Best Spotlights New XL Bermuda Team
Ratings agency A.M. Best says XL Insurance [Bermuda] Ltd. is solving insurance problems in innovative ways with a new team launched to handle unique, highly complex insurance risks.
James Loder –chief underwriting officer/senior vice president of XL’s new Complex Situational Insurance Team – said the team is focusing on creating novel solutions for complex and “one off” nontraditional insurance risks, as well as transactional and contingent liability exposures.
“We have underwriters all over the world to handle day-to-day risks, but CSI is a dedicated Bermuda-based team that will have the authority to handle those risks that fall outside the box,” Loder told Best’s news service this week.
Those unique risks are all individually underwritten and require a lot of due diligence, including relying on outside legal and accounting experts, he said. The transactions would tend to have premiums in the six-figure range and above, he said.
For example, XL could provide protection for successor liability, to protect a company in a merger or acquisition that may face contingent liability issues. Or XL could write a policy to protect a company from the outcome of a lawsuit or legal action.
“The risks aren’t traditional directors & officers or professional liability per se, but could transcend traditional lines,” Loder said. For instance, some policies could have elements of casualty, professional liability, specialty and property coverage.
The policies could help clients that have had “a dark cloud hanging over them that could be a drag on business,” Loder said. Buying this specialized one-of-a-kind insurance protection would alleviate that, he said.
Also, the CSI team may find emerging risks, and its work could lead to new products and services, he said.
“Bermuda is the Silicon Valley of insurance,” Loder said. “It’s always been a good place for low-frequency, high-severity types of risks.”
Loder joined XL as vice president of underwriting for professional lines in September 1999. Before joining XL, Loder spent four years with Aon Group [Bermuda] Ltd. and also worked for a retail broker based out of Minneapolis.
Earlier this month, XL Group plc added three new underwriters to its inland marine field team in the key trading hubs of New York, Cleveland and Atlanta. The goal is to put underwriters with inland marine expertise close to clients, agents, and brokers in those areas to continue to establish its inland marine field operation, the company said.
XL Insurance [Bermuda] Ltd. currently has a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).
