Category: Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) is expanding its presence in Australia, opening a new office in Perth, Western Australia.

BHSI named Anthony Prindiville to lead its Casualty underwriting and Mark Shepard to lead the Property underwriting there.

“Expanding our footprint into Western Australia will enhance our ability to build lasting relationships with brokers and customers throughout the country,” said Chris Colahan, President, Australasia. “We are pleased to have Anthony and Mark at the helm as we build our local team in Perth. We look forward to developing a full suite of insurance products, risk management and claims services in this region.”

Like the BHSI offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, BHSI’s Perth office will underwrite casualty, property, mining, energy, construction, power, marine, transport and logistics, healthcare liability, accident and health, and executive and professional lines for a broad range of business segments.

Anthony comes to BHSI with over 30 years of insurance industry experience, most recently as Global Distribution Manager at Chubb Insurance Australia Limited. He holds a Senior Associate designation from ANZIIF. Anthony joins Mark Shepard, Manager – Property, who commenced in BHSI’s Perth office in January.

Mark has been in the industry for over 16 years, most recently as Underwriting Manager – Property, Technical Lines and Energy at Chubb Insurance Australia Limited.

© 2018 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company has received its insurance license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority and established an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), while naming Alessandro Cerase as its Senior Executive Officer (SEO) and Neeraj Yadvendu as deputy SEO and Head of Third Party Lines for the Middle East.

In addition, Alessandro will be leading First Party Lines for BHSI’s broader Asia Middle East region, which includes BHSI’s other regional hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore as well as its operations in Malaysia and Macau.

“We are excited to expand BHSI’s footprint in this region which will service those markets in the Middle East and beyond who seek (re)insurance support in the DIFC. The strategic location of Dubai as well as the stability and efficiency of the DIFC make it an ideal hub for BHSI to support economic growth in the region. Our operation in the DIFC will bring BHSI’s financial strength, and underwriting and claims excellence to the region.” said Marc Breuil, President of Asia Middle East, BHSI. “We are excited to be able to serve customers and brokers in the region under the experienced leadership of Alessandro and Neeraj.”

BHSI will provide a suite of specialty and commercial (re)insurance products to its network of brokers and ceding companies with a focus on construction, energy, property, marine, casualty and executive and professional lines.

Alessandro comes to BHSI with 20 years of global experience spanning both the engineering and underwriting sides of the insurance business. He was most recently Global Head of Energy and Engineered Risk at AIG. He holds a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Universita’ degli Studi di Roma.

Neeraj joins BHSI after two decades in the insurance industry, most recently as Regional Head of Casualty and Financial Lines at AXA Asia. He received his master’s degree in Business Administration from India’s University of Pune, and his bachelor’s degree from City College, Calcutta University.

2018 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) has introduced Professional First Financial Institution Professional Indemnity (FIPI) Insurance in Asia.

“Financial institutions are seeing an increase in both the frequency and severity of professional indemnity claims.” said Scotland Walsh-Riddle, Head of Executive & Professional Lines at BHSI Hong Kong. “To respond to their needs, we’re introducing comprehensive and customizable protection to address the exposures FI professionals face now.”

The new BHSI policy is designed to cover a range of claims, from allegations of failure to disclose information, to misleading financial advice and breach of contracts. It combines coverage for civil liability, pre-investigations, mitigation expenses, bail bond costs, court attendance, loss of documents, and more.

“Financial institutions deliver diverse services to their customers,” said Edwin Sim, Assistant Vice President of Executive & Professional Lines at BHSI Singapore. “Hence, we have set out to provide them with the peace of mind that comes with broad FIPI coverage. Through clearly articulated wording, BHSI Asia’s FIPI insurance policy will provide our customers with the security of coverage backed by unmatched financial strength.”

The policy is designed for medium to large financial institutions, including securities dealers, regional banks, insurance companies, reinsurance companies, diversified institutions, and financial technology (FinTech) and corporate advisory firms.

© 2017 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Millennials are purchasing travel insurance at a dramatically higher rate than the Baby Boomer generation, according to a new report conducted by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection’s (BHTP) State of Travel Insurance report found that “Younger travelers (ages 25 to 44) indicated their purchases of travel insurance are up significantly, with 56 percent of Millennial travelers stating they purchased more travel insurance in 2017 than they did in 2016 (35 percent). For Boomers, 43 percent of travelers ages 55 to 74 said they bought less travel insurance in 2017 compared to 2016 (5 percent), and the shift in consumers’ buying behavior seems likely to continue.”

“This is our third year of conducting the State of Travel Insurance research, but this is the first time we’ve seen a noticeable shift in the purchase intents between older and young travelers,” said Dean Sivley, president of BHTP. “The full report reveals that the person long considered to be the typical travel insurance buyer, the 55-to-74-year-old Boomer, is purchasing less due to a desire to travel less frequently, which obviously reduces the need for travel insurance. Conversely, Millennial travelers are planning to buy at a much higher rate in 2018 because they state they better understand travel insurance benefits.”

The report also notes that younger travelers increasingly use comparison sites (46 percent of younger travelers vs. 14 percent of older travelers), read online reviews (46 percent vs. 10 percent) and talk to friends (32 percent vs. 17 percent) when they make their travel insurance buying decisions.

