Business News

Aspen Group Announces Acquisition of AgriLogic Insurance Services, LLC

Specialty insurer Aspen Insurance has acquired AgriLogic Insurance Services, LLC and certain affiliates for cash in a transaction that further diversifies Aspens’s specialty insurance business.

AgriLogic, headquartered in Kansas, is a specialist U.S. crop insurer and agricultural consultant that reported estimated gross written premiums of $185 million in 2015.
The company was founded as a consulting firm and leverages its technical capability and industry knowledge to provide its crop and agricultural insurance agents with customized risk management services for U.S. and international agricultural businesses.

AgriLogic’s President & CEO Joe Davis will continue in his role, reporting to Brian Boornazian, chairman, Aspen Re and AgriLogic will form part of Aspen’s existing reinsurance operations, led by Michael Dicker, group head of Agriculture.

Nationwide Completes Rebrand of Scottsdale Insurance Company

Nationwide has completed the rebranding of Scottsdale Insurance Company to Nationwide and will continue to offer excess & surplus and specialty solutions as the E&S/Specialty business unit. In September 2014, Nationwide announced it was beginning the process of converting all of its operations to leverage its strongest brand asset.

The E&S/Specialty team at Nationwide will continue to underwrite products with Scottsdale Insurance and affiliated companies and will remain in Scottsdale, Ariz., which Nationwide has identified as a strategic “go forward” location. The company’s Scottsdale campus is the home of roughly 1,500 associates who support E&S/Specialty, Nationwide Private Client, property & casualty regional operations and support functions for other Nationwide business lines.

Marsh Launches New Global Excess Cyber Risk Facility

Marsh, a global insurance broker and risk management provider, announced the launch of Cyber ECHO, a new global excess cyber risk facility that provides more reliable insurance coverage for organizations around the world.

Following a series of high-profile cyber losses, underwriters have become more selective and in some cases are reducing the amount of capital they are willing to deploy on certain risks – especially those involving health care and payment card data. This is particularly acute in the excess cyber market, where rates have more than doubled in the U.S. over the last 12 months.

Cyber ECHO brings greater stability to the excess market with up to $50 million in “follow form” coverage for clients of any industry sector and risk profile around the world. Underwritten by leading Lloyd’s of London syndicates, the facility is designed to respond consistently to the terms and conditions outlined in the primary cyber policy. Such follow form language helps to mitigate coverage ambiguities that can sometimes lead to costly disputes and/or delays in claims payments.

Cyber ECHO also includes a pre-priced option that allows insureds to reinstate policy limits, should they experience a cyber event during the policy period that has the potential to exhaust their policy limits.

ISO to Launch Management and Professional Liability Unit

ISO, a Verisk Analytics business announced the launch of its management and professional liability unit. The unit will spearhead new and revised coverage options as well as actuarial and analytics solutions to better serve the changing world of business and corporate risks. Joining ISO to lead the effort are Stephen Whelan, Michael Doyle, and Barbara Russo.

They join an existing team to expand ISO offerings, including crime, D&O (directors and officers), EPL (employment practices liability), fiduciary liability, financial institutions, and professional liability or E&O (errors and omissions). The team will also focus on ISO’s excess and surplus and reinsurance solutions.

Chubb Partners With Crawford & Company on New Cyber Incident Response Platform

Chubb launched a new partnership with Crawford & Company as it continues to invest in building its cyber enterprise risk management capabilities.

Crawford & Company will provide Chubb’s clients with a single point of contact and a 24/7 incident response platform to report cyber incidents. Crawford’s qualified incident managers will help insureds navigate through the complexities of a cyber incident from start to finish and offer access to a global network of crisis management service providers.

The platform will be available to current and future policyholders who purchase cyber cover through Chubb in Europe. It is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of international and domestic organizations across Europe, including both larger and middle-market companies in Continental Europe and the UK and Ireland.

Highlights of the new platform include:

• A direct, single point of contact to help manage the incident response from end to end.
• A 24/7 incident response hotline available in over 200 languages.
• A dedicated, highly qualified and accredited incident manager who will help the insured navigate the complexities of the incident.
• Access to Crawford’s seamless global network of forensics, legal, notification, fraud remediation and public relations experts.
• Flexibility to add other partners into the Crawford network of providers based on the insureds’ existing relationships.
• Access to Chubb’s global underwriting expertise and claims network, including: dedicated cyber teams in Europe and the US with a track record of over 15 years of local underwriting experience and claims handling and Chubb’s local presence spanning 54 countries worldwide.

This will be further supported in key European markets by teams of third-party local incident response experts, coordinated by Chubb.