Markel (Markel American, Evanston and State National) homeowners insurance

Overview

Markel Group Inc. (NYSE: MKL) is a Glen Allen, Virginia holding company whose main business, Markel Insurance, is a specialty insurer for risks the standard market avoids. Markel does not sell a mainstream homeowners policy, advertise to homeowners or run a consumer quote page for home insurance. Yet the Markel Group ranked #52 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $445.2 million (0.24% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data.

That premium arrives through three doors, and a homeowner might meet Markel through any of them:

• Markel's own specialty home and dwelling program, sold through independent agents and wholesale brokers for houses that standard carriers turn down. Admitted policies come from Markel's admitted companies, such as Markel American Insurance Company (licensed in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico); excess and surplus lines business is written on Evanston Insurance Company.
• Programs Markel underwrites with partners, such as CoverTree's manufactured home program, which CoverTree administers as Markel American's agent.
• State National, Markel's fronting business, which issues policies on its own paper for managing general agents and passes most of the risk to other insurers and investors. One example is Jetty's renters coverage, issued by State National Insurance Company (and by National Specialty Insurance Company in Florida).

NAIC group totals combine all three, and Markel does not publish the split. Within Markel Insurance, the company says personal lines, which include specialty homeowners, umbrella, classic car, motorcycle and watercraft coverage, made up 17% of its $10.6 billion of 2025 underwriting gross premium.

History

Sam Markel started a company in 1930 to insure jitney buses; his four sons joined in 1935, forming Markel Service, Inc. The company went public on NASDAQ in 1986 and grew through acquisitions of specialty insurers. In 2017 it bought State National and the surety company SureTec, and in 2018 it acquired Nephila, a large manager of insurance-linked investments. Markel Corporation renamed itself Markel Group in 2023; the insurance business still operates as Markel. Thomas S. Gayner has been chief executive since January 2023 after serving as co-CEO from 2016, and Simon Wilson has run Markel Insurance since March 2025.

State National was founded in 1973 by Lonnie, Terry and Garry Ledbetter as a single managing general agency in Texas. It took control of its first insurance company in 1979, the start of its fronting business, and is now based in Bedford, Texas, inside Markel's Financial segment.

Recent changes have mostly been outside home insurance. Markel sold the renewal rights to its Global Reinsurance division in August 2025 and put it into run-off, and on January 1, 2026 its U.S. classic car business written for Hagerty moved from an underwriting product to a fronting arrangement.

Homeowners coverage

Markel's Specialty Home & Dwelling program is aimed at properties "not eligible for traditional homeowners coverage." Markel lists homes with coastal exposure, homes with no prior insurance, difficult liability exposures, prior claims, homes under renovation or builder's risk, light business or farm exposure, short- or long-term rentals, and vacant homes. It can write high-value homes with Coverage A (dwelling) limits above $1 million and uses "a broad selection of policy forms, coverages, limits and/or exclusions" to fit each risk. In practice that means two Markel policies can look very different. Read the declarations page and form list closely for the valuation basis (replacement cost or actual cash value), wind or named-storm deductibles, vacancy conditions and any liability exclusions.

Whether the policy is admitted matters. Evanston writes on a surplus lines basis, so its rates and forms are not approved by your state, and if the insurer ever failed, the state guaranty fund generally would not pay claims. CoverTree's own disclosure makes the point for North Carolina, where some of its manufactured home policies are issued by Evanston as a surplus lines insurer. Markel American policies are admitted. See admitted vs surplus lines home insurers: what you give up.

CoverTree insures single-wide, double-wide, modular and tiny homes, and Markel's renters coverage is sold only through multifamily housing partners, not directly to consumers.

If State National appears on your declarations page, the company that sold and services your policy is usually an MGA or program administrator, and it typically handles billing and often claims. State National's 2025 annual report says its contracts with capacity providers do not discharge it from primary liability for the full amount of the policies, so the A-rated issuing company remains responsible to you even if the reinsurer behind the program fails. For the mechanics, see MGAs and fronting carriers: who really insures your home.

Where it sells and recent market moves

Markel's U.S. carriers are collectively licensed, authorized or accredited in all 50 states and D.C., and Evanston is licensed as a surplus lines insurer nationwide. State National says its seven U.S. insurance subsidiaries are licensed or authorized in all 50 states and D.C., with three admitted fronting carriers (State National Insurance Company, National Specialty Insurance Company and City National Insurance Company) and two surplus lines carriers (United Specialty Insurance Company and Independent Specialty Insurance Company). Markel is not among the 10 largest home insurers in any state.

Markel said in its 2025 annual report that rate increases have made its personal lines profitable and that it is increasing premium writings there. In the second quarter of 2026, Markel recorded a $205.3 million provision for expected credit losses at State National on reinsurance recoverables owed by a capacity provider in bankruptcy. Management said the programs, mostly primary habitational casualty business, began in 2012 and stopped writing in 2021. They were not homeowners programs, but the charge shows the credit risk a fronting carrier carries.

Claims

Markel's general claims line is 800-362-7535, and new claims can also be sent to [email protected] or filed through an online form. For a policy sold through CoverTree, Jetty or another program administrator, start with the claims contact on your declarations page; State National policyholders can also reach State National at 800-877-4567. Markel's 2025 catastrophe losses came mainly from the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, and its 2024 losses from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Ratings and reputation

As of September 15, 2026, Markel's financial strength page lists Markel American Insurance Company, Evanston Insurance Company and Markel Insurance Company at A (Excellent) from AM Best, A+ from S&P and A2 from Moody's, with stable outlooks. The State National companies (State National, National Specialty, City National, United Specialty and others) are rated A (Excellent) by AM Best, in financial size category X. These are strong ratings, well above the AM Best B that Fannie Mae requires of a homeowners insurer.

Markel Insurance reported a 95% combined ratio for 2025, its 18th underwriting profit in 20 years. Because Markel sells home coverage only through intermediaries, it is not ranked in J.D. Power's home insurance studies, and its complaint record is spread across many companies.

Who it suits

Markel suits homeowners whose houses fall outside standard underwriting: a vacant inherited house, a coastal home other carriers declined, a property mid-renovation, a short-term rental or a home with past claims. It also suits manufactured home owners buying through CoverTree. It suits less well a typical owner-occupied home that qualifies for a standard HO-3, where surplus lines pricing and narrower forms would rarely be the better deal.

• Strengths: A (Excellent) from AM Best and A+ from S&P on Markel's main U.S. carriers; appetite for hard-to-place homes, including Coverage A above $1 million; State National remains primarily liable on fronted policies.
• Weaknesses: no direct consumer sales or online quoting for home insurance; surplus lines policies lack state rate review and guaranty fund protection; coverage forms vary by risk; the 2026 State National credit loss shows fronting's counterparty risk.

How to contact Markel