SAFETY INSURANCE GROUP INC (SAFT)

Item 2.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

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The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, which appear elsewhere in this document. In this discussion, all dollar amounts are presented in thousands, except share and per share data.

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The following discussion contains forward-looking statements. We intend statements which are not historical in nature to be, and are hereby identified as “forward-looking statements” to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, the Company’s senior management may make forward-looking statements orally to analysts, investors, the media and others. This safe harbor requires that we specify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of us. We cannot promise that our expectations in such forward-looking statements will turn out to be correct. Our actual results could be materially different from and worse than our expectations. See “Forward-Looking Statements” below for specific important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements.

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Executive Summary and Overview

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In this discussion, “Safety” refers to Safety Insurance Group, Inc. and “our Company,” “the Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Safety Insurance Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Our subsidiaries consist of Safety Insurance Company (“Safety Insurance”), Safety Indemnity Insurance Company (“Safety Indemnity”), Safety Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“Safety P&C”), Safety Northeast Insurance Company (“Safety Northeast”), Safety Northeast Insurance Agency, Inc. (“SNIA”), and Safety Management Corporation, which is SNIA’s holding company.

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We are a leading provider of private passenger automobile, commercial automobile, homeowners and commercial other-than-auto insurance in Massachusetts. In addition to private passenger automobile insurance (which represented 54.9% of our direct written premiums in 2025), we offer a portfolio of other insurance products, including commercial automobile (15.2% of 2025 direct written premiums), homeowners (25.2% of 2025 direct written premiums) and dwelling fire, umbrella and business owner policies (totaling 4.7% of 2025 direct written premiums). Operating exclusively in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine through our insurance company subsidiaries, Safety Insurance, Safety Indemnity, Safety P&C and Safety Northeast (together referred to as the “Insurance Subsidiaries”), we have established strong relationships with independent insurance agents, who numbered 797 in 1,063 locations throughout these three states at December 31, 2025. We have used these relationships and our extensive knowledge of the Massachusetts market to become the third largest private passenger automobile carrier and the second largest commercial automobile insurance carrier in Massachusetts, capturing an approximate 9.4% and 13.0% share, respectively, of the Massachusetts private passenger and commercial automobile markets in 2025 according to statistics compiled by the Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers (“CAR”) based on automobile exposures. We are also the third largest homeowners insurance carrier in Massachusetts with a 7.0% share of the Massachusetts homeowners insurance market.

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A.M. Best, which rates insurance companies based on factors of concern to policyholders, currently assigns Safety Insurance an “A (Excellent)” rating. Our “A” rating was reaffirmed by A.M. Best on July 15, 2026.

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Our Insurance Subsidiaries began writing insurance in New Hampshire during 2008 and in Maine in 2016. In November 2020, we formed a fourth insurance subsidiary, Safety Northeast, which became licensed to write insurance products in Massachusetts.

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The table below shows the amount of direct written premiums written in each state during the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025.

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Recent Trends and Events

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During the quarter ended March 31, 2026, the Northeast region was impacted by two severe winter weather events (“Winter Storms”). Beginning on January 23, 2026 through January 26, 2026, the Northeast region experienced a severe winter weather event, which developed into a nor’easter, bringing blizzard conditions including excess snowfall, subzero temperatures and wind gusts reaching 75 miles per hour. Beginning on February 22, 2026, the Northeast region experienced a severe winter weather event, which produced record-breaking snowfall and hurricane-force wind gusts. Areas in the region received up to 36 inches of snowfall and wind gusts exceeding 80 miles per hour. As a result of the Winter Storms, the Company received approximately 1,800 reported claims totaling $42,736 of losses and loss adjustment expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2026.

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Direct and Net Written Premiums. For the three months ended June 30, 2026, direct written premium and net written premium decreased 1.2% and 1.9%, respectively, compared to the prior period. The decrease was primarily due to the cancellation of certain underperforming agency relationships. For the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company experienced policy count declines of 8.8% in Private Passenger Automobile and 4.0% in Homeowners lines, partially offset by 2.7% growth in Commercial Automobile policies, compared to the same period in 2025. Average written premium per policy increased 2.9%, 6.4% and 10.9% in Private Passenger Automobile, Commercial Automobile and Homeowners lines, respectively, primarily reflecting rate increases.

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Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses. Losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred for the three months ended June 30, 2026 increased by $887, or 0.5%, to $195,119 from $194,232 for the comparable 2025 period. Losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred for the six months ended June 30, 2026 increased by $58,087, or 15.1%, to $442,609 from $384,522 for the comparable 2025 period. Our losses and loss adjustment expenses ratio for the three months ended June 30, 2026 decreased to 66.9% from 68.8% for the comparable 2025 period. The decrease in our losses and loss adjustment expense ratio for the three months ended June 30, 2026 is primarily driven by improved reported accident frequency in our Private Passenger Automobile line of business. Our losses and loss adjustment expense ratio for the six months ended June 30, 2026 increased to 76.0% from 69.3% for the comparable 2025 period. The increase in losses and loss adjustment expense ratio for the six months ended June 30, 2026 is due to the impact of Winter Storms.

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The following rate changes have been filed and approved by the insurance regulators of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine in 2026 and 2025.

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Insurance Ratios

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The property and casualty insurance industry uses the combined ratio as a measure of underwriting profitability. The combined ratio is the sum of the loss ratio (losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred as a percent of net earned premiums) plus the expense ratio (underwriting and other expenses as a percent of net earned premiums, calculated on a Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) basis). The combined ratio reflects only underwriting results and does not include income from investments or finance and other service income.  Underwriting profitability is subject to significant fluctuations due to competition, catastrophic events, weather, economic and social conditions, and other factors.

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Our GAAP insurance ratios are outlined in the following table.

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Share-Based Compensation

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On March 24, 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted the Amended and Restated Safety Insurance Group, Inc. 2018 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Amended 2018 Plan”), which was subsequently approved by our shareholders at the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The Amended 2018 Plan increases the share pool limit by adding 350,000 common shares to the previously adopted Safety Insurance Group, Inc. 2018 Long-Term Incentive Plan. The Amended 2018 Plan enables the grant of stock awards, performance shares, cash-based performance units, other stock-based awards, stock options, stock appreciation rights, and stock unit awards, each of which may be granted separately or in tandem with other awards. Eligibility to participate includes officers, directors, employees and other individuals who provide bona fide services to the Company. The Amended 2018 Plan supersedes the Company’s 2002 Management Omnibus Incentive Plan (“the 2002 Incentive Plan”).

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The Amended 2018 Plan establishes a pool of 700,000 shares of common stock available for issuance to our employees and other eligible participants. The Board of Directors and the Compensation Committee intend to issue awards under the Amended 2018 Plan in the future.

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The maximum number of shares of common stock between both the Amended 2018 Plan and 2002 Incentive Plan with respect to which awards may be granted

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

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The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, which appear elsewhere in this document. In this discussion, all dollar amounts are presented in thousands, except share and per share data.

The following discussion contains forward-looking statements. We intend statements which are not historical in nature to be and are hereby identified as “forward-looking statements” to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, the Company’s senior management may make forward-looking statements orally to analysts, investors, the media and others. This safe harbor requires that we specify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of us. We cannot promise that our expectations in such forward-looking statements will turn out to be correct. Our actual results could be materially different from and worse than our expectations. See “Forward-Looking Statements” below for specific important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements.

Executive Summary and Overview

In this discussion, “Safety” refers to Safety Insurance Group, Inc. and “our Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Safety Insurance Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Our subsidiaries consist of Safety Insurance Company (“Safety Insurance”), Safety Indemnity Insurance Company (“Safety Indemnity”), Safety Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“Safety P&C”), Safety Northeast Insurance Company (“Safety Northeast”), Safety Northeast Insurance Agency, Inc. (“SNIA”), and Safety Management Corporation (“SMC”), which is SNIA’s holding company.

We are a leading provider of private passenger automobile (54.9% of our direct written premiums in 2025), commercial automobile, (15.2% of 2025 direct written premiums), and homeowners (25.2% of 2025 direct written premiums) insurance. In addition to these coverages, we offer a portfolio of other insurance products, including dwelling fire, umbrella and business owner policies (totaling 4.7% of 2025 direct written premiums). Operating exclusively in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine through our insurance company subsidiaries, Safety Insurance, Safety Indemnity, Safety P&C, and Safety Northeast (together referred to as the “Insurance Subsidiaries”), we have established strong relationships with independent insurance agents, who numbered 797 in 1,063 locations throughout these three states during 2025. We have used these relationships and our extensive knowledge of the market to become the fourth largest private passenger automobile carrier and the largest commercial automobile carrier in Massachusetts, capturing an approximate 9.4% and 13.0% share, respectively, of the Massachusetts private passenger and commercial automobile markets in 2025, according to statistics compiled by the Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers (“CAR”) based on automobile exposures. We are the third largest homeowners insurance carrier in Massachusetts, with a market share of 7.0% in 2024.

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A.M. Best, which rates insurance companies based on factors of concern to policyholders, currently assigns Safety Insurance an “A (Excellent)” rating. Our “A” rating was reaffirmed by A.M. Best on June 20, 2025.

Our Insurance Subsidiaries began writing insurance in New Hampshire during 2008 and Maine in 2016. In November 2020, we formed a fourth insurance subsidiary, Safety Northeast, which became licensed to write insurance products in Massachusetts. The table below shows the amount of direct written premiums in each state during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023.

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Recent Trends and Events

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Direct and Net Written Premiums. For the three months ended December 31, 2025, direct written premium growth and net written premium growth were 2.6% and 6.5%, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2025, direct written premium growth and net written premium growth were 7.2% and 7.5%, respectively. The increase in premium is driven by rate increases. For the year ended December 31, 2025, average written premium per policy increased 8.1%, 4.6% and 9.7% in Private Passenger Automobile, Commercial Automobile and Homeowners lines, respectively, compared to the same period in 2024.

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The following rate changes have been filed and approved by the insurance regulators of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine in 2026, 2025 and 2024.

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Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses. Losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred for the three months ended December 31, 2025 increased by $14,671, or 7.6%, to $207,678 from $193,007 for the comparable 2024 period. Losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred for the year ended December 31, 2025 increased by $80,545, or 11.2%, to $797,182 from $716,637 for the comparable 2024 period. The increase in losses for both periods ended December 31, 2025 is primarily driven by our larger policy counts and current market conditions, specifically inflationary impacts on our Private Passenger Automobile book of business.

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Loss, expense, and combined ratios calculated under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 were 70.8%, 28.6%, and 99.4%, respectively, compared to 71.7%, 30.2%, and 101.9%, respectively, for the comparable 2024 period. Loss, expense, and combined ratios calculated under U.S. GAAP for the year ended December 31, 2025 were 70.0%, 29.0%, and 99.0%, respectively, compared to 70.9%, 30.2%, and 101.1%, respectively, for the comparable 2024 period. The 2025 decrease in the loss ratios is due to growth in earned premiums, slightly offset by increased loss severity. The decrease in the expense ratios in both periods is primarily driven by growth in earned premiums.

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We define a “catastrophe” as an event that produces pre-tax losses before reinsurance in excess of $1,000 and involves multiple first-party policyholders, or an event that produces a number of claims in excess of a preset, per-event threshold of average claims in a specific area, occurring within a certain amount of time following the event. Catastrophes are caused by various natural events including high winds, winter storms, tornadoes, hailstorms, and hurricanes. The nature and level of catastrophes in any period cannot be reliably predicted.

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Catastrophe losses incurred by the type of event are shown in the following table.

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Statutory Accounting Principles

Our results are reported in accordance with GAAP, which differ from amounts reported in accordance with statutory accounting principles ("SAP") as prescribed by insurance regulatory authorities, which in general reflect a liquidating, rather than going concern concept of accounting. Specifically, under GAAP:

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