Latest Excess Surplus Headlines

IJ’s Program Directory, as well as IJ’s E&S Directory and Workers’ Comp Directory, are also available online. Brokers an

Dec 4 2005 // Welcome to Insurance Journal’s 14th Annual Program Directory, Volume II. Information contained in this 2005 directory has been compiled by IJ’s staff as a resource for readers. For the purposes of this...

Regulation of Surplus Lines

Dec 4 2005 // Montana House Bill 631 (Signed into law on April 8, 2005) Regulation: This law relates to the revision of surplus lines insurance law and provides that a policy may not be placed with an unauthorized insurer unless the...

News Briefs

Dec 4 2005 // Willis Expands in China, Latin America: In a breakthrough agreement, global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Limited, has received written approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to increase...

Agency Consolidation Dynamics are Ripe for the Picking

Dec 4 2005 // The consolidation of insurance agencies has played a prominent role within the industry over the last 30 years. Now more than ever, however, such activity increasingly influences the average size of distributors, the scope...

XL Capital Forms Excess Surplus Unit

Dec 1 2005 // XL Capital Ltd. has created a new Excess & Surplus (E&S) lines unit to add to its insurance operations, Clive Tobin, chief executive officer, announced today from London. The new unit will be dedicated to...

Lloyd’s Ups Hurricane Losses to $3.27 Billion; Increases 2006 Capacity

Nov 30 2005 // Lloyd’s has issued an updated statement on the estimated financial impact on the market of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, based on the results gathered from “a Major Loss Return from each Managing...

Lord Levene Urges U.K. Reinsurers to Support Changes in U.S. Trust Fund Collateral Requirements

Nov 29 2005 // Lloyd’s Chairman, Lord Levene, has called on the London market’s reinsurers to play their part in European efforts to remove the current “inappropriate system” of collateralisation requirements in...

New Excess Surplus Lines Carrier, Rockhill Insurance, Launched

Nov 29 2005 // Rockhill Holding Company has raised $145 million in capital and completed the acquisition of United Coastal Insurance Company, an excess and surplus lines company which is authorized in most US jurisdictions. United...

Whipp, Bleisnick Join Guy Carpenter

Nov 29 2005 // Guy Carpenter & Company Inc. announced that Scott Whipp has joined the company’s Professional Liability Specialty Practice as a managing director and will lead its medical malpractice group and that Michael...

Lloyd’s Offers Poultry Farmers Coverage for Bird Flu

Nov 25 2005 // Heath Lambert has launched a facility to protect poultry farmers against avian flu (also known as bird flu). The exclusive facility, broked by the company’s specialist London market operation, FSJ, is 100%...

Integro Buys Lloyd’s Broker Humphreys, Haggas, Sutton

Nov 24 2005 // Integro Ltd. announced the acquisition of Humphreys, Haggas, Sutton & Co. Ltd. (HHS), a Lloyd’s broker founded in 1994 by its three principals, Toby Humphreys, Simon Haggas and John Sutton. “This...

Nov 20 2005 // The Board of Directors of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. elected Kay W. McCurdy to serve on its board of directors. McCurdy began her career in 1975 as an attorney at Lord, Bissell & Brook in Chicago and has more than...

James Discusses Challenges Facing Lloyd’s at Xchanging Conference

Nov 18 2005 // In a speech on Nov. 17, given at a conference sponsored by insurance service provider Xchanging, Julian James, Lloyd’s Director of world-wide markets, stressed that the London market faced continuing challenges in...

Suit Filed in New Orleans Over Excess Flood Coverage

Nov 18 2005 // A pair of plastic surgeons in New Orleans, La., who are facing more than $1 million in uninsured home losses from Hurricane Katrina, are suing State Farm Insurance, claiming the company did not tell them they could have...

ASU International Changes Name to HCC Specialty Underwriters

Nov 18 2005 // ASU International Inc. (ASU), a specialty underwriting agency subsidiary of HCC Insurance Holdings Inc., has announced that it has changed its name to HCC Specialty Underwriters Inc. William F. Hubbard, CEO of HCC...

A.M. Best Assigns FSR for Darwin Group, Subsidiaries

Nov 16 2005 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned financial strength ratings (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a-” to the operating companies of Delaware-based Darwin Group Inc. (DGI), which consists of...

CNA E&S Appoints Noodle Specialty Brokers for Property/Liability Products

Nov 16 2005 // Noodle Specialty Brokers (NSB), a division of InsuranceNoodle (www.insurancenoodle.com), announced it has been appointed by CNA E&S to underwrite and distribute select products from the E&S division. CNA E&S...

AVRECO’s Deiss Voted Chairperson of Lloyd’s Brokers

Nov 15 2005 // The Association of Lloyd’s Brokers has named Linda Deiss, vice president and underwriting manager of AVRECO, chairperson of the association. Deiss will serve for one year, with appointment to the board for three...

Specialty Underwriters Report Q3 Loss

Nov 11 2005 // Specialty Underwriters’ Alliance, Inc. today reported a net loss of $4.8 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2005. Total revenues were $9.1 million, comprised of earned insurance premiums of $8.2 million and...

Lloyd’s Receives Approval for Chinese Reinsurance Operation

Nov 10 2005 // Lloyd’s announced that it has been given the green light to establish an on-shore reinsurance operation in China. “The on-shore license will give Lloyd’s an important strategic foothold in one of the...