Gross written premium (GWP) is the total premium due to an insurer or reinsurer on contracts written in an accounting period, before deducting the cost of its own reinsurance. It measures the volume of business written, not the income earned in the period or the profit made on it.
This entry sets out what UK accounting rules count as gross written premium and how it becomes net written, earned and unearned premium, with an illustrative worked example. It then uses the published figures of Lloyd's, the London company market and two listed insurers to show how GWP is reported, why totals for the same market differ and what GWP does not measure.
Gross written premium in numbers
Gross written premium in the London Market
Lloyd's 2025 Aggregate Accounts report gross premiums written of £58,364 million for the market in 2025, up from £56,083 million in 2024.1 The International Underwriting Association (IUA) reported £49.273bn of premium income for the London company market in 2024, converting figures supplied in other currencies at 2023 yearly average rates of US$1.28 and €1.18 to £1, and added Lloyd's declared 2024 gross written premium of £55.546bn to give a combined London Market total of £104.819bn.2 The London Market Group's 2026 data pack, which also counts premium written overseas but overseen, managed or brokered by London-based teams, puts the London Market at about $187bn of GWP in 2024, up 17% from 2022; its broker component is grossed up from survey responses to estimate premium from non-respondents.3
What gross written premium includes
For UK insurance companies preparing Companies Act (UK GAAP) individual accounts, the definition is set in law. Schedule 3 to the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 says gross premiums written comprise all amounts due during the financial year in respect of insurance contracts entered into, regardless of whether those amounts relate in whole or in part to a later financial year.4 Premium is therefore counted in the year it falls due, not spread over the period of cover, and Lloyd's counts premiums on business incepting during the year: an annual policy incepting in the last week of the year, with its premium due then, adds its whole premium to that year's GWP.41
| Item | Treatment in gross written premium |
|---|---|
| Premiums yet to be determined, where the premium can be calculated only at the end of the year | Included4 |
| Additional premiums charged for half-yearly, quarterly or monthly payment | Included4 |
| Co-insurance | Only the company's own portion of the total premium4 |
| Reinsurance premiums due from ceding insurers (inward reinsurance) | Included4 |
| Cancellations and portfolio withdrawals credited to ceding insurers (inward reinsurance) | Deducted4 |
| Taxes or duties levied with premiums, such as Insurance Premium Tax | Excluded45 |
| Commission paid to brokers and other intermediaries | Not deducted: Lloyd's states premiums written before deduction of commissions1 |
| Premiums paid for the insurer's own (outward) reinsurance | Not deducted: reported on a separate line as outward reinsurance premiums4 |
| Adjustments to premiums written in earlier periods | Included in Lloyd's accounting policy1 |
Insurance Premium Tax shows what the tax exclusion means in practice. HMRC sets a standard rate of 12% and a higher rate of 20%, which applies to travel insurance, mechanical or electrical appliances insurance and some vehicle insurance.5 On an illustrative £1,000 premium taxed at the standard rate, the customer pays £1,120 and GWP records £1,000.
