9. Admiral Insurance Co.

Admiral Insurance Co. fell one spot among the 10 largest surplus lines insurers despite increases of more than 3% in both gross and nonadmitted written premiums.

Nonadmitted direct written premiums for the unit of W.R. Berkley Corp. rose 3.1% in 2005 to $596.9 million, while gross premiums increased 3.6% to $661.8 million.

That made the Cherry Hill, N.J.-based company the ninth-largest surplus lines insurer, according to Business Insurance's 2006 ranking.

"While pricing has undoubtedly softened, Admiral has continued to find opportunities for growth in all of its lines of business," its parent company said in its annual report.

Admiral provides excess and surplus lines coverage to commercial risks that generally involve moderate to high degrees of hazard. It writes a wide range of coverages, including commercial general liability and product liability, and can offer capacity up to $5 million.

Admiral's top targeted segments in the commercial casualty area are contractors, manufacturers and customers such as apartments and condominiums, amusement parks, restaurants and shopping centers seeking owners, landlords and tenants insurance policies.

The company also offers professional liability coverages such as miscellaneous professional liability, miscellaneous medical liability, technology errors and omissions liability, and architects and engineers professional liability. It can write up to $5 million on these risks as well.

For its commercial property risks, the company offers $7.5 million in capacity with facultative reinsurance available for higher limits. The top targeted entities in this category include apartments, condominiums and townhouses as well as churches, clubs and hotels/motels.

Admiral's excess underwriting division concentrates on unique and difficult-to-place excess/umbrella accounts, providing capacity up to $10 million.

Admiral Insurance did not respond to requests for comment.