CORRESP 1 filename1.htm saft_CORRESP

June 19, 2017

 

Mr. James B. Rosenberg

Senior Assistant Chief Accountant

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Division of Corporation Finance

100 F Street, NE

Washington, DC 20549-4720

 

 

Re:      Safety Insurance Group, Inc.

Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2016

Filed February 24, 2017

File Number:  000-50070

 

 

Dear Mr. Rosenberg:

 

Set forth below are the responses of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (the “Company”) to the additional comments from the staff (the “Staff”) of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) received by letter dated June 13, 2017 concerning the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.  We have used the information from our December 31, 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K for illustrative purposes in our responses below.

 

For your convenience, we have included the Staff’s comments in bold text in this letter and have included our response immediately after each comment.  Page references refer to pages in the Company’s Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2016.

 

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 10 - Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves, page 83

 

1.

We note from the Private Passenger tables you provided us in response to our prior comment in our May 5, 2017 letter that:

·

Duration for physical damage is substantially shorter than for liability.

·

The percentage change in claim severity for an accident year as compared to a prior accident year for liability can differ significantly from that for physical damage. For example, the percentage changes in claims severity for physical damage was double that of liability in 2016, 2015 and 2011, while the same percentage for liability significantly exceeded physical damage in 2014 and 2013.

·

Development for liability can differ significantly from development for physical damage. For example, substantially all the development in 2015 appears to be related to liability, and development in 2016 is split with 40% related to physical damage and 60% related to liability.

·

The percentage change in the amount of initial loss estimate for an accident year as compared to a prior accident year for liability can differ significantly from that for physical damage. For example, the initial loss estimate for accident year 


 

2016 remained flat as compared to the initial loss estimate for accident year 2015 for liability, while significantly decreasing for physical damage.

 

Accordingly, it appears that the aggregation of physical damage and liability for private passenger auto insurance obscures meaningful trending information for investors and that differing settlement patterns and claim frequency and severity result in significantly different characteristics of the liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses. As a result we believe that these two lines of business should be disaggregated in the tables presenting incurred claims and cumulative paid claims under ASC 944-40-50-4H. Please confirm that you will present separate tables for physical damage and liability for private passenger auto insurance in future Forms 10-K.

 

 

We confirm that we will present separate tables for physical damage and liability for both private passenger auto insurance and commercial auto insurance in future Forms 10-K beginning with the Form 10-K filing for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017.

 

 

2.

You disclose that homeowner’s insurance covers physical damage to an insured’s dwelling as well as liabilities to third parties. Please tell us why you did not disaggregate liability from physical damage in the tables presenting incurred claims and cumulative paid claims for 2007 – 2016. Provide us the information that would be provided in the separate tables for liability and physical damage for homeowner’s insurance, if available.

 

 

Our homeowners insurance products provide coverage for losses to a dwelling and its contents from numerous perils, and coverage for liability to others arising from ownership or occupancy.  These coverages are typically sold together as one homeowners insurance policy. In addition, when tracking the business, management does not view separately liability and property damage coverage, but instead views the business by product line of business as disclosed on pages 3-4 of our Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2016.

 

Furthermore, Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 944-40-55-9B indicates that “When selecting the type of category to use to aggregate or disaggregate disclosures, an insurance entity should consider how information about the insurance entity’s liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses has been presented for other purposes, including all of the following:

a.

Disclosures presented outside the financial statements (for example, in earnings releases, annual reports, statutory filings, or investor presentations)

b.

Information regularly viewed by the chief operating decision maker for evaluating performance

c.

Other information that is similar to the types of information identified in (a) and (b) and that is used by the insurance entity or users of the insurance entity’s financial statements to evaluate the insurance entity’s financial performance or make resource allocation decisions.”

 


 

On pages 50-58 of our Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2016, we discuss our loss and loss adjustment expense reserves by line of business, consistent with how management views the business.  This includes disclosures of homeowners loss and loss adjustment expense reserves which are not disaggregated into liability and property damage components.

 

The information for liability and property damage for homeowners insurance are presented separately in the tables below and dollar amounts are presented in thousands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homeowners Liability

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incurred Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance

 

As of December 31, 2016

 

 

 

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

 

 

 

Total of Incurred-but-Not-Reported Liabilities Plus Expected Development of Reported Claims

Cumulative Number of Reported Claims

Accident Year

 

2007

 

2008

 

2009

 

2010

 

2011

 

2012

 

2013

 

2014

 

2015

 

2016

 

 

 

 

 

(Unaudited)

 

 

 

 

 

2007

 

$ 4,136

 

$ 4,083

 

$ 3,771

 

$ 2,474

 

$ 2,106

 

$ 1,834

 

$ 1,696

 

$ 1,696

 

$ 1,598

 

$ 1,425

 

$ 1

117
2008

 

 

 

5,535

 

5,535

 

5,183

 

4,078

 

3,473

 

3,473

 

3,116

 

3,030

 

2,877

 

45
151
2009

 

 

 

 

 

4,637

 

4,637

 

4,637

 

4,012

 

3,456

 

3,072

 

3,015

 

2,966

 

99
200
2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5,591

 

5,422

 

5,422

 

4,888

 

4,717

 

4,098

 

3,735

 

195
217
2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6,260

 

7,644

 

7,644

 

7,531

 

6,923

 

6,017

 

556
304
2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7,514

 

7,514

 

7,514

 

6,464

 

5,304

 

906
249
2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9,768

 

