By Legal Futures Associate ARAG
DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company grew its gross written premium by 8% in 2023, the final year before the company was acquired by the International ARAG Group (ARAG SE) in a deal that was completed on January 2, this year.
The company recorded gross written premium income of £139.3 million (2022: £128.8 million) attributing the growth to a combination of new business wins and rate increases secured for some of its products.
An otherwise strong technical result was undermined by one isolated after-the-event insurance claim, resulting in an overall loss of £1.1 million after tax (2022: £0.2 million restated). The company’s combined operating ratio improved marginally to 95.3% (2022: 95.5% restated).
Commenting on the result, ARAG CEO Tony Buss said:
“These results show why ARAG was keen to acquire DAS. The team that joined us has really turned the business around in recent years, after a period of difficult challenges and underinvestment.
Over the past few years, DAS has shown the sort of steady and stable growth that ARAG values, and the underlying data demonstrate the fundamental strengths that made the acquisition appealing.
The integration of the two businesses continues at a truly impressive pace and, personally, I’m delighted by the enthusiasm and professionalism with which all the staff have worked together to build a bigger and even better ARAG presence in the UK.
I am confident that this provides the perfect platform for ARAG to provide greater access to justice along with ancillary services to the millions of established DAS customers in the UK”
In April, ARAG UK reported similar growth for 2023, after its 14th successive year in profit.
