Unfortunately, even with the increase in new business policies that we experienced outside of California in 2020, our new business premium has fallen driven primarily by significant declines in payrolls and declines in the number of policies with annual premiums greater than $25,000.
As a result, we reduced our current accident year loss and LAE ratio to 64.3% during the fourth quarter from the 65.5% maintained throughout the prior 21 months.
We also reduced our prior accident year loss and LAE reserves by nearly $40 million during the quarter which related to nearly every prior accident year.
For the year, we delivered a 7.6% return on adjusted equity and increased our book value per share, including the deferred gain by more than 15%.
Our net premiums earned were $152 million, a decrease of 11% year-over-year.
Our loss and loss adjustment expenses were $48 million, a decrease of 51% year-over-year due to the current and prior-year favorable loss reserve development that Kathy spoke to previously as well as the decrease in earned premiums.
Commission expenses were $19 million for the quarter, a decrease of 7% year-over-year.
Underwriting and general administrative expenses were $43 million for the quarter, a decrease of 15% year-over-year.
From a segment reporting perspective, our Employers segment had underwriting income of $45 million for the quarter versus $8 million a year ago and its combined ratios were 70% and 96% respectively.
Our Cerity segment had an underwriting loss of $5 million for the quarter, consistent with its underwriting loss of a year ago.
Net investment income was $18 million for the quarter, down 20%.
At quarter-end, our fixed maturities had a duration of 3.2 and an average credit quality of A+ and our equity securities and other investments represented 8% of the total investment portfolio.
We were favorably impacted by $5 million of after-tax unrealized gains from fixed maturity securities, which are reflected on our balance sheet and $15 million of net after-tax unrealized gains from equity securities and other investments, which are reflected on our income statement.
These net unrealized investment gains contributed to our nearly 6% increase in our book value per share including the deferred gain this quarter.
During the quarter, we repurchased $17 million of our common stock at an average price of $32.50 per share and we have repurchased an additional $10 million of our common stock thus far in 2021 at an average price per share of $32.19.
Our remaining share repurchase authority currently stands at $19 million.
Yesterday, the Board of Directors declared a first quarter 2021 dividend of $0.25 per share, which is payable on March 17th to stockholders of record as of March 3rd.
Net written premiums for the year of $575 million were down $117 million or 16.9% from the prior year.
New business premium decreased 33.3% despite increases in submissions, quotes and bound policies.
Submissions were up 3.7% year-over-year, quotes were up 7.4% and bound policies were at 0.2% growth.
On a year-over-year basis, our in-force policy count increased by 4.8%.
New business submissions were down 10% from the comparable periods in 2019 and were down as much as 23% in some industries.
However, renewal premium for the year decreased 3.6%.
It's been my pleasure to lead Employers for over 27 years and I believe that the Company is in the strongest financial position in its 108-year history.

Summary:
Our net premiums earned were $152 million, a decrease of 11% year-over-year.
Yesterday, the Board of Directors declared a first quarter 2021 dividend of $0.25 per share, which is payable on March 17th to stockholders of record as of March 3rd.