Markel International sees 16 percent rise in premiums

Markel International achieved gross written premiums of $825 million in 2011, representing a 16 percent rise on the previous year’s results of $709 million.

The company attributed much of this growth to an increase in premiums at Markel International’s Canadian operation, Elliott Special Risks, which was acquired in late 2009 as a managing general agent and now operates as a risk bearing insurance division predominately writing Canadian liability business.

However the company’s combined ratio rose for the second year in a row, from 95 percent in 2010 to 116 percent in 2011, due to the high catastrophe activity over the year.