Tag: Insurance

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Information technology security is constantly in the news, so it’s a natural area for increased insurance coverage as consumers and businesses look to protect themselves from the damaging consequences of getting hacked. As Target Stores and other retailers have discovered, cyber fraud can bring liability for third party exposures to data security and privacy breaches.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) is now offering two new policies providing cyber liability and breach response coverage with risk management resources, the Professional First™ Network Security & Privacy Policy and the Professional First™ Professional Liability and Network Security & Privacy Policy. The latter also includes customizable errors and omissions (E&O) liability coverage.

“Our experienced professional liability team is providing solutions to simplify for customers the complex work of managing professional liability and cyber exposures,” said Danielle Librizzi, Senior Vice President, Head of Professional Liability. “We are pleased to bring to market comprehensive, flexible coverage, backed by BHSI’s commitment to service and financial strength.”

The Professional First™ Professional Liability and Network Security & Privacy Policy provides E&O coverage for technology and specified miscellaneous services. Both policies include multi-faceted network security and privacy liability insurance and risk management resources, which can be tailored for professional services firms of all types, from technology enterprises, to financial institutions, to law firms.

Highlights for both policies include:

• Coverage for third party exposures resulting from data security and privacy breaches, including regulatory investigations, fines and penalties.
• Breach expense and extortion threat coverage, addressing the wide range of 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 business’ partial or full interruption due to a network security failure.
• Online access to eRiskHub®, which provides state-of-the-market 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.

About Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance provides commercial property, casualty, healthcare professional liability, executive and professional lines, surety, travel, programs, and homeowners insurance. It underwrites on the paper of Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity group of insurance companies, which hold financial strength ratings of A++ from AM Best and AA+ from Standard & Poor’s. Based in Boston, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Ramon, Stevens Point, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney and Toronto.

© 2015 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) has launched a full line of Inland Marine Insurance products in the U.S., including Builder’s Risks, Contractor’s Equipment, Installation Floaters, Inland Transit, Motor Truck Cargo, Warehouse Legal Liability and miscellaneous floaters.

Originally an outgrowth of marine insurance, inland marine insurance covers property that is mobile in nature or requires unique valuation that they own or have in their care. Among the types of property that are covered are those related to construction, transportation, fine art and communications.

“Our new Inland Marine products are designed to be a strong complement to our ocean cargo and contractor’s builder’s risk coverages,” said John Evans, Vice President, Marine, BHSI. “With our comprehensive suite of products and in-house expertise, we are well positioned for the opportunities of the marine space and look forward to providing market-leading service and solutions to our customers and distribution partners.”

BHSI’s Inland Marine coverages are available on an admitted basis in all 50 states and underwritten using American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) policy wordings.

© 2015 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 Company (BHSI) has begun providing comprehensive insurance and services for the construction industry in Australia, and has named a team of executives to oversee key areas of its construction insurance business.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Boston-based BHSI first entered the Australia market in April 2015, when it began providing all lines of General Business in Australia, and established operations in Sydney.

With its just announced coverage, BHSI is offering construction property, casualty, project professional indemnity, and project cargo insurance for construction classes in Australia and pairing coverage with in-house construction claims and engineering expertise.

“We are pleased to offer the Australian construction industry a multi-line insurance solution, backed by the deep expertise and financial strength of BHSI. Our team is rich in construction insurance experience and ready to provide sound, creative capacity and meaningful risk engineering to this important sector,” said Chris Colahan, President, Australasia Region, BHSI.

BHSI’s Construction Team

Cameron Holmes, Construction Manager. Cameron comes to BHSI with 15 years of construction and engineering experience. He was most recently National Underwriting Manager, Engineering, at IAG in Sydney. Prior to that, he was Underwriting Manager, Engineering, at Munich Re in London. He was Engineering and Property Underwriter at Munich Re in Sydney and, before that, Civil Engineer & Project Manager at Sinclair Knight Merz in Sydney. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Certificate of Insurance from Deakin University, and an MBA and a Graduate Diploma of Financial Management from the University of New England.

Rob McNab, Underwriting Manager, Construction. Rob comes to BHSI with over a decade of experience focused on construction and engineering on both the underwriting and brokerage sides of the business. He was most recently Southern Region Manager, Construction & Engineering at CGU Insurance. He was also Major Projects Executive, Construction & Specialty Risks, Australasia, at Willis Australasia. He began his career as an Engineering Underwriter at QBE Insurance Australia Limited in Melbourne. He holds a Diploma of Financial Services from the Australian & New Zealand Institute of Insurance & Finance.

Mark Thompson, Senior Underwriter, Casualty. Mark comes to BHSI with 14 years of insurance industry experience with the last 5 years focusing on the construction industry. He was most recently Senior Casualty Underwriter at AIG in Sydney. Prior to that he was a Senior Account Executive at Marsh Australia and started his career as a Claims Adjuster at Aon UK. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Financial Services from Sheffield Hallam University, an Executive Certificate in Insurance from the University of Technology, Sydney, and is a Fellow of the Australian & New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance.

Patrick Whyte, Risk Engineering Manager. Patrick brings to BHSI 25 years of loss control and risk engineering experience. He was most recently Senior Risk Engineer at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty in Sydney. Before that, he was Principal Consultant at the Australian Consulting Network Pty Ltd and Managing Principal at Marsh (Australia) Pty Ltd. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management.

David Cook, Claims Manager. David comes to BHSI from Suncorp Group, where he has spent the past seven years rising through the ranks to the role of Senior Claims Specialist, handling global, corporate, and major loss claims in Brisbane and more recently in Melbourne. He holds a Diploma in Financial Services from the Australian & New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance.

These new team members build on BHSI’s existing capabilities in Project Professional Liability, led by Matthew Clarke and Marine Project Cargo, led by Dimitry Zilberud.

All of these newly appointed executives are based in BHSI’s office in Sydney, except for Rob McNab who will be based in BHSI’s Melbourne office.

© 2015 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.