the years ended December 31, 2011 to 2020, as well as total IBNR and the cumulative number of reported claims for the year ended December 31, 2020, by reportable line of business and accident year (dollars in thousands). The Company’s primary lines of business are workers’ compensation and other liability. Workers' Compensation Incurred Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance As of December 31, 2020 Years Ended December 31, Total of IBNR Liabilities Plus Expected Development on Reported Claims Cumulative Number of Reported Claims Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 13,271 13,825 15,426 16,280 16,004 16,197 16,738 17,090 17,078 17,276 1,082 2,337 2012 20,397 20,948 19,699 20,176 19,235 18,778 18,898 18,967 18,933 1,290 2,229 2013 22,746 22,879 22,650 19,772 19,528 19,426 19,814 19,964 1,655 2,496 2014 22,357 20,686 19,781 19,394 17,967 18,025 18,049 1,723 2,740 2015 22,643 23,830 23,444 21,788 22,218 19,560 1,942 3,945 2016 30,710 29,261 27,674 25,430 23,063 3,261 8,677 2017 35,683 29,107 25,713 24,439 4,075 13,230 2018 40,122 34,478 34,321 7,288 10,943 2019 48,565 45,384 13,504 9,820 2020 55,960 26,003 9,501 $ 276,949 Cumulative Paid Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance Years Ended December 31, Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 3,922 8,642 12,287 13,534 14,428 15,025 15,690 16,048 16,532 16,621 2012 6,100 11,854 14,292 15,902 16,683 17,426 17,951 18,164 18,329 2013 6,734 12,407 15,703 17,135 18,448 18,664 18,976 18,906 2014 5,958 11,672 14,393 16,011 16,177 16,535 16,607 2015 6,089 13,313 15,814 17,002 17,638 17,984 2016 7,260 15,329 17,904 18,728 19,856 2017 7,439 15,017 17,930 19,353 2018 8,978 19,811 24,023 2019 11,201 24,472 2020 12,141 188,292 All outstanding liabilities before 2011, net of reinsurance 5,459 Liabilities for claims and claim adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance $ 94,116 Average Annual Percentage Payout of Incurred Claims by Age, Net of Reinsurance* Years 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 27.4 % 32.6 % 15.4 % 7.9 % 5.1 % 3.0 % 2.0 % 1.3 % 1.7 % 0.5 % * Presented as unaudited required supplementary information Other Liability Incurred Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance As of December 31, 2020 Years Ended December 31, Total of IBNR Liabilities Plus Expected Development on Reported Claims Cumulative Number of Reported Claims Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 1,126 1,075 1,124 1,076 1,406 1,447 1,469 1,537 1,509 1,594 46 383 2012 1,442 880 973 863 1,092 1,278 1,745 1,721 1,717 250 456 2013 1,914 1,876 1,617 1,580 1,804 2,068 1,651 1,667 345 343 2014 2,183 1,964 1,921 2,154 3,107 3,013 2,832 779 434 2015 2,946 2,652 2,862 3,549 3,334 2,860 1,260 440 2016 2,689 2,794 3,135 3,180 2,735 1,677 323 2017 4,964 3,089 4,555 3,966 2,521 304 2018 4,256 4,278 3,010 2,286 218 2019 5,457 2,849 2,512 92 2020 2,932 2,789 46 $ 26,162 Cumulative Paid Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance Years Ended December 31, Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 31 171 338 369 771 1,116 1,189 1,261 1,353 1,505 2012 42 141 187 346 512 761 1,146 1,234 1,374 2013 65 195 281 573 798 1,048 1,153 1,215 2014 53 233 405 639 1,067 1,687 1,884 2015 123 374 600 945 1,187 1,258 2016 54 137 355 558 783 2017 52 439 676 999 2018 52 345 504 2019 111 170 2020 55 9,747 All outstanding liabilities before 2011, net of reinsurance 207 Liabilities for claims and claim adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance $ 16,622 Average Annual Percentage Payout of Incurred Claims by Age, Net of Reinsurance* Years 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2.4 % 7.1 % 6.9 % 9.1 % 12.7 % 16.8 % 13.8 % 11.0 % 7.8 % 6.0 % * Presented as unaudited required supplementary information All Other Lines Incurred Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance As of December 31, 2020 Years Ended December 31, Total of IBNR Liabilities Plus Expected Development