News
January 2008
St. James Insurance Group appoints Leslie Lewis, AIP and Robert
Wenderfer as Marketing Representatives
St. James has bolstered its marketing staff with two additional
hires. St. James is committed to providing agents with the highest
quality service that a competitive market demands. The tremendous
growth of St. James personal lines programs warranted an increase in
staff in order to enhance its relationship with its agents. We are
extremely pleased to have successfully recruited Leslie and Robert
to these important positions.
December 2007
Russell Beck Promotion to EVP – St. Johns Insurance Company
We are pleased to announce the promotion of Russell Beck to Executive
Vice President, St. Johns Insurance Company. Mr. Beck has held the
position of Vice President Claims for the past five years within St.
Johns and brings over 20 years of insurance company experience to his
new position. In conjunction with the President of St. Johns, Mr.
Beck will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the operations
of the St. Johns Insurance Company.
December 2007
Chubb Custom provides Florida Wind Capacity for High Valued Homeowners
Business
Chubb
Custom has committed to provide Florida homeowners with a multi-peril
product, including wind, on an excess and surplus lines basis. St.
James Insurance Group, which had previously demonstrated its
capability to Chubb as one of very few program Managers, has been
granted exclusive authority to underwrite, process and distribute the
product statewide. The product, aimed at risks beginning at $750,000
replacement value, is as comprehensive as any Chubb product would be
expected to be.
August 2007
St. James Insurance Group signs marketing contract with Olympus
Insurance Company
St. James Insurance Group has entered into a contract with Olympus
Insurance Company to market its newly authorized homeowner insurance
products in the state of Florida. Olympus’ Certificate of Authority
was recently granted by the Office of Insurance Regulation following
its application which included initial capitalization of $30 million
plus, $20 million granted by the SBA as part of the Capital Build-Up
Incentive Program. Olympus products, HO-3 & HO-6 will be available on
a statewide basis to select St. James Insurance Group agents.
March 2007
St. James Insurance Group Appointed by Southern Fidelity Insurance
Company
St. James Insurance Group has been appointed by Southern Fidelity
Insurance Company. The appointment enables St. James to facilitate
replacement of Florida Select Insurance Company, ordered cancelled by
the Office of Insurance Regulation. Additionally, the majority of St.
James agents will be provided access to other product lines offered by
SFIC including HO-3, HO4, HO-6 and Dwelling Fire.
September 2006
Chris McHattie, Esquire, joins St. James Insurance Group.
Christopher McHattie, Esquire, has joined St. James
Insurance Group as General Counsel. Mr. McHattie has represented
St. James, and St. Johns Insurance Company, for more than 10 years.
He will be working in the Orlando office.
Chairman, Jim McCahill, commented on the announcement:
“Chris has been a loyal friend, confidant, and counselor to us for
many years and knows our organization as well as anyone. We’re very
excited to have Chris join our team, and will involve Chris in all
aspects of our business, beyond the legal field. Chris’ skills in
contract law, insurance and human resources will be invaluable.”
Mr. McHattie is a graduate of Seton Hall University and New
York University School of Law. He has been practicing law since 1982,
specializing in trademark, contract, and insurance law. He is a
member of the Board of Directors of St. Johns Insurance Company, and
is a member of New York, New Jersey and American Bar Associations.
August 2006
Robert Lucas Appointed President, St. James Insurance Group.
Robert Lucas has
been appointed President, St. James Insurance Group. Mr. Lucas
previously held the position of Executive Vice President and has been
with the firm since 1996.
Mr. Lucas began
his career in 1986 with the Chubb Insurance Company where he was a
commercial lines underwriter. With St. James, he has been responsible
for all aspects of operations, including claims, marketing and
underwriting. He is a Named Underwriter at Lloyd’s of London and a
graduate of Drew University, earning a B.A. degree from the College of
Liberal Arts.
“We are very
pleased to announce Bob’s appointment to President,” said St. James
Chairman, Jim McCahill. “Bob has been a key ingredient of our success
and we are confident in his leadership for many years to come.”
St James
Insurance Group, Orlando, FL, is a Program Manager specializing in
personal lines programs. St James is also the majority owner of St.
Johns Insurance Company. The firm was founded in 1984 and insures in
excess of 200,000 homeowner policies.
August 2006
Reese I. Bowen Appointed President, St. Johns Insurance Company.
We are pleased
to announce the appointment of Reese I. Bowen to the position of
President, St. Johns Insurance Company. Mr. Bowen had previously held
the titles of Managing Director and Underwriting Director with St.
Johns.
