Press Release

Catlin US Establishes Primary and Excess Casualty Unit

25 September 2006


ATLANTA - Catlin Group Limited (‘CGL’: London Stock Exchange), the international speciality property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, announces that Catlin US has established a Primary and Excess Casualty underwriting unit based in Atlanta.

 

The five-person unit, headed by Vice President Steve Singer, will underwrite specialty classes of primary and excess casualty risks for US policyholders on a nationwide basis.  Including Steve Singer, the unit has four seasoned underwriters, all of whom have more than 20 years of underwriting experience.

 

Catlin US, which is headquartered in Atlanta, underwrites specialty classes of property/casualty insurance for US clients.  Catlin US has recently acquired an admitted property/casualty insurance company that will soon begin underwriting business under the Catlin brand. Catlin US is also in the process of establishing a non-admitted insurer, which will complement Catlin’s current non-admitted underwriting capabilities in the United States through the Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd’s and Catlin UK.  Catlin US also has offices in New York, Houston, New Orleans and San Francisco.

 

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

“I am delighted to announce the establishment of Catlin US’s Primary and Excess Casualty Unit.  The Catlin Group has underwritten specialty lines in the US market for many years. The establishment of our new Atlanta-based casualty unit – along with the recent formation of our Professional Lines unit in New York – further strengthens Catlin’s position as a quality underwriter of specialty lines in the United States.” 

Steve Singer, who joined Catlin in August, was recently with Axis Insurance in Atlanta where he developed and managed a profitable book of primary casualty business from brokers throughout the U.S.  Previously he managed the Excess and Surplus Lines division for the Fireman's Fund group. He began his career at Chubb and Chubb Custom Market, where he spent 10 years working in Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. He is a graduate of Florida State University.

 

- ends -

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 Catlin Insurance Company Inc., an admitted US insurer which will commence operations soon, along with underwriting offices in several US cities.

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 and Calgary), 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.