on Reported Claims Cumulative Number of Reported Claims Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 59 23 86 222 210 210 212 207 206 206 — 3,818 2012 18 3 25 14 4 2 3 2 1 — 2,708 2013 1 — 13 9 10 12 — — — 3,068 2014 40 127 24 23 21 16 16 — 3,791 2015 168 132 108 113 98 98 — 5,122 2016 1,882 1,617 1,745 1,555 1,542 11 10,063 2017 2,852 2,917 2,417 2,442 34 15,892 2018 2,885 2,874 2,549 115 13,993 2019 3,756 3,367 266 12,509 2020 4,842 1,237 11,479 $ 15,063 Cumulative Paid Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance Years Ended December 31, Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 1 2 6 204 206 206 206 206 206 206 2012 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2013 — — — — — — — — 2014 — 100 16 16 16 16 16 2015 63 98 98 99 98 98 2016 796 1,325 1,418 1,494 1,499 2017 1,412 2,099 2,203 2,321 2018 1,309 2,123 2,325 2019 1,903 2,532 2020 2,291 11,289 All outstanding liabilities before 2011, net of reinsurance 68 Liabilities for claims and claim adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance $ 3,842 Average Annual Percentage Payout of Incurred Claims by Age, Net of Reinsurance* Years 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 51.6 % 29.4 % 7.5 % 7.5 % 1.6 % 2.3 % — % — % — % — % * Presented as unaudited required supplementary information Total Lines Incurred Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance As of December 31, 2020 Years Ended December 31, Total of IBNR Liabilities Plus Expected Development on Reported Claims Cumulative Number of Reported Claims Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 14,456 14,923 16,636 17,578 17,620 17,854 18,419 18,834 18,793 19,076 1,128 6,538 2012 21,857 21,831 20,697 21,053 20,331 20,058 20,646 20,690 20,651 1,540 5,393 2013 24,661 24,755 24,280 21,361 21,342 21,506 21,465 21,631 2,000 5,907 2014 24,580 22,777 21,726 21,571 21,095 21,054 20,897 2,502 6,965 2015 25,757 26,614 26,414 25,450 25,650 22,518 3,202 9,507 2016 35,281 33,672 32,554 30,165 27,340 4,949 19,063 2017 43,499 35,113 32,685 30,847 6,630 29,426 2018 47,263 41,630 39,880 9,689 25,154 2019 57,778 51,600 16,282 22,421 2020 63,734 30,029 21,026 $ 318,174 Cumulative Paid Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance Years Ended December 31, Accident 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020 2011 3,954 8,815 12,631 14,107 15,405 16,347 17,085 17,515 18,091 18,332 2012 6,143 11,996 14,480 16,249 17,196 18,188 19,098 19,399 19,704 2013 6,799 12,602 15,984 17,708 19,246 19,712 20,129 20,121 2014 6,011 12,005 14,814 16,666 17,260 18,238 18,507 2015 6,275 13,785 16,512 18,046 18,923 19,340 2016 8,110 16,791 19,677 20,780 22,138 2017 8,903 17,555 20,809 22,673 2018 10,339 22,279 26,852 2019 13,215 27,174 2020 14,487 209,328 All outstanding liabilities before 2011, net of reinsurance 5,734 Liabilities for claims and claim adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance $ 114,580 Average Annual Percentage Payout of Incurred Claims by Age, Net of Reinsurance* Years 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 26.5 % 29.7 % 13.7 % 7.6 % 5.9 % 4.3 % 3.3 % 2.0 % 2.2 % 1.0 % * Presented as unaudited required supplementary information The reconciliation of the net incurred and paid claims development tables to the liability for unpaid loss and loss adjustment expense in the consolidated balance sheets is as follows: December 31, 2020 2019 Net outstanding liabilities Workers' compensation $ 94,116 $ 74,722 Other liability 16,622 20,561 All other lines of business 3,842 2,896 Liabilities for unpaid loss and loss adjustment expense, net of reinsurance 114,580 98,179 Reinsurance recoverable on unpaid claims Workers' compensation 259,220 237,088 Other liability 43,592 41,873 All other lines of business 32,843 25,044 Total reinsurance recoverable on unpaid claims 335,655 304,005 Unallocated loss adjustment expenses 7,582 4,532 Total liability for unpaid loss and loss adjustment expenses $ 457,817 $ 406,716 |