Insurers wrote $3.04 billion of professional indemnity (PI) and public and product liability premiums last year, down 3.8% on 2012.

PI gross written premium (GWP) fell 3.5% to $1.32 billion for the underwriting year, while the number of risks written increased 12% to 601,000, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) National Claims and Policies Database shows.

The number of public and product liability risks written dropped 0.6% to 2.45 million, while GWP fell 4% to $1.72 billion.

Average PI premium fell 13.9% to $2192, continuing a long-term downward trend. From 2008 to last year GWP declined 38.9%, following a 22.2% drop from 2003-08.

Average public and product liability premium fell 3.5% to $700, with drops recorded across all states and territories. The long-term decline slowed to 7.4% for 2008 to last year, compared with 27.6% for 2003-08.

The APRA data shows facility GWP, which may include underwriting pools and joint ventures, grew 25.1% to $68 million. Insurers do not always have individual policy or claims information for such business.

APRA-regulated insurers paid claims totalling more than $1.55 billion for PI and public and product liability last year, up 12.1%.

Non-facility PI claims grew 8% to $656 million, while public and product liability claims gained 15.7% to $861 million. Claim payments on facility business increased 4.6% to $37 million.

Lloyd’s Australia GWP reached  $660 million last underwriting year for PI and public and product liability cover, including $481 million as facility business.

Some 2316 non-facility PI risks were covered by Lloyd’s, with the average premium rising 34.8% to $41,236.

It also covered 1326 public and product liability risks, with average premium gaining 36% to $62,538.

“The specialist nature of the Lloyd’s Australia market means that alongside more standard business, Lloyd’s also writes larger and more complex risks that attract higher premiums,” the report says.

Lloyd’s Australia’s paid claims totalled $333 million, compared with $368 million in 2012.