© 2017 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) has introduced a new Contractors Plant & Equipment (CP&E) Policy for customers in Australia.

“We are pleased to bring to market a considered solution for Contractors Plant & Equipment, backed by BHSI’s financial strength and responsive service,” said Dimitry Zilberud, Head of Marine, BHSI Australasia. “With this new policy, contractors can easily and efficiently address their property damage and liability exposures, including road risk, in a single policy. This new product is an excellent complement to our existing capabilities in Property, Construction, Mining and Casualty.”

BHSI’s CP&E policy wording combines the breadth of coverage required in today’s marketplace with the flexibility to respond to the specific needs of customers across a multitude of industries. Our new single package policy includes numerous coverages including;

• Material damage (with a range of automatic benefits)
• Hired in plant
• Financial protection for plant and interruption
• Road risk
• General liability
• Replacement value for plant (up to 36 months old) after total loss

Strong property and liability cover offers far-reaching coverage for a wide range of sectors, including earthmoving and excavation contractors, road works, builders/construction, plant hire companies, farming and agriculture.

© 2017 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has unveiled the Professional First Network Security & Privacy Liability Policy in Canada, a solution that combines cyber liability and breach response coverage with risk management resources for commercial enterprises and financial institutions.

“Our new policy simplifies the complex endeavor of managing cyber exposures for both our business partners and our customers,” said Michael Densham, SVP, Executive & Professional Lines, BHSI Canada. “We are excited to round out our Executive and Professional Lines offerings with this flexible cyber solution, backed by BHSI’s commitment to service and unparalleled financial strength.”

The Professional First Network Security & Privacy Liability Policy is designed to deliver multi-faceted coverage and crisis management services for large commercial enterprises and a wide range of financial institutions, including credit unions, banks, asset managers, and insurance companies.

Policy highlights include:

• Coverage for both first and third party exposures resulting from data security and privacy breaches, including regulatory investigations, fines and penalties.

• Breach expense and extortion threat coverage, addressing the direct expenses an Insured incurs to effectively respond to a breach or extortion threat.

• Media liability coverage, which responds to traditional media exposures (e.g. through a company’s website) arising from electronic content.

• Business interruption coverage to pay lost income and related expenses incurred as a result of the Insured’s partial or full business interruption due to a network security failure.

• Online access to eRiskHub® tools and resources to help policyholders understand cyber exposures, establish a breach response plan, and prepare to mitigate the impact of a breach on their organization. eRiskHub is provided via NetDiligence, a leading cyber security and e-risk assessment firm.

BHSI policyholders also have access to legal experts to help them manage their obligations following a breach, forensic IT services to identify and contain a breach, and public relations and credit monitoring firms to manage the reputational damage that can accompany an incident.

© 2017 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has unveiled the Excess Integrated Follow Form, a single excess policy that sits atop multiple first- and third-party insurance policies, for contractors in the U.S. and Canada.

“With multi-line excess coverage from BHSI, contractors gain consistency in limits and tower attachment points and can reduce gaps in coverage. They also benefit from streamlined claims services when they have a loss and reduced frictional claims expenses,” said Bill Sullivan, North American Head of Casualty Construction, BHSI.

The new BHSI policy provides excess follow form protection above multiple underlying coverages, including general liability, environmental liability, employer’s liability, and professional liability. The excess coverage comes with a single limit, backed by BHSI’s financial strength. The Excess Integrated Follow Form is designed for larger contractors with complex exposures.

© 2017 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that has expanded its inland marine product line in Canada with the launch of its Motor Truck Cargo Legal Liability Policy, a new product that protects against the legal liability exposure commercial truckers face when carrying third party goods.

“This product provides Canadian trucking companies with an insurance offering that responds to their needs in both Canada and the U.S. With the industry evolving, and more trucks crossing the Canada-U.S. border annually, we developed a solution that provides modern coverage and is responsive to both Canadian and American exposures,” said Gord Rider, Senior Underwriter, Marine, BHSI in Canada.

The policy is designed for mid-sized Canadian-based motor carriers specializing in transporting commodities primarily in Canada or cross-border with the U.S. Truckers and cargo are covered anywhere within Canada and the continental U.S.

Key policy highlights include:

• Legal liability coverage regarding property of others while in the ordinary course of transit or while at a terminal location for a specified period of time;

• Cross Docking coverage addressing an insured’s legal liability for direct physical loss or damage to property insured in its care, custody or control during cross docking operations at a scheduled terminal;
• Defence costs coverage that is outside of the policy limit;

• Employee theft coverage with respect to an insured’s legal liability for direct physical loss or damage to property insured resulting from theft by an insured’s employees; and

• Expediting expense coverage, such as reasonable additional labor or overtime costs, fuel costs and freight charges, necessary for timely delivery of the property insured when a vehicle cannot deliver the property due to physical loss or damage to the vehicle, including repair of the vehicle.

BHSI’s new Motor Truck Cargo Legal Liability Policy is the latest addition to its Marine & Inland Marine suite of products in Canada. The portfolio also includes Ocean Cargo, Builder’s Risk, and Contractor’s Equipment products.

© 2017 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.