Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

Essent Group Ltd. (“Essent Group”) is a Bermuda-based holding company, which, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, offers private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Mortgage insurance facilitates the sale of low down payment (generally less than 20%) mortgage loans into the secondary mortgage market, primarily to two government-sponsored enterprises ("GSEs"), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The primary mortgage insurance operations are conducted through Essent Guaranty, Inc. ("Essent Guaranty"), which is domiciled in the state of Pennsylvania. Essent Guaranty is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania and maintains operations centers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Irvine, California. Essent Guaranty is approved as a qualified mortgage insurer by the GSEs and is licensed to write mortgage insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Essent Guaranty reinsures new insurance written ("NIW") to Essent Reinsurance Ltd. (“Essent Re”), an affiliated Bermuda domiciled Class 3A Insurer licensed pursuant to Section 4 of the Bermuda Insurance Act 1978 that provides insurance and reinsurance coverage of mortgage credit risk. In April 2021, Essent Guaranty and Essent Re agreed to increase the quota share reinsurance coverage provided by Essent Re from 25% to 35% effective January 1, 2021. The quota share reinsurance coverage provided for Essent Guaranty's NIW prior to January 1, 2021 will continue to be 25%, the quota share percentage in effect at the time NIW was first ceded. Essent Re also provides insurance and reinsurance to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In 2016, Essent Re formed Essent Agency (Bermuda) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, which provides underwriting consulting services to third-party reinsurers. In accordance with certain state law requirements, Essent Guaranty also reinsures that portion of the risk that is in excess of 25% of the mortgage balance with respect to any loan insured prior to April 1, 2019, after consideration of other reinsurance, to Essent Guaranty of PA, Inc. (“Essent PA”), an affiliate domiciled in the state of Pennsylvania.

In addition to offering mortgage insurance, we provide contract underwriting services on a limited basis through CUW Solutions, LLC ("CUW Solutions"), a Delaware limited liability company, that provides, among other things, mortgage contract underwriting services to lenders and mortgage insurance underwriting services to affiliates. CUW Solutions is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania and it maintains operations centers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Irvine, California that are subleased from Essent Guaranty.

The Company operates as a single segment for reporting purposes as substantially all business operations, assets and liabilities relate to the private mortgage insurance business and management reviews operating results for the Company as a whole to make operating decisions and assess performance.

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and include the accounts of Essent Group and its consolidated subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Certain amounts in prior years have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.