Lloyd's accounting policy follows the statutory wording closely: premiums written represent premiums on business incepting during the year, together with adjustments for premiums written in previous accounting periods, and are stated before deduction of commissions but net of taxes, duties levied on premiums and other deductions.1 Hiscox and Beazley, which report under IFRS 17, publish their own written premium measures, and the two definitions differ.67
From gross written to net earned premium
The statutory profit and loss format builds earned premiums, net of reinsurance, from four items: gross premiums written, outward reinsurance premiums, the change in the gross provision for unearned premiums and the change in the reinsurers' share of that provision.4 The provision for unearned premiums is the part of gross premiums written that is estimated to be earned in the following financial year or later years.4 The Regulations require it to be computed in principle for each contract and allow statistical methods, in particular proportional and flat rate methods, where they can be expected to give approximately the same results; where the pattern of risk varies over the life of a contract, the calculation must take that into account.4
| Measure | What it is | Lloyd's market, 2025 (£m) |
|---|---|---|
| Gross written premium | Premium due on contracts written in the year, before outward reinsurance | 58,364 |
| Net written premium | Gross written premium less outward reinsurance premiums of £14,535m | 43,829 |
| Gross earned premium | Premium for cover provided in the year, whenever the contract was written | 55,741 |
| Net earned premium | Premium for cover provided in the year, whenever written, after deducting the reinsurers' share; shown as earned premium, net of reinsurance | 41,994 |
In the technical account, before exchange-rate and other movements, the difference between written and earned premium is the movement in the provision for unearned premiums. In the Lloyd's market's 2025 technical account, the change in the gross provision reduced earned premium by £2,623 million, and the reinsurers' share of that change was £788 million.1 The note on technical provisions shows premiums written and earned within a reconciliation of the provision, where exchange-rate and other movements also change the balance.1
| Item | £m |
|---|---|
| Balance at 1 January 2025 | 27,838 |
| Premiums written during the year | 58,364 |
| Premiums earned during the year | (55,741) |
| Effect of movements in exchange rates | (1,496) |
| Other | 24 |
| Balance at 31 December 2025 | 28,989 |
A worked example: written, earned and unearned premium
The example below is illustrative, with invented figures. A new insurer writes a book of annual policies with total premiums of £1,200,000, all starting on 1 October 2025, and its financial year ends on 31 December. It buys quota share reinsurance that takes 25% of every policy, pays brokers commission of 20% and earns premium evenly over each policy year.
Illustrative example: from gross written to net earned premium at 31 December 2025
| Quarter | Gross written in the quarter | Gross earned in the quarter | Cumulative gross earned | Gross unearned premium at quarter end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October to December 2025 | £1,200,000 | £300,000 | £300,000 | £900,000 |
| January to March 2026 | £0 | £300,000 | £600,000 | £600,000 |
| April to June 2026 | £0 | £300,000 | £900,000 | £300,000 |
| July to September 2026 | £0 | £300,000 | £1,200,000 | £0 |
In the insurer's 2025 accounts the book adds £1,200,000 to gross written premium but only £300,000 to gross earned premium. In 2026 it adds nothing to gross written premium and £900,000 to gross earned premium. Other things being equal, an insurer whose writings are growing therefore reports written premium above earned premium, and one whose writings are shrinking can report the reverse.
Beazley's figures show the effect. In 2024 it reported insurance written premiums of $6,164.1m against insurance revenue of $5,678.1m, and in 2025 it reported that insurance revenue rose 6.8% to $6,064.8m, reflecting the growth in insurance written premiums throughout 2024 being recognised in 2025.7
Gross written premium by class of business at Lloyd's
| Class of business | Gross written premiums | Gross premiums earned |
|---|---|---|
| Accident and health | 925 | 894 |
| Motor (third party liability) | 339 | 302 |
| Motor (other classes) | 772 | 762 |
| Third-party liability | 12,841 | 12,456 |
| Marine, aviation and energy | 5,972 | 5,617 |
| Fire and other damage to property | 14,670 | 14,132 |
| Credit and suretyship | 1,644 | 1,232 |
| Other | 654 | 575 |
| Total direct insurance | 37,817 | 35,970 |
| Reinsurance acceptances | 20,547 | 19,771 |
| Total from syndicate operations | 58,364 | 55,741 |
Reinsurance accepted by syndicates made up £20,547 million of the market's gross written premium in 2025, and Lloyd's reported that reinsurance recorded the strongest growth during the year, driven by new entrants and continued demand in selected segments.1 The gap between written and earned premium varied by class: credit and suretyship wrote £1,644 million and earned £1,232 million, while motor (other classes) wrote £772 million and earned £762 million.1 The accounts add that syndicates report their material direct lines and aggregate all other lines as "other", and that aggregation of those figures is not meaningful.1
Why Lloyd's publishes two gross written premium figures
Lloyd's full-year results announcement gave 2025 gross written premium of £57.9bn, up 4.2% on £55.5bn in 2024.8 Its Aggregate Accounts give £58.4bn, up 4.1% on £56.1bn.1 The Aggregate Accounts are prepared by aggregating audited financial information from syndicate returns and syndicate annual accounts; they are not prepared on full consolidation principles, and no adjustments are made to eliminate inter-syndicate transactions and balances.1 The accounts state that line-of-business information in the syndicate returns has been used to reconcile the balance on the technical account for general business to the analysis and market commentary in the 2025 Lloyd's Annual Report.1 Each publication's growth rate compares its own 2025 and 2024 figures, so a comparison between years uses figures from one publication.
