Press Releases

Catlin Opens New Underwriting Floor in London

19 December 2006

LONDON – Catlin Group Limited ('CGL': London Stock Exchange), the international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, has opened its new Underwriting Floor in London.

The new Underwriting Floor, located on the Upper Ground Floor of the London Underwriting Centre, has been designed specifically to accommodate Catlin's 230-member London underwriting staff. The Underwriting Floor and related areas cover 20,000 square metres.

The Underwriting Floor opened for business on Monday 18 December, when Catlin underwriters and staff occupied their desks. On Tuesday 19 December, underwriters who formerly worked for Wellington Underwriting plc moved to the Underwriting Floor after Catlin's offer to acquire Wellington was declared unconditional late on 18 December.

The new Catlin Underwriting Floor also includes a large reception area, a 'Catlin Café' for the sole use of underwriters and brokers and meeting rooms. The new Underwriting Floor utilises Catlin's innovative 'QC' broker queueing system.

Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited, said:

"I am delighted to announce that the new Catlin Underwriting Floor is open to brokers. It was clear as soon as we announced our offer to acquire Wellington that we would need a larger floor to accommodate the enlarged Catlin underwriting staff. While we had a very brief period of time to fit out that new Underwriting Floor, the job was completed on schedule. I am particularly pleased that the former Wellington underwriters have been able to move to Catlin's offices on the morning after our offer was declared unconditional.

"I am convinced that brokers will find the new Catlin Underwriting Floor more spacious and convenient to use than ever. "

Catlin underwriters, who underwrite on behalf of the Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd's (Syndicate 2003) and Catlin UK (Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Limited), have underwritten from an Underwriting Floor in Catlin's offices since October 2003. The original Catlin Underwriting Floor was located on the Sixth Floor of the London Underwriting Centre.

The Catlin Underwriting Floor operates almost identically to the traditional Underwriting 'Room' at Lloyd's. Brokers are able to place business with Catlin underwriters working from the Underwriting Floor in the same manner that they currently place business at Lloyd's. Catlin underwriters can work from both the Catlin Underwriting Floor and from Catlin boxes at Lloyd's.

The development of the new Catlin Underwriting Floor was co-ordinated by Eunice Agnew, facilities manager for Catlin in London. Space planning and project management assistance was provided by Myles Ruffy and Richard Harris of Site-Assist of Crawley, West Sussex.

- ends -

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, Maitland 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 to editors:

  1. Photos of the new Catlin Underwriting Floor in a jpeg format are available

  2. Catlin Group Limited, 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 US$1.4 billion in 2005 and more than US$900 million in the six months ended 30 June 2006. Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: CGL). More information about Catlin can be found at www.catlin.com.

  3. On 18 December 2006, Catlin's offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Wellington Underwriting plc was declared unconditional. The enlarged Catlin Group has a total net asset value of US$1.9 billion and will be the largest underwriting operation at Lloyd's in 2007 with a stamp capacity of up to £1.3 billion.

  4. 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 £480 million. It is a recognised leader of numerous classes of specialty insurance and reinsurance. With the acquisition of Wellington Underwriting plc, the Catlin Syndicate will be the largest at Lloyd's in 2007 based on stamp capacity.
    • 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 Catlin's operations based in the United States. Catlin US includes Catlin Insurance Company Inc., an admitted US insurer which will commence operations soon, and Wellington Specialty Insurance Company, a non-admitted insurer which will soon be rebranded under the Catlin banner. Catlin US has more than 15 underwriting offices in the United States.

    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; the Catlin Syndicate has a Lloyd's Syndicate Assessment of '4-' (Low Dependency) from Standard & Poor's.

  5. Catlin also operates offices worldwide which allow Catlin underwriters to work closely with local policyholders and brokers. The offices are located in Canada (Toronto and Calgary), Australia (Sydney), Singapore, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Hong Kong, Germany (Cologne), Belgium (Antwerp) and Guernsey. Catlin UK has regional offices in Glasgow, Leeds, Derby, Birmingham, Watford and Tonbridge. Catlin recently announced that it will open European offices in Paris, Barcelona, Zurich and Innsbruck in early 2007.