Arthur J Gallagher’s Pen Underwriting has signed a £165mn ($225mn) long-term UK capacity deal with Zurich, covering hazardous industries and tanker transportation.
The agreement will see Zurich provide capacity for in excess of £165mn in premium over the next five years for Pen’s motor fleet proposition for the hazardous goods and environmental industries.
Pen’s products in this area are tailored to different segments of the high hazard transportation and distribution sector, such as companies working in fuels and oil, chemicals, lubricants, liquefied petroleum gas, liquid waste and industrial cleaning as well as non-hazardous tanker operators.
Adam Shefras, managing director of hazardous goods and environmental industries at Pen, said the deal builds on a strategic partnership of consistent capacity provision that dates back more than 30 years.
“Set against the current backdrop of market challenges, the strength and longevity of our partnership with Zurich, our decades of experience and close relationship with industry bodies enable us to provide brokers and their clients with much-needed consistency, appropriate protection and long-term sustainability across a sector that has to be able to manage catastrophic losses,” he continued.
Kevin Morton, strategy manager at Zurich, said: “Pen’s sector expertise, underwriting discipline, claims service, provision of timely and accurate data and constant drive for improvement in all aspects of the portfolio continue to make this an important and attractive distribution opportunity for Zurich and an extremely valued partnership.”
The agreement with Zurich is the latest signed by the MGA following the successful renewal of multiple binders with its consortium of Lloyd’s partners in September last year.
Backed by Lloyd’s A-rated security, the agreements will enable Pen to write in excess of £55mn in cyber insurance premiums in the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand over the course of the next 12 months – an increase of 15 percent on the previous year.
Pen is one of the UK’s largest MGA businesses, writing around £600mn of gross premium on behalf of a number of different carriers.
In July, Pen revealed it was aiming to expand its current premium base to £1bn through a five-year strategy of accelerated growth on the underwriting platform.
The Gallagher subsidiary is organised into five separate underwriting divisions: international & financial lines, specialty lines, public sector, delegated solutions and SME.