Gross written premium across the London Market
The IUA collects premium data from London companies providing international and wholesale insurance and reinsurance, 79 firms in its 2025 report. It counts London Market slip business written through brokers or direct with clients and other large commercial or wholesale risks, including delegated authority business through coverholders or managing general agents.2 Of the company market's £49.273bn in 2024, £43.774bn was underwritten in London and £5.499bn was controlled business, overseen and managed by London operations but written elsewhere. The total was 1.7% above the £48.432bn recorded for 2023.2 The IUA converted figures supplied in US dollars or euros at 2023 yearly average rates of US$1.28 and €1.18 to £1.2
| Measure | Year | Premium | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyd's gross written premium, as used by the IUA | 2024 | £55.546bn | Lloyd's declared 2024 gross written premium2 |
| IUA London company market premium income | 2024 | £49.273bn | £43.774bn underwritten in London plus £5.499bn of controlled business2 |
| IUA combined London Market total | 2024 | £104.819bn | Company market premium income, including controlled business written elsewhere, added to Lloyd's gross written premium2 |
| London Market Group, London Market GWP | 2024 | c.$187bn | Partly estimated from a broker survey. Lloyd's, the company market including business written overseas but managed from London, London-based P&I clubs and business brokered by London brokers but written elsewhere3 |
The IUA notes that exact comparison with Lloyd's is difficult, because Lloyd's class figures report only direct business while the IUA's cover both direct and facultative premiums.2 On the London Market Group's measure, and against global market sizes it approximates from third-party data, London's estimated share of the global re/insurance market rose to 8.7% in 2024 from 8.2% in 2022, and the data pack says London Market GWP has doubled since 2015.3
Written premium and IFRS 17 insurance revenue
IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, issued by the International Accounting Standards Board in May 2017, requires a company to report as insurance revenue the amount charged for insurance coverage when it is earned, rather than when it receives premiums, and to exclude from insurance revenue the deposits that represent the investment of the policyholder.9 Hiscox and Beazley, which both report insurance revenue under IFRS 17, publish written premium as an alternative performance measure and reconcile it to insurance revenue.67
| Insurer and measure | 2025 ($m) | 2024 ($m) |
|---|---|---|
| Hiscox: insurance contract written premium6 | 4,979.0 | 4,703.7 |
| Hiscox: net insurance contract written premium6 | 3,865.8 | 3,622.4 |
| Hiscox: insurance revenue6 | 4,883.7 | 4,672.5 |
| Beazley: insurance written premiums7 | 6,100.7 | 6,164.1 |
| Beazley: net insurance written premiums7 | 5,198.7 | 5,152.3 |
| Beazley: insurance revenue7 | 6,064.8 | 5,678.1 |
The two definitions differ. Hiscox's insurance contract written premium, its top-line key performance indicator, comprises premiums on business incepting in the financial year, adjusted for estimates of premiums written in prior accounting periods, reinstatement premium and non-claim dependent commissions.6 Beazley calculates insurance written premiums by deducting reinstatement premiums and profit commissions from gross premiums written, and says the primary difference between that measure and insurance revenue relates to the deferral and earning of income over the period in which coverage is provided.7 In Hiscox's reconciliation, written premium of $4,979.0m, less a deduction of $131.8m for the change in unearned premium, plus $36.5m of insurance revenue from other operations, gives insurance revenue of $4,883.7m.6
The Lloyd's Aggregate Accounts are prepared, where practicable, under UK GAAP, including FRS 102 and the insurance contracts standard FRS 103, and show gross premiums written as the first line of the technical account.1
What moves gross written premium
What changed Lloyd's gross written premium in 2025
Lloyd's attributed its 2025 growth in gross written premium of 4.1% to 10.2% volume growth, offset by a price reduction of 3.7% and an adverse foreign exchange impact of 2.4% reflecting the strengthening of sterling against the US dollar.1 GWP rises with the number and size of contracts written and with the rate charged on each, and for any business that writes in one currency and reports in another, it moves with exchange rates as well.
