Latest Excess Surplus Headlines

All the headlines from our Excess Surplus Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Specialty Underwriters, Hallmark Financial Still at Odds Over Control

Apr 22 2009 // Specialty Underwriters’ Alliance Inc. (SUA), headquartered in Chicago, reported that it has distributed a letter to stockholders in response to the proxy contest being waged by Hallmark Financial Services Inc., which...

Lloyd’s Opens First Office in Brazil

Apr 17 2009 // Lloyd’s opened its office in Brazil on Thursday, April 16, a year after receiving approval from the Superintendence of Private Insurance (SUSEP) to become the first admitted reinsurer in the country. Lloyd’s...

Lloyd’s Finds Insurance Increasingly Important for Rock ‘n’ Roll Band Tours

Apr 15 2009 // An article on the Lloyd’s web site (www.lloyds.com) analyzes the stepped up need for insurance coverage when mega-rock bands like U2 go on tour. The Irish band is slated to begin its latest series of concert dates,...

LIU, Five Star Specialty Launch Nonprofit Management Liability Program

Apr 9 2009 // Liberty International Underwriters (LIU), a division of Liberty Mutual Group, has partnered with Five Star Specialty Programs (Five Star), a division of Crump Insurance Services Inc., to create a new insurance program for...

P/C Insurers Profitable in 2008; Take Hit From Catastrophes, Financial Crisis

Apr 9 2009 // Property/casualty insurers remained profitable in 2008 despite taking hits from several catastrophes, the recession and the ongoing financial crisis. P/C insurers earned $2.4 billion in net income after taxes in 2008, but...

Roach Howard Smith & Barton Launches New Specialty Practice Group

Apr 7 2009 // Dallas-based Roach Howard Smith & Barton (RHSB), an independent insurance brokerage firm and Assurex Global partner, expanded its firm to include a new Technology, Life Science & Media (TLM) specialty practice...

People

Apr 6 2009 // The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut Inc. (PIACT) elected new officers. They are: President James Goodman, who is president of Goodman Insurance Inc. in Shelton; President-elect Howard Olderman, who is...

Witch Hunt at AIG; While Lloyd’s Sees ‘Flight to Quality’

Apr 6 2009 // The witch hunt that has engulfed AIG needs to be toned down. If for no other reason than it’s making the problem worse, not better. It also reduces the likelihood that U.S. taxpayers will get back any of the money...

Pennsylvania Surplus Lines Association Annual Meeting

Apr 2 2009 // All members of the insurance community are invited to attend the Pennsylvania Surplus Lines Association’s Annual Membership Meeting, on April 8-9, 2009, at the Wyndham Gettysburg Hotel in Gettysburg, PA. Highlights...

Bolt to Join Lloyd’s as New Underwriting Performance Director

Mar 27 2009 // Lloyd’s announced that Tom Bolt has been appointed as the new Underwriting Performance Director, effective early this fall. He will take over from Rolf Tolle who will retire at the end of the year. Bolt has more than...

S&P Sees no Lloyd’s Rating Change; “Solid Performance,’ Strong Capital

Mar 25 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that its insurer financial strength rating and outlook on Lloyd’s (Lloyd’s or the Market; A+/Stable/–) “are unaffected by full-year results...

Lloyd’s Finance Director Sees ‘Flight to Quality’

Mar 25 2009 // Luke Savage, Lloyd’s of London’s finance director (among other titles), is certainly aware that 2008 was a “tough year,” as he put it in a telephone interview. Lloyd’s profits dropped by 50...

Lloyd’s Posts $2.78 Billion 2008 Profit

Mar 24 2009 // Lloyd’s announced an overall profit for 2008 of £1.899 billion ($2.78 billion), a 50 percent drop from the £3.846 billion ($5.64 billion) it posted in 2007, but given current economic conditions, a...

Sports Terrorism, ‘Names,’ Tongues and Mergers

Mar 23 2009 // Are professional sports the next terrorist targets? The terrorist attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Lahore (Pakistan) “highlights the vulnerability of sporting events to terrorist disruption,” warned...

Torus Names Trimble as Head of Domestic Excess Casualty Division

Mar 20 2009 // International insurer Torus Insurance Ltd has appointed Linc Trimble as New Jersey-based head of the company’s excess casualty division. Trimble will oversee a country-wide growth strategy for Torus, and build a...

NIP Specialty Launches New Facility for Businesses in Bankruptcy

Mar 19 2009 // NIP Specialty Brokerage, a division of New Jersey-based NIP Group, Inc., launched a new facility to help agents/brokers replace business insurance policies cancelled or non-renewed because their clients have filed for...

Arch Europe to Establish New Lloyd’s Syndicate

Mar 17 2009 // Arch Insurance Company (Europe) Limited, a subsidiary of Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group Ltd., announced that it has received approval from Lloyd’s to establish a new syndicate, which is slated to commence...

Insurance Specialty Group LLC Acquires Wastepac

Mar 12 2009 // Insurance Specialty Group LLC has acquired Wastepac, a provider of insurance coverage to the waste hauling and sanitation industry. “Acquiring Wastepac’s expertise in this highly-specialized niche market gives...

Florida Surplus Lines Insurance Industry Seeks Regulatory Certainty

Mar 11 2009 // Surplus lines insurance industry leaders in Florida hope legislation working its way through the state Legislature will clarify how the industry will be regulated. The industry has had concerns about its future since court...

Pacific Specialty Expands Texas Residential Property Programs

Mar 10 2009 // Pacific Specialty Property and Casualty Company, the Texas affiliate of California-based Pacific Specialty Insurance Company (PSIC) announced a new suite of preferred tier residential property insurance products in...