Mr. Bowen has
over 35 years’ experience in insurance management, underwriting,
product development and operations both domestically and
internationally. In his career, he has held senior management
positions with AIG Risk Management, Midland Intermediary and Coopers &
Lybrand Risk Management Consulting. He is a graduate of Georgia State
University.
“Our Board of
Directors was unanimous in our selection of Reese,” said Chairman Jim
McCahill. “Reese is uniquely qualified and deserving, and has been
instrumental in St. Johns’ success from its founding.”
St. Johns is an
Orlando, FL based company specializing in homeowner’s insurance.
July 2006
St. Johns Insurance Company Approved by State for Homeowner
Insurance Surplus Note Loan Program.
St Johns
Insurance Company receives approval for $20,000,000 loan from the
State of Florida earmarked for new Homeowner capacity throughout the
state. The $20,000,000 Note is the first such transaction resulting
from the Senate Bill 1980 passed by the Florida State Legislature and
signed by Governor Bush into law on May 16th. The "Insurance Capital
Build-Up Incentive Program", administered by the State Board of
Administration (SBA), was enacted as an incentive to Florida homeowner
insurers, credit worthy and in good standing, able to demonstrate a
stable business plan and ability to repay the State over a 20 year
term. The insurer must commit to writing homeowner policies in
Florida, and must match the state's loan with new capital investment.
The qualified Company must then possess a minimum of $50,000,000
policy holders' surplus. "The program could not have come at a better
time for Florida homeowners and insurers," said James McCahill,
President and CEO of St. Johns Insurance Company.
To read full article:
http://www.stjohnsinsurance.com/newsroom_press.html
May 2006
St.
James’ Underwriting Authority with Lloyds is Renewed and Expanded.
Lloyds has renewed the St. James Homeowner / Dwelling Fire program
for 2006 -2007 in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Mississippi, and South Carolina. In addition, Lloyds has also
agreed to expand the St. James’ territory to include Delaware,
Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. With many markets
severely reducing their coastal wind capacity for 2006 -2007, this
renewal and expansion underlines our long term commitment to and
support of the London market.
January 2006
Chubb
Expands the St. James’ Authority to Five Additional Coastal States.
St. James Insurance Group has obtained agreement from Chubb to expand
its’
High Value HO-3 and HO-6 program outside of the state of Florida. Now
being offered in five other states, this program
expansion will
fill the coverage
need for higher valued dwellings located in various state wind pools.
The additional states included are Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,
and South Carolina. The same underwriting parameters from the
original program apply for these new states. Eligible risks between
$350,000 and $2.5 million Coverage A can now be written with Chubb
through St. James.
August 2005
Chubb Appoints St. James as Program Manager for Chubb Custom Market.
St. James is very proud to be named as a Program Manager for the Chubb
Custom Market High
Value Homeowner Program.
This appointment reflects
the long term relationship and underwriting success that St. James has
enjoyed with one of the most respected names in the insurance
industry. Chubb requires that its’ Program Managers maintain a staff
with a high level of expertise and make use of the latest automation
technologies
in their policy
processing systems. This enables a superior product to be delivered in
the most agent friendly and efficient manner. This Binding Authority
is specifically designed for HO-3 and HO-6 high value homeowners located within the Florida
wind pool
(on an ex-wind basis) with coverage A values from $350,000 to $2.5
million. Higher values are available on a referral basis. St.
James also plans to expand this program to other southern coastal
states in the future.
June 2005
SJIG moves into a newly renovated office.
After several months of construction, the St. James team has moved
into a newly renovated office space. The corporate headquarters that
was in Parsippany, N.J., is now closed with both offices having been
consolidated into one, centrally located office in Orlando, Fla.
June 2005
SJIG wraps up a successful 2005-2006 planning meeting.
The annual planning meeting for St. James was a great success. The
time away let the executive team come together as a cohesive group
to strategically plan another successful year and to map out where
St. James will be in future years. Among issues discussed were the
merging of the New Jersey and Florida offices, current program offerings,
and perspective programs needed in the regions where St. James conducts
business.
June 2005
SJIG launches new Homeowners and Dwelling program.
In an effort to continue bringing a diverse array of products to our
agents, St. James is proud to announce the release of a new Excess
and Surplus Lines homeowner and dwelling fire program. Coverage “A”
values range from $100,000 to $1,000,000 for homeowners policies,
and $75,000 to $750,000 for dwelling fire policies. Certain underwriters
at Lloyd’s of London have given St. James $1,600,750,000 in
total aggregate capacity to be spread amongst six southeastern states.
Please contact the marketing team at St. James for further program
details.
January
2005
St. James Insurance Group formed.
Effective January 1, 2005, Brown & Brown acquired Braishