Insurance Jottings
New Zealand EQC renews NZ$6.2bn Aon-placed reinsurance programme
New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission (EQC) has renewed its NZ$6.2 billion ($4.0 billion) reinsurance programme for the forthcoming year, with the cover provided by the Aon-placed programme unchanged from last year.
The premium is NZ$185.7 million for 2020/2021 with the retention unchanged at NZ$1.75 billion.
Lloyd’s to reopen at 45% capacity
On the 17th June, the chief executive of Lloyd’s of London John Neal wrote to the market confirming plans to re-open the building on the 1st September at a reduced capacity of 45 percent.
New Marine Cyber Specialist Astaara Gets Investment from West of England P&I Club
Astaara, a marine insurance services business, announced it has secured a significant investment from UK marine insurer West of England P&I Club.
Astaara is a new company, focused on risk management and loss prevention, which has developed a marine cyber insurance solution supported by a dedicated analytics capability.
Astaara said the investment (which was not disclosed) reinforces its aim to position itself as a market-leading marine cyber specialist.
“This investment recognizes the underlying demand for marine cyber specialist insurance services and validates the approach of Astaara in addressing the gaps in the existing marine and cyber insurance market,” said Astaara CEO Robert Dorey, in
a statement.
“The current market conditions are unparalleled in terms of health threats due to global pandemic – to ports, ships crews and head office operations,” he added.
“This has forced marine operators to be more reliant than ever on digitisation, and this is already against a backdrop of ever-increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks which disrupt supply chains, and stakeholders’ confidence in their investments,” Mr Dorey said.
The Astaara investment shows its members how seriously the insurer takes cyber security,
said Tom Bowsher, CEO of West of England P&I Club.
“The cyber solution provided by Astaara is second to none and the most comprehensive in the market – we are investing in a cyber product and a team which has a huge amount of experience,” he added.
Mr Bowsher described Astaara’s product as “the only comprehensive and integrated cyber solution which properly aligns the service which owners need with genuine experience, expertise and commitment.”
Astaara’s managing general agent is located in London, while the parent company, Astaara Company Ltd, is domiciled in Guernsey.