9,768

 

9,337

 

7,578

 

1,931
261
2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11,494

 

11,494

 

9,738

 

2,443
259
2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12,965

 

12,555

 

884
277
2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10,594

 

2,548
211

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

$ 62,789

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homeowners Liability

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cumulative Paid Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

 

 

 

 

 

Accident Year

 

2007

 

2008

 

2009

 

2010

 

2011

 

2012

 

2013

 

2014

 

2015

 

2016

 

 

 

 

 

(Unaudited)

 

 

 

 

 

2007

 

$ 271

 

$ 642

 

$ 790

 

$ 950

 

$ 1,203

 

$ 1,279

 

$ 1,294

 

$ 1,297

 

$ 1,298

 

$ 1,298

 

 

 

2008

 

 

 

333

 

1,497

 

2,143

 

2,473

 

2,575

 

2,670

 

2,693

 

2,709

 

2,727

 

 

 

2009

 

 

 

 

 

535

 

1,411

 

2,092

 

2,607

 

2,813

 

2,867

 

2,867

 

2,867

 

 

 

2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

963

 

1,420

 

2,684

 

2,890

 

3,214

 

3,425

 

3,472

 

 

 

2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

235

 

1,969

 

3,459

 

4,336

 

4,497

 

4,536

 

 

 

2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,389

 

2,063

 

2,308

 

2,731

 

3,029

 

 

 

2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

527

 

2,337

 

3,080

 

3,493

 

 

 

2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

340

 

1,834

 

3,212

 

 

 

2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

428

 

3,319

 

 

 

2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

647

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

$ 28,600

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All outstanding liabilities before 2007, net of reinsurance

 

7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities for claims and claim adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance

 

$ 34,196

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homeowners Property Damage

 

 

 

Incurred Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance

 

As of December 31, 2016

 

 

 

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

 

 

 

Total of Incurred-but-Not-Reported Liabilities Plus Expected Development of Reported Claims

Cumulative Number of Reported Claims

Accident Year

 

2007

 

2008

 

2009

 

2010

 

2011

 

2012

 

2013

 

2014

 

2015

 

2016

 

 

 

 

 

(Unaudited)

 

 

 

 

 

2007

 

$ 18,082

 

$ 17,820

 

$ 17,223

 

$ 17,112

 

$ 16,689

 

$ 16,694

 

$ 16,641

 

$ 16,633

 

$ 16,631

 

$ 16,615

 

$ 64

2,806
2008

 

 

 

24,108

 

23,167

 

22,671

 

22,873

 

22,847

 

22,792

 

22,726

 

22,720

 

22,690

 

139
4,389
2009

 

 

 

 

 

27,483

 

27,024

 

27,233

 

26,913

 

26,244

 

25,977

 

25,967

 

25,922

 

166
3,651
2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

45,342

 

44,550

 

43,021

 

40,868

 

39,921

 

39,658

 

39,501

 

230
6,685
2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

95,586

 

98,021

 

97,571

 

94,657

 

93,914

 

93,186

 

628
15,031
2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50,351

 

49,911

 

47,392

 

44,380

 

43,097

 

1,110
5,991
2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

56,298

 

56,199

 

55,722

 

52,464

 

2,067
5,647
2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

59,160

 

60,213

 

59,751

 

3,209
6,080
2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

152,586

 

152,049

 

(14,847)
19,899
2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

67,116

 

528
5,137

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

$ 572,391

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homeowners Property Damage

 

 

 

Cumulative Paid Claims and Allocated Claim Adjustment Expenses, Net of Reinsurance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

 

 

 

 

 

Accident Year

 

2007

 

2008

 

2009

 

2010

 

2011

 

2012

 

2013

 

2014

 

2015

 

2016

 

 

 

 

 

(Unaudited)

 

 

 

 

 

2007

 

$ 9,115

 

$ 13,414

 

$ 13,619

 

$ 16,289

 

$ 16,343

 

$ 16,508

 

$ 16,551

 

$ 16,551

 

$ 16,551

 

$ 16,551

 

 

 

2008

 

 

 

11,751

 

19,164

 

20,665

 

22,481

 

22,514

 

22,531

 

22,552

 

22,552

 

22,552

 

 

 

2009

 

 

 

 

 

16,147

 

22,305

 

25,812

 

25,718

 

25,705

 

25,741

 

25,754

 

25,753

 

 

 

2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25,761

 

37,447

 

38,790

 

39,110

 

39,145

 

39,203

 

39,235

 

 

 

2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

71,532

 

89,741

 

92,184

 

92,462

 

92,444

 

92,333

 

 

 

2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30,801

 

40,681

 

41,960

 

41,737

 

41,782

 

 

 

2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

38,661

 

48,456

 

49,702

 

49,612

 

 

 

2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

40,409

 

52,161

 

54,088

 

 

 

2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

112,563

 

145,337

 

 

 

2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

44,103

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

$ 531,346

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All outstanding liabilities before 2007, net of reinsurance

 

214

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities for claims and claim adjustment expenses, net of reinsurance

 

$ 41,259

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We acknowledge the following:

 

·

the Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosures in the filing;

·

Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing; and


 

·

the Company may not assert Staff comments as defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under federal securities laws of the United States.

 

At your convenience, I am available to discuss any of these comments.  Please feel free to contact me at (877) 951-6412 at your earliest convenience.

 

Sincerely,

/s/ William J. Begley, Jr.

Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary