Our principal executive offices, owned by NSIC, are located at 661 East Davis Street, Elba, Alabama. The executive offices are shared by the insurance subsidiaries. The building was constructed in 1977 with an addition added in 2008. The executive offices total approximately 30,700 square feet. The Company believes this space to be adequate for our immediate needs.
The earnings in the property and casualty segment have seasonal volatility due to severe storm activity resulting in incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses from hurricane, tornado, wind and hail related damage. These storm systems or other natural disasters are classified as catastrophes (referred to as "catastrophe" or "cat" events/losses
Information in this discussion is presented in whole dollars rounded to the nearest thousand, except for per share information. Tabular amounts are presented in thousands.
The primary source of premium revenue growth in the P&C segment was primarily the states of Georgia and Oklahoma. Premium revenue in Georgia increased 12.3% in 2019 with policy counts up 1.1% compared to December 31, 2018. Increased rates were implemented in Georgia, along with growth in policy count, which lead to the year over year increase in premium revenue in the state. In addition, Oklahoma premium revenue increased 6.3% in 2019, while policy counts decreased 0.4%. The implementation of increased rates was the primary reason for the increase in premium revenue in Oklahoma, in 2019, compared to the same period last year.
losses reported in 2018. Fire losses reported during 2019 added 25.6 percentage points to the P&C segment combined ratio while fire losses reported during 2018 added 27.0 percentage points to the P&C segment combined ratio.
The results of these ratios by significant component for the past two years were as follows:
There were no securities held-to-maturity with unrealized losses as of December 31, 2019.
As of December 31, 2019, Level 3 fair value measurements of liabilities include $65,000 net fair value of various interest rate swap agreements whose value is based on analysis provided by a third party that utilizes financial modeling tools and assumptions on interest and other factors. The Company does not develop the unobservable inputs used in measuring fair value. Additional information regarding the interest rate swap agreements is provided in Note 8.
Depreciation expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $124,000 ($161,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018).
The Company, through its life insurance subsidiary, underwrites a limited number of short duration accident and health contracts. These claims are typically settled in three years or less and the reserve for unpaid claims totaled $417,000 at December 31, 2019 ($358,000 at December 31, 2018). These claims are a component of policy and contract claims which totaled $1,053,000 at December 31, 2019 ($792,000 at December 31, 2018).
Cumulative incurred and paid claims over the last three years, along with annual percentage payouts related to accident and health claims, is as follows:
NSFC is similarly restricted in the amount of dividends payable to the Company; dividends may not exceed the greater of 10% of statutory surplus as of the end of the preceding year, or net income for the preceding year. At December 31, 2019, NSFC's retained earnings unrestricted for the payment of dividends in the next twelve months amounted to $3,626,000.