Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs.

Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs

27. Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs

Policy acquisition expenses, primarily commissions, premium taxes and underwriting expenses related to the successful issuance of a new or renewal policy incurred by NLC are deferred and charged against income ratably over the terms of the related policies. A summary of the activity in deferred policy acquisition costs is as follows (in thousands).

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Balance, beginning of year	$	20,416	$	20,991	$	19,812
Acquisition expenses capitalized		39,716		41,034		41,771
Amortization charged to income		(40,258)		(41,609)		(40,592)
Balance, end of year	$	19,874	$	20,416	$	20,991

Amortization is included in policy acquisition and other underwriting expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.