Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Jumps Into Surety with Zurich’s Delisio

June 12, 2014

Continuing with its rapid expansion, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance is moving into the surety market, focusing on contract surety business. The company has appointed Geoff Delisio as senior vice president of surety, reporting to David Bresnahan, executive vice president for BHSI.

Bresnahan said BHSI will be building a “multi-disciplinary team of surety underwriting, claims and legal professionals” to serve construction customers and brokers for the long term.

Delisio comes to BHSI with 13 years of surety experience, most recently as senior vice president of surety at Zurich. A certified professional engineer, he spent a decade at a national geotechnical and civil engineering company.

Delisio will be based in BHSI’s Boston office.

“Our credit quality and willingness to take on significant contracting exposure will get us off to a fast start in the surety marketplace. Along with a strong balance sheet, we bring to the table the trust and integrity long associated with the Berkshire Hathaway brand, values that resonate positively with our customers and brokers,” Bresnahan said.

BHSI said this new contract surety capabilities complement its builder’s risk and construction casualty risk appetite, rounding out its offerings for the construction industry.

BHSI, a division of Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity group of insurance companies, has been expanding its reach and product offerings.

Last month it announced it is entering the insurance business for travelers, travel agencies, tour operators and travel suppliers with a product called AirCare.

In March, the company introduced a healthcare umbrella policy designed to address the exposures of large medical providers.

Since January, it has announced new initiatives in builder’s risk, primary casualty construction, and in directors and officers liability for large commercial and financial organizations.

This year BHSI also purchased the assets of MyAssist Inc., a live-agent personal concierge and telematics service provider, and Insure America LLC, a niche program administrator that provides insurance products to the travel industry.

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Topics Construction

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