Beazley's insurance written premiums fell by 1.0% in 2025, while rates on its renewal business decreased by 3.6% on average across its portfolio.7 Price and volume can also move in opposite directions. In UK retail insurance, the FCA's value measures data for 2025 shows that premiums for motor insurance, the largest retail general insurance product, fell by 7% while the average number of policies in force rose by 4%.10 The Prudential Regulation Authority's 2026 priorities letter observed a continuing softening underwriting cycle in many lines of general insurance business, particularly pronounced in some wholesale lines in the London Market, and said it expected boards to maintain robust underwriting discipline.11
What gross written premium does not show
GWP does not measure profit. Underwriting performance is measured against earned premium: Lloyd's expresses its major claims as a percentage of net earned premium, and Hiscox and Beazley calculate their combined ratios on insurance revenue net of reinsurance.167 The Lloyd's market reported a combined ratio of 87.9% for 2025 in its Aggregate Accounts.1
GWP also does not show how much risk a business keeps after reinsurance, which is why accounts show net written premium alongside it. At Lloyd's, reinsurers' share of claims outstanding was equivalent to 44.7% of gross written premium, compared with 50.1% a year earlier, a balance sheet measure rather than a share of premium ceded.1
GWP can also include estimates. Lloyd's names estimated premium income, in particular estimates for premiums written under delegated authority agreements, as a significant estimate, and says variances between the estimated premium income and that ultimately received affect gross written premiums and provisions for unearned premium.1
Gross written premium in delegated authority
Under a binding authority, an MGA or coverholder writes business on behalf of an insurer or syndicate, and in the Lloyd's market, estimated premiums written under delegated authority agreements form part of syndicates' gross written premiums.1 The IUA's companies reported £4.811bn of business written under delegated authority arrangements in 2024, a rise of 12.3% on £4.284bn in 2023, with figures supplied in other currencies converted at 2023 yearly average rates.2
How that premium is reported to the capacity provider is covered in the glossary entry on bordereaux. The PRA's 2026 letter said delegated authority business looks set to grow across the London Market, raising additional risks of inadequate pricing and reserving if not properly managed or overseen, and that firms should ensure they have strong oversight arrangements in place to govern and monitor the performance of these arrangements.11
Show References Hide References
- Lloyd's. 2025 Aggregate Accounts. 2026.
- International Underwriting Association. London Company Market Statistics Report 2025. September 2025.
- London Market Group. London Matters 2026: Data Pack. February 2026.
- The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Schedule 3: Insurance companies: Companies Act individual accounts. legislation.gov.uk.
- HM Revenue and Customs. Insurance Premium Tax rates. Read 10 November 2026.
- Hiscox Ltd. Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2025. February 2026.
- Beazley plc. Annual Report and Accounts 2025. 2026.
- Lloyd's. Lloyd's market delivers strong full year performance. Press release, 19 March 2026.
- IFRS Foundation. IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts: Project Summary. May 2017.
- Financial Conduct Authority. General insurance value measures data 2025. First published 21 July 2026.
- Prudential Regulation Authority. Insurance Supervision: 2026 priorities. Letter, 15 January 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calculate gross written premium?
In outline, gross written premium for a year is the premium falling due on contracts written in that year, plus or minus adjustments to premium written in earlier years, before reinsurance and before commission. Growth is then the change from one year's total to the next. Hiscox reported insurance contract written premium up 5.9%, or $275.3m, to $4,979.0m in 2025, and gave the growth of its Hiscox Retail segment, 6.3%, in constant currency. The same company restated its 2024 figures after the sale of DirectAsia in July 2025, reporting DirectAsia in its other segment instead of Hiscox Retail, so a segment's prior-year total can change after it is first published.
