New RRG to Offer GL to Calif. Contractors and Artisans

February 16, 2005

United Contractors Insurance Company Inc.—a new risk retention group domiciled in the District of Columbia—will offer general liability coverage to California contractors and artisans in commercial and residential construction.

Acting as the RRG's managing general underwriter, Palm Springs-based United Contractors Insurance Agency will provide underwriting and policy issuance, along with other services. UCIC will insure several types of contractors' risk, including remodeling contractors, plumbers and painters.

"We've been in a really hard market situation, and especially for contractors—many of them are finding it's difficult or impossible to obtain coverage," said Annette Singer, president of UCIA. "So, where there's a need, there's an opportunity. We developed a new program to broaden the market and offer more choices for the contractors out there having difficulty finding coverage."

Licensed on Oct. 17, 2004, UCIC will be headed by President Douglas R. Holmes, a Whittier, Calif.-based attorney. Holmes previously served as a director of Florida-domiciled Insurance Company of the Americas, which is owned by New York-based PIA Acquisitions Inc., which provided initial capital to start up the RRG in the amount of $600,000.

The RRG will be reinsured by Illinois-domiciled Reinsurance Company of America Inc.

For more information, contact Annette Singer at asinger@ucisg.com.