Business Moves
BrickStreet Mutual, Argonaut
BrickStreet Mutual Insurance, headquartered in West Virginia, will expand its services in 2009 by offering to provide its West Virginia policyholders with workers’ compensation coverage in other states.
BrickStreet will partner with Argonaut Insurance Co. to provide the expanded coverage opportunity. Argonaut, a licensed insurer in all 50 states, will write the out-of-state coverage and receive a premium commission from BrickStreet.
BrickStreet will act as the reinsurer for Argonaut under the partnership, and will retain all of the liability associated with policies placed through Argonaut. BrickStreet also will pay a loss deposit to Argonaut for initial claims obligations and a letter of credit to Argonaut as reinsurance collateral.
“This program allows BrickStreet to provide its policyholders with ‘one-stop shopping’ to meet their workers’ compensation coverage needs. If the employer meets the eligibility criteria, we will issue a policy for their West Virginia exposure, and other states’ exposure will be issued through Argonaut,” President and CEO Gregory A. Burton. said.
Brown & Brown, Phillips Agency
Florida-based Brown & Brown, Inc. has acquired Al Phillips Insurance Agency Inc. of Nashville, Tenn., according to C. Roy Bridges, regional executive vice president.
Al Phillips, president, and Warren Phillips, executive vice president, and the staff will join Brown & Brown’s existing Nashville profit center under the leadership of Danny Simmerman.
Al Phillips Insurance Agency, with annualized revenues of approximately $4 million, is a retail insurance agency for the general commercial property and casualty insurance market throughout Tennessee.
Homeowners Choice
Homeowners Choice Inc., a Florida-based insurance holding company, reported that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Co. Inc., assumed approximately 45,000 homeowners’ policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The policies are assumable under the state’s “take-out” program, designed to reduce the state’s risk exposure by encouraging private insurance companies to assume policies from Citizens.
DarwinPro, Allied World
Alleghany Corp. reports that the previously announced merger of its subsidiary Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc. with Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings, Ltd. has been completed. Alleghany, through its subsidiary Alleghany Insurance Holdings LLC (consisting of its insurance operating units RSUI Group, Inc., Capitol Transamerica Corp., and Employers Direct Corp.) writes property/ casualty insurance.