Certain premiums and benefits are assumed from and ceded to other insurance companies under various reinsurance agreements. The reinsurance agreements provide the Company with increased capacity to write larger risks and maintain its exposure to loss within its capital resources. The Company remains obligated for amounts ceded in the event that the reinsurers do not meet their obligations.

The following tables set forth the effects of reinsurance on written and earned premiums and losses and loss adjustment expenses for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022:



	2024				2023				2022
($ in thousands)	Written		Earned		Written		Earned		Written		Earned
Direct premiums	$	1,458,637	$	1,375,917	$	1,241,180	$	1,155,835	$	1,012,239	$	951,121
Assumed premiums	284,595		282,662		218,649		193,971		131,713		113,610
Ceded premiums	(619,654)		(601,857)		(549,138)		(520,663)		(468,409)		(448,737)
Net premiums	$	1,123,578	$	1,056,722	$	910,691	$	829,143	$	675,543	$	615,994
Ceded losses and LAE incurred			$	534,295			$	337,011			$	311,257

The following table sets forth the components of reinsurance recoverables and ceded unearned premium as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023:


($ in thousands)	2024		2023

Ceded unpaid losses and LAE	$	670,846	$	455,484
Ceded paid losses and LAE	166,663		122,287
Loss portfolio transfer	22,662		20,858
Allowance for credit losses	(2,295)		(2,295)
Reinsurance recoverables	$	857,876	$	596,334
Ceded unearned premium	$	203,901	$	186,121

The Company entered into agreements with several of its reinsurers, whereby the reinsurer established funded trust accounts with the Company as the sole beneficiary. These trust accounts provide the Company additional security to collect claim recoverables under reinsurance contracts and the Company does not carry these on the balance sheet because the Company will only have custody over these accounts upon the failure of the reinsurer to pay amounts due. At December 31, 2024, the market value of these accounts was approximately $196.9 million. The trust amount will be adjusted periodically, by mutual agreement, based on claim payments and loss reserve recoverables.

During the first quarter of 2020, the Company entered into an LPT retroactive reinsurance agreement (“LPT”) with R&Q. At December 31, 2024 and 2023 the reinsurance recoverable from R&Q was $22.7 million and $20.9 million, respectively. The LPT was commuted effective January 31, 2025 and the Company received the reinsurance recoverable balance in full.

Certain ceded reinsurance contracts that transfer only significant timing risk and do not transfer sufficient underwriting risk are accounted for using the deposit method of accounting. The Company’s deposit asset at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 was $25.9 million and $29.9 million, respectively, and was included in other assets on the consolidated balance sheets.