Latest Excess Surplus Headlines

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

Fitch Places Lloyd’s of London’s on Rating Watch Negative on COVID-19 Crisis

Apr 3 2020 // Fitch Ratings has placed Lloyd’s of London’s ‘AA-‘ Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings on rating watch negative, on the uncertainty and increased risk to Lloyd’s earnings and underwriting...

Rumbull Named Head of Willis Re Specialty in North America

Mar 31 2020 // Charles Rumball, currently executive vice president of Willis Re’s Specialty Reinsurance Division in Bermuda, is relocating to New York to assume the new role of head of Specialty for North America for Willis...

SCOR-Backed Channel Syndicate Taps Coulson from Lancashire as Senior Underwriter

Mar 31 2020 // Channel Syndicate, which is backed by reinsurer SCOR, has appointed Caroline Coulson as a senior underwriter on the political and credit risks team within SCOR Specialty Insurance, effective immediately.Coulson started on...

How Coronavirus Crisis Has Changed Underwriting at Lloyd’s of London

Mar 30 2020 // Thousands of London’s underwriters took their stamps and fountain pens home last week, which they use to sign insurance contracts, but they won’t need them.Working at home due to the coronavirus lockdown, they...

Lloyd’s Faces COVID-19 Claims from Multiple Insurance Lines, Says CEO Neal

Mar 27 2020 // Lloyd’s insurers face COVID-19 related claims from approximately 14 categories of insurance, said Chief Executive Officer John Neal during a media call to discuss the market’s 2019 results.Neal said it is too...

Blenheim Gets Initial Approval from Lloyd’s to Launch New Managing Agency

Mar 27 2020 // Blenheim Underwriting announced it has been granted ‘approval in principle’ by the Lloyd’s board to establish a new managing agency.Blenheim said it can now submit an application to the Prudential...

Former Lloyd’s CEO Beale to Become Chair of South Africa’s Mediclinic

Mar 27 2020 // Mediclinic International Plc has appointed former chief executive of Lloyd’s of London, Inga Beale, as an independent non-executive director and its next chairwoman, the company said on Friday.Beale will succeed...

Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office Postpones Launch of New Online Filing System

Mar 26 2020 // The release of the Surplus Lines Stamping of Office of Texas’ (SLTX’s) new online filing system, SMART, will be postponed due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.SLTX said the system was originally...

Lloyd’s Returns to Profit, Says in ‘Strong Position’ to Respond to COVID-19

Mar 26 2020 // While announcing a return to profit of £2.5 billion (US$3 billion) for 2019, Lloyd’s also affirmed that the market is in a strong position to respond to the impacts of COVID-19.Lloyd’s return to profit was the...

Casino Gambles on Coronavirus Business Interruption Lawsuit Against Lloyd’s, AIG, XL

Mar 24 2020 // A Native American tribe on Tuesday sued a group of insurance companies, asking a court to declare that losses it is incurring from shutting down its casinos during the coronavirus pandemic are covered by insurance.Among...

Coronavirus and the Auto Exposure

Mar 24 2020 // Over the last several days the VU has fielded several auto insurance related questions. These questions cannot be classed simply as personal auto or business auto questions because the most common question involves both...

Commentary: Does Business Income Insurance Cover Coronavirus Shutdowns?

Mar 24 2020 // On March 16, a lawsuit was filed in district court in New Orleans seeking a declaratory judgment about whether the business income coverage in a Lloyd’s property policy would cover a government-mandated shutdown or...

Centauri Insurance’s Rating Under Review After Termination of Avatar Acquisition

Mar 23 2020 // The Financial Stability Rating (FSR) of A, Exceptional, assigned to Louisiana’s Centauri National Insurance Co. by Demotech Inc. may be subject to change as Centauri National’s parent company, Centauri...

Virginia’s Kinsale Capital Group Announces Underwriting Promotions

Mar 20 2020 // Kinsale Capital Group Inc. has announced four underwriting promotions. Patrick L. Dalton was named senior vice president of Casualty, John R. Bowen Jr. was named vice president of Construction, Jason E. Hoover was named...

Analyst Says Specialty P/C Insurers More Likely to See Business Interruption Losses

Mar 19 2020 // The original property/casualty insurance industry reaction that business interruption losses may be modest may have been too optimistic, according to a leading insurance analyst.KBW’s Meyer Shields believes that the...

Texas Stamping Office Still Processing Policies, Fees Amid Pandemic Precautions

Mar 19 2020 // Its employees are now working remotely but the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) reports that all duties and responsibilities, including policy processing and fee collections, continue to be met.SLTX said it...

Lloyd’s Closes London Underwriting Room in Response to Coronavirus Crisis

Mar 19 2020 // After conducting a successful stress-test last week of its electronic trading system, Lloyd’s has made the decision to close its underwriting room in response to the coronavirus outbreak.As a result, market insurers...

Lloyd’s Asks Market Insurers to Provide Estimates for Coronavirus Losses

Mar 18 2020 // Lloyd’s of London has asked its member firms to provide estimates of their potential current and final losses from coronavirus, a spokesman said on Tuesday, to help the insurance market understand its possible...

Integrated Specialty Coverages Acquires Access Partners in California

Mar 17 2020 // Integrated Specialty Coverages has acquired Sacramento, Calif.-based Access Partners Insurance Services LLC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ISC is a technology-enabled General Agency backed by affiliates of Two...

Meetings Update: Target Markets Mid-Year Called Off; RIMS Cancels Conference

Mar 16 2020 // The Target Market Program Administrators Association has become the latest insurance organization to cancel a meeting. TMPAA Executive Director Ray Scotto announced that the 2020 TMPAA Mid-Year Meeting planned for Tampa on...