D.C. Department Approves ProAssurance Acquisition of NCRIC Inc.; Aug. 2 Vote Scheduled

Medical malpractice insurers writers NCRIC Group Inc. and ProAssurance Corporation announced that the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking has approved the proposed acquisition of NCRIC, Inc. as part of ProAssurance’s proposed acquisition of NCRIC Group.

This acquisition is taking place pursuant to a merger agreement dated Feb. 28, 2005 when Brimingham,Alabanama-based medcial malpractice insurer ProAssurance Corporation and NCRIC Group, Inc., out of Washington, D.C., agreed to merge NCRIC into ProAssurance in a $69.6 million, all-stock transaction.

Parent company NCRIC Group has scheduled a special meeting of shareholders to be held on Aug. 2, 2005 for the purpose of approving the merger agreement. The transaction is expected to close subsequent to the meeting of shareholders.

A. Derrill Crowe, M.D., chairman and CEO of ProAssurance, expressed ProAssurance’s enthusiasm for building on the foundation that NCRIC has established in the District of Columbia. “NCRIC has a solid reputation for customer service and advocacy on behalf of its physician policyholders that is much like ours,” said Dr. Crowe. “We look forward to continuing NCRIC’s strong tradition of serving the needs of the medical community of the District of Columbia and the surrounding area.”

The transaction will expand ProAssurance’s mid-Atlantic operations in key states that it said meet its growth and return goals. ProAssurance expects the transaction to be accretive to both book value and earnings per share in 2005.

NCRIC is the largest writer in Delaware and one of the top four writers in Virginia. ProAssurance had already targeted both states for growth.

ProAssurance is a specialty insurer with more than $3.2 billion in assets and almost $790 million in gross written premiums. It is the nation’s fourth largest writer of medical professional liability insurance, with its principal professional liability subsidiaries being The Medical Assurance Company Inc., ProNational Insurance Company, and Red Mountain Casualty Insurance Company Inc. It is also the tenth largest writer of personal auto coverage in Michigan through its subsidiary, MEEMIC Insurance Company.

NCRIC iprovides medical professional liability insurance, practice management and financial services, and employee benefits plan design and pension administration. In addition to its headquarters in Washington, D.C., NCRIC has offices in Wilmington, Delaware; Greensboro, North Carolina; Richmond and Lynchburg, Virginia; and Charleston, West Virginia. NCRIC provides services to more than 4,700 physician clients.