Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has assumed his new post as the next chairman of Lloyd's syndicate Ascot Underwriting.
Ascot said Mr. Dearlove has links to the insurance industry through his membership with the International Advisory Board of New York-based American International Group. Ascot is backed by AIG.
Mr. Dearlove takes over from Lord Prior, who has been in the post since Ascot began trading in 2001. He began with MI6 in 1966, and served as its chief from 1999 until his retirement in 2004.
Ascot's main syndicate classes are property, energy, specie and fine art, cargo, terrorism, war and political risks, marine hull/war/liabilities, and excess of loss reinsurance.
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ICAT Holdings announced the creation of a new underwriting syndicate at Lloyd's, offering $200 million in gross capacity for U.S. catastrophe-exposed properties.
The new ICM Syndicate 4242 will commence underwriting business on Jan. 1, 2007, Boulder, Colo.-based ICAT reported.
ICAT said that capital has been supplied through a consortium made up of ICAT and third-party investors, including Chaucer Holdings PLC. The Chaucer Lloyd's managing agency subsidiary–Chaucer Syndicates, Ltd.–will act as the managing agent for Syndicate 4242 to provide operations and regulatory support.
ICAT's Gregory Butler, the active underwriter of Syndicate 4242, has served as a deputy insurance commissioner in California, as well as the founding CEO of the California Earthquake Authority.
ICAT is a specialty insurance underwriter of small and middle-market commercial properties in catastrophe-exposed areas of the United States.
Founded in 1998, the company said it insures more than 60,000 commercial buildings. Most agent and broker business produced for ICAT is transacted over the company's Web site–www.icat.com–where producers submit coverage requests and secure real-time underwriting decisions and quotes, ICAT noted.
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A London-based transport insurer announced it will provide coverage against "dirty bomb" damage. TT Club said it will offer protection for nuclear and bio-chemical terrorism perils starting Jan. 1, 2007.
Coverage will be available for physical loss, business interruption and liabilities, and will be applicable in incidents involving both actual damage caused by an incident or device, as well as when an incident occurs or a device is discovered, causing significant trade disruption but no physical damage, the company said.
TT Club said it is offering coverage for both direct and indirect business interruption. The protection would cover members with goods delayed due to the closure of a third-party facility as a result of a nuclear or bio-chemical terrorism incident anywhere in the world.
The mutual insurer's membership includes ship operators, ports and terminals, road, rail and airfreight operators, logistics companies and container lessors.
Limit options will provide cover up to a maximum of $25 million for any one incident per member, while indirect business interruption losses will be available for limits up to a maximum of $5 million for any one incident, per member.
A pool aggregate limit for all claims in any one year of $100 million is expected to be achieved, TT Club said.
Brian Wood, TT Club's underwriting director, explained that premiums would be priced according to potential exposure and the size of limit chosen by the insured.
In the event that there is no claim to the pool in any one year, a 25 percent continuity credit will be offered to members who renew, TT Club noted.
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