semi-annually. The increase in other income is primarily the result of the Company increasing its estimate of unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses that would be indemnified by $19.4 million and $1.5 million during 2017 and 2016, respectively.
The current accident year catastrophe loss ratio for 2017 improved by 2.0 points compared to 2016 primarily due to lower claims severity in 2017. The current accident year catastrophe loss ratio for 2016 increased by 3.4 points compared to 2015 primarily due to losses from convective storms occurring during the first six months of the year.
Indemnity Reinsurance, including distributions it could receive from its subsidiaries, should have sufficient liquidity and solvency to pay dividends. In 2017, Global Indemnity Reinsurance declared a dividend of $120.0 million to its parent, Global Indemnity. Of this amount, $100.0 million was paid to Global Indemnity in December, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, accrued dividends were $20.0 million.
Prospectively, as fixed income investments mature and new cash is obtained, the cash available to invest will be invested in accordance with the Company’s investment policy. The Company’s investment policy allows the Company to invest in taxable and tax-exempt fixed income investments as well as publicly traded and private equity investments. With respect to bonds, the Company’s credit exposure limit for each issuer varies with the issuer’s credit quality. The allocation between taxable and tax-exempt bonds is determined based on market conditions and tax considerations. The fixed income portfolio currently has a duration of 3.23 years which allows the Company to defensively position itself during the current low interest rate environment.
Global Indemnity’s U.S. insurance companies participate in an intercompany pooling arrangement whereby premiums, losses, and expenses are shared pro rata amongst the U.S. insurance companies.
Goodwill of $1.7 million, arising from the acquisition, consists largely of the synergies and economies of scales expected from combining the operations of Global Indemnity and American Reliable. The Company has assigned goodwill of $1.7 million to the Personal Lines segment. There is no tax goodwill.
As of December 31, 2017, the Company had one aggregate unsecured reinsurance receivable that exceeded 3% of shareholders’ equity from the following reinsurer. Unsecured reinsurance receivables include amounts receivable for paid and unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses, less amounts secured by collateral.
The Company classifies all interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions as income tax expense. The Company did not incur any interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015. As of December 31, 2017, the Company did not record any liabilities for tax-related interest and penalties on its consolidated balance sheets.
The 2045 Notes are subordinated unsecured obligations and rank (i) senior to the Company’s existing and future capital stock, (ii) senior in right of payment to future junior subordinated debt, (iii) equally in right of payment with any unsecured, subordinated debt that the Company incurs in the future that ranks equally with the 2045 Notes, and (iv) subordinate in right of payment to any of the Company’s existing and future senior debt. In addition, the 2045 Notes are structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness, liabilities and other obligations of the Company’s subsidiaries.
The 2047 Notes do not require the maintenance of any financial ratios or specified levels of net worth or liquidity, and do not contain provisions that would afford holders of the 2047 Notes protection in the event of a sudden and dramatic decline in the Company’s credit quality resulting from any highly leveraged transaction, reorganization, restructuring, merger or similar transaction involving the Company that may adversely affect holders. The 2047 Notes do not restrict the Company in any way, now or in the future, from incurring additional indebtedness, including senior indebtedness that would rank senior in right of payment to the 2047 Notes. There is no right of acceleration of maturity of the 2047 Notes in the case of default in the payment of principal, premium, if any, or interest on, the 2047 Notes or in the performance of any other obligation of the Company under the notes or if the Company defaults on any other debt securities. Holders may accelerate payment of indebtedness on the 2047 Notes only upon the Company’s bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization.
On September 17, 2017, the Company and Fox Paine entered into a confidentiality agreement whereby Fox Paine agrees to keep confidential proprietary information, as defined in the confidentiality agreement, it receives regarding the Company from time to time, including proprietary information it may receive from director or director nominees appointed by Fox Paine.
The Company incurred $0.7 million for legal services rendered by Cozen O’Connor during the year ended December 31, 2015. Stephen A. Cozen, the chairman of Cozen O’Connor, was a member of the Company’s Board of Directors until he resigned on December 31, 2015.
Total rental expense under operating leases for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015 was $3.5 million, $3.7 million, and $3.5 million, respectively. Rent expense was net of sublease income of $0.02 million and $0.07 million for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. There was no sublease income for the year ended December 31, 2017. At December 31, 2017, future minimum cash payments under non-cancelable operating leases were as follows:
Subject to Board approval, 50% of granted stock vests 100%, no later than March 15, 2018, following a re-measurement of 2014 results as of December 31, 2017.
Based on the standards currently adopted, the Company reported in its 2017 statutory filings that the capital and surplus of the U.S. insurance companies are above the prescribed Company Action Level RBC requirements.
In October, 2016, the FASB issued new accounting guidance regarding intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory. Under current GAAP, the tax effects of intra-entity asset transfers (intercompany sales) are deferred until the transferred asset is sold to a third party or otherwise recovered through use. This is an exception to the principle in ASC 740, Income Taxes, that generally requires comprehensive recognition of current and deferred income taxes. The new guidance eliminates the exception for all intra-entity sales of assets other than inventory. As a result, a reporting entity would recognize the tax expense from the sale of the asset in the seller’s tax jurisdiction when the transfer occurs, even though the pre-tax effects of that transaction are eliminated in consolidation. Any deferred tax asset that arises in the buyer’s jurisdiction would also be recognized at the time of the transfer. The new guidance does not apply to intra-entity transfers of inventory. The income tax consequences from the sale of inventory from one member of a consolidated entity to another will continue to be deferred until the inventory is sold to a third party. Upon adoption on January 1, 2018, there will be a cumulative