Press Releases

Catlin US Opens New York Office to Write Professional Liability Insurance

12 July 2006

NEW YORK - Catlin Group Limited (‘CGL’: London Stock Exchange), the international speciality property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, announces that Catlin US has established an underwriting office in New York.

The New York office will be staffed by an 11-member professional liability underwriting team, headed by Senior Vice President John Van Decker. He and the other members of the team have joined Catlin US from Quanta US Holdings Inc.

The team will underwrite various classes of professional liability and directors & officers (D&O) liability insurance. The professional liability classes include coverage for financial institutions, real estate agents, lawyers, accountants and other professionals.

Catlin US, which is headquartered in Atlanta, underwrites specialty classes of property/casualty insurance for US clients. Catlin US has also recently acquired an admitted property/casualty insurance company that will soon begin underwriting business under the Catlin brand. Besides the New York and Atlanta offices, Catlin US also has offices in Houston, New Orleans and San Francisco.

Richard Banas, chief executive officer of Catlin US, said:

“I am delighted that John Van Decker and his experienced team of underwriting professionals have joined Catlin to establish our New York office. Members of the team have worked together for many years, and have established a very successful track record. Catlin is already well known in the US as an underwriter of healthcare liability insurance, and the skills and expertise of our New York team will strengthen Catlin’s position in the broader professional liability insurance market.”

John Van Decker was formerly president of the Professional Liability Division of Quanta U.S. Holdings Inc, responsible for all forms of professional liability, D&O liability and fiduciary liability products. Prior to joining Quanta, he held various management positions at CNA Financial Corp. and for American International Group Inc.

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For more information:

Media Relations:    
James Burcke,
Head of Communications,
London

Tel:
Mobile:
E-Mail:

 +44 (0)20 7458 5710
+44 (0)7958 767 738
james.burcke@catlin.com 
Liz Morley,
The Maitland Consultancy,
London		 Tel:
E-mail:		 +44 (0)20 7379 5151
emorley@maitland.co.uk
Investor Relations:    
William Spurgin,
Head of Investor Relations,
London

Tel:
Mobile:
E-mail:

 +44 (0)20 7458 5726
+44 (0)7710 314 365
william.spurgin@catlin.com



Notes:

 

1.   The Catlin Group, headquartered in Bermuda, is an international specialist property/casualty insurer and reinsurer writing more than 30 classes of business worldwide. Catlin wrote gross premiums of $1.4 billion in 2005.  Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: CGL).
2.  

 Catlin operates four underwriting platforms:

  • The Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd’s of London (Syndicate 2003), which is one of the largest syndicates at Lloyd’s based on 2006 premium capacity of Ł450 million. It is a recognised leader of numerous classes of specialty insurance and reinsurance. 
  • Catlin Bermuda (Catlin Insurance Company Ltd.), which underwrites property treaty and casualty treaty reinsurance and property and casualty insurance.
  • Catlin UK (Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Ltd.), which specialises in underwriting commercial non-life insurance for UK clients. It also writes other classes of business written by the Catlin Syndicate.

  • Catlin US, which encompasses all of Catlin’s operations in the United States. Catlin US includes American Indemnity Company, which was acquired in May 2006 and is being  renamed Catlin Insurance Company Inc.

The Catlin Syndicate, Catlin Bermuda and Catlin UK have financial strength ratings of ‘A’ (Excellent) from A.M. Best Company.  Catlin Bermuda and Catlin UK have insurance financial strength ratings of ‘A-‘ (Strong) from Standard & Poor’s, whilst the Catlin Syndicate has a Lloyd’s Syndicate Assessment of ‘4-‘ (Low Dependency) from Standard & Poor’s.

3.  

Catlin also operates offices worldwide which allow Catlin underwriters to work closely with local policyholders and brokers.  The offices are located in the United States (Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco), Canada (Toronto), Australia (Sydney), Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Germany (Cologne), Belgium (Antwerp) and Guernsey.  Catlin UK has regional offices in Glasgow, Leeds, Derby, Birmingham and Watford.

4.   For more information about Catlin, please see the Group's website at www.catlin.com.