Liberty Mutual

Insurance News & Feature

“BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Liberty International Underwriters (LIU), a division of Liberty Mutual Group, today announced that it has restructured its U.S. Specialty Casualty unit to better serve its clients and to more effectively access business opportunities. To ensure that LIU continues to provide the expert underwriting service that brokers, clients, and program administrators have come to expect, the following organizational changes are effective immediately: Carl Pursiano has been named Chief Underwriting Officer, U.S. Specialty Casualty and Senior Vice President. In this role, Mr. Pursiano will oversee Management Liability and Professional Liability for LIU U.S. Trevor Howard has been named Senior Vice President of U.S. Management Liability in charge of all management liability operations. Christopher DePuy has been named Senior Vice President in charge of Lawyers Professional Liability (LPL) and Accountants Professional Liability (APL). Georges Pigault has been named Vice President of Architects and Engineers (A&E). Michael Auerbach has been named Vice President of Allied Health and Miscellaneous Programs. Mark Blankenship joins LIU as Assistant Vice President of Architects and Engineers in Chicago…”

“ Keene, N.H…Peerless Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, intends to expand its school program market share this year in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. Currently insuring more than thirty-five public school districts and private schools across the three states, Peerless Insurance plans to double these accounts during 2010. Through school inspections, providing safety tools for administrators and teachers and access to specialized safety professionals and services, Peerless Insurance differentiates itself in the school insurance marketplace by encouraging its school clients to be active participants in loss prevention and safety programs…This spring, Peerless Insurance is partnering with the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research to offer school administrators throughout northern New England its Certified School Risk Manager designation program…”

“BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Liberty Mutual Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary Liberty Insurance Company Limited (LICL), has been granted approval to establish a branch in Zhejiang by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC). Headquartered in Chongqing, Liberty Mutual’s Chinese operations received CIRC approval on December 14, 2009 to prepare for a provincial branch in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province – the third-largest property and casualty insurance market in China…Liberty Mutual will be the first foreign property and casualty company to operate in Zhejiang, a province of over 47 million people located 700 miles south of Beijing on China’s southeastern coast. The Zhejiang operation joins the company’s two current operations in China – located in Chongqing and Beijing - in offering personal lines products and a wide range of commercial lines products that focus on the needs of small-to-medium enterprises…”

“Boston, Mass..Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a strategic business unit of Liberty Mutual Group, today announced that Ms. Carol Sipe has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Summit, which provides monoline workers’ compensation coverage in ten southeastern states. Ms. Sipe succeeds Mr. Rick T. Hodges, who has led Summit since 1999, and is retiring in January. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Sipe had been the company’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Operations since 2006. A Lakeland, Florida, native and a graduate of Florida Southern College, Sipe joined Summit in 1989 and has since held several key management positions. Under Hodges’ leadership, Summit more than doubled its premium under management and expanded operations throughout the Southeast. He was the first chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council for the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation, and is a current member of the board of directors for the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association.”

“BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With more than 20,000 global kidnappings every year, companies need to take seriously the risk posed to employees and their family members. In response to this need, Liberty International Underwriters (LIU), a division of Liberty Mutual Group, has expanded its product recall crisis management contract with red24, a leader in global security assistance, to give brokers and their clients access to an experienced kidnap, ransom and extortion (KRE) consulting and response team. The expanded relationship with red24 was announced today at LIU’s Global Crisis Management Forum held in New York City. LIU KRE policyholders will have access to red24’s services lead by Jack Cloonan, a retired FBI Special Agent who was the Senior Case Agent on the New York Anti-Terrorism Task Force and participated in multiple high profile investigations over the last decade. ‘Around the world, kidnaps for ransom are becoming increasingly violent and ransom demands are skyrocketing,’ said Lou Lubrano, senior vice president of LIU’s Global Crisis Management. ‘With access to world- renowned specialist Jack Cloonan as their kidnap and ransom team leader, LIU KRE policyholders will have an edge in preventing and responding to these frightening trends.’ Working with red24, LIU’s Global Crisis Management experts will help brokers provide the specialized loss control engineering and loss mitigation services necessary to protect clients’ employees, operations and reputation before, during and after a crisis. LIU’s Global Crisis Management products include Kidnap, Ransom and Extortion; Contaminated Products and Product Recall.”

“Centennial, Colo. (October 28, 2009) – Colorado Casualty, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, has appointed Michael C. Brewer, vice president of Marketing. Mr. Brewer will be responsible for Colorado Casualty’s agency distribution management, the administration of agent incentive plans, and marketing strategy and execution within the company’s six-state territory, which includes Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. ‘In this role, Mike will deepen his involvement in our company’s growth and expansion plans,’ said Keith Braxton, president and chief executive officer, Colorado Casualty. ‘His strong management and leadership has led to considerable improvements in our claims operations. These same qualities will lend themselves to strengthening our agency force and growing the Colorado Casualty brand.’ Prior to this appointment, Mr. Brewer was vice president of Claims for Colorado Casualty since March 2004. He has also held management positions with Indiana Insurance between 1995 and 2004. He is a 1995 graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.”

“BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agents and brokers serving the middle market can now access a new Liberty Mutual package product – Package Solution^™ – that features flexible and broad property coverage, provides the general liability coverage businesses need, and offers additional coverage that are tailor-made to suit specific industries. Package Solution^™ is a multi-line offering that combines a proprietary commercial property form with broad general liability, crime and/or inland marine coverage. ‘Combining a package product with our industry-leading workers compensation offerings and strong service capabilities makes Liberty Mutual an even more attractive solution for agents and brokers serving the middle market,’ notes David Blessing, Chief Underwriting Officer, Liberty Mutual Middle Market. ‘That’s the feedback we got from agents and brokers who pilot tested Package Solution^™. They felt that having broader property and general liability in a single package with easy to read forms made it easier to meet the needs of their clients.’”

“Portland, Ore. (September 29, 2009) – Liberty Northwest, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, today announced the appointment of Ms. Margie Cooper to vice president, Claims. She succeeds Mr. Gary Kentner, who is retiring. Ms. Cooper comes to Liberty Northwest from Inner-City Underwriting in Chicago, where she served as vice president, Client Services, with oversight of sales, marketing, account acquisition, development, and retention. Prior to her work with Inner-City Underwriting, Ms. Cooper was regional assistant vice president for The St. Paul Companies in Chicago. There, she directed the field claim operations and managed more than 200 employees in a six-state region that included a wide-array of business lines. Additionally, she oversaw multiple claim operations during major acquisitions. ‘Margie has a diverse insurance background that reaches across all areas of the business,’ said Julie Burnett, president and chief executive officer, Liberty Northwest. ‘She’s the right leader for our claims department. She understands the company’s growth and profitability goals, and will continue to build on the momentum and strong agency relationships that Liberty Northwest achieved under Gary Kentner’s claims leadership.’ Ms. Cooper earned her Masters of Business Administration from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Merchandising/Marketing from Texas Southern University. She also holds the CPCU and ARM insurance designations.”

“BRADENTON, Fla. & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Security, Inc., a business of GE Enterprise Solutions (NYSE:GE), and Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a strategic business unit of Liberty Mutual Group, today announced national availability of Onboard Advisor™. The latest evolution in fleet management technology, Onboard Advisor monitors the driving behavior of commercial vehicle operators in relation to conditions such as traffic flow and weather. Its proprietary technology assigns safety scores to drivers, allowing fleet managers to monitor and coach drivers on any aggressive driving patterns. Onboard Advisor combines GE Security’s NavLogix GPS technology with data from an accelerometer to uniquely provide information on how a vehicle is responding to its driver. The information is then recorded along with the vehicle location and event time. The Performance Advisor™ component measures how frequently and severely a driver speeds, brakes and corners to calculate safety scores. Using Onboard Advisor, fleet managers can also replay driving events on Google street maps with second-by-second detail. Onboard Advisor also provides the full range of more traditional GPS software features, allowing fleet managers to further minimize risk and costs. Real-time alerts can score drivers on fuel efficiency. Also, by monitoring the real-time locations of their vehicles, fleet managers can also dispatch vehicles more efficiently and make sure drivers are using the most cost-effective routes. ‘GE Security is committed to keeping people and property safe,’ said Jerry Rose, vice president, product management of GE Security. ‘This revolutionary system focuses on driver behavior which is something other systems can’t do. The goal is to help improve driver safety by coaching performance at the driver level. Agency Markets’ regional companies are the only ones with a program focused at this level.’ Customers who insure their fleets through Golden Eagle Insurance™, Liberty Northwest®, and Ohio Casualty™ can install Onboard Advisor and realize savings on their commercial auto premium of up to 15 percent in the first year and up to 40 percent based on fleet performance upon coverage renewal. Liberty Mutual Agency Markets plans to offer Onboard Advisor and its insurance discount component through its other regional companies in the near future. Customers can generate further savings with Fuel Advisor™, a fuel card that saves up to three cents off each gallon of gas while monitoring usage and preventing unauthorized purchases. ‘Onboard Advisor is the first GPS-based product to harness multiple technologies so companies can take an active and immediate role in risk management,’ said Thomas M. Troy, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Liberty Mutual Agency Markets’ Regional Companies Group. ‘It puts a fleet manager in the driver’s seat of every vehicle with daily, bi-weekly, and monthly performance tracking. It’s a great coaching tool for improving and rewarding safe driving.’ Fleet customers can start saving in their very first month with Onboard Advisor. There are no up-front costs for the hardware or installation, and only a low monthly per-unit fee for this fleet management tool. For more information on Onboard Advisor, please visit www.onboardadvisor.com...”