A run of years shows the trend. Lloyd's Aggregate Accounts show the market's gross written premium rising each year from £40,879m in 2021 to £48,624m in 2022, £52,655m in 2023, £56,083m in 2024 and £58,364m in 2025, as presented in the 2025 accounts. Regulators also use written premium as a size test. The FCA's general insurance value measures apply to products sold to consumers in the UK where total written retail premiums are above £400,000 in the reporting period and there are more than 3,000 policies in force during that period.
Which classes of business write the most premium in the London company market?
Property is the largest class. The IUA's 2025 statistics report, which analyses by class only premium written in London and not controlled business written elsewhere, found that property accounted for just under 30% of total premiums in 2024. Liability was second with a 14% share, followed by marine on 13% and professional lines on 10%. Professional lines premium fell to £4.594bn, its lowest total since 2020, while motor premium increased by 20% over the year to £3.999bn.
The same report also splits London premium by type of contract. Direct and facultative business written in London totalled £31.789bn in 2024, a fall of 1% on the previous year, while London treaty business rose by 10% from £10.889bn to £11.985bn, so that treaties accounted for 27% of all premium written in London. By origin, the UK and Ireland continued to account for over half of all premium written in London, and the USA and Canada, the most important international market, generated more than £10bn of premium for the first time in 2024.
What is the difference between net written premium and net earned premium?
Net written premium is gross written premium less the premium an insurer pays for its own reinsurance in the period. Net earned premium is premium for cover provided in the period, whenever the contract was written, after deducting the reinsurers' share. The two differ by the change in unearned premium on both the gross and the reinsurance side. Hiscox's 2025 reconciliation shows the steps: net insurance contract written premium of $3,865.8m, a deduction of $131.8m for the change in unearned premium, a deduction of $117.0m for the change in the reinsurance provision for unearned premium and $30.2m of net revenue from other operations give net insurance revenue, its IFRS 17 measure of insurance revenue less the allocation of reinsurance premiums, of $3,647.2m.
Reinsurance is earned over time too, so the cost charged against a year can differ from the premium paid for reinsurance in it. Beazley reported insurance ceded premiums of $902.0m in 2025 and an allocation of reinsurance premiums of $906.4m after an earnings adjustment of $4.4m; in 2024 the ceded premiums were $1,011.8m and the allocation $764.9m. At Lloyd's, net written premiums were £42,541m in 2024 and earned premium, net of reinsurance, was £40,424m. Because underwriting ratios are calculated on earned figures, a year's ratios reflect premium written partly in earlier years.
Why do gross written premium figures for the same market differ?
Published totals differ because they cover different businesses, use different definitions or are prepared on different bases. Class comparisons between the Lloyd's and company markets need particular care. The IUA compares the two using Lloyd's figures that exclude reinsurance business: on that basis Lloyd's casualty premium rose from £12.991bn to £13.403bn in 2024, while the company market's liability, professional lines and accident and health premium fell from £9.632bn to £9.147bn. The IUA says exact comparison is difficult, because Lloyd's figures report only direct business and the IUA's cover direct and facultative premiums, but finds that Lloyd's writes more property and casualty business, while the company market is more popular for marine, aviation and transport and for motor.
Scope matters as much as definition. The London Market Group's data pack puts the core London Market at about $130bn within its total of about $187bn for 2024, the difference coming from business it counts beyond the core market, and it reports in US dollars while the IUA and Lloyd's report in sterling. The IUA's class breakdowns cover business written in London only, not premium written in regional and overseas offices. A comparison between firms or years holds only where the definition, scope and currency match.
How do MGAs report gross written premium to capacity providers?
An MGA writes premium on behalf of its capacity provider under a binding authority and reports it through premium bordereaux; the glossary entries on those terms set out what the agreement and the reports contain. At market level, Lloyd's says the Society monitors material sources of premium by method of placement and coverholder concentration in metrics reported quarterly to its Board, and that managing agents controlling more than 10% of overall market gross written premium are subject to Council review.
The Prudential Regulation Authority said in its 2026 priorities letter that firms' strategies for using delegated arrangements are not always clear, and that firms should have strong oversight arrangements to govern and monitor their performance, including consideration of how they would exit unprofitable arrangements. It said it would engage with relevant firms to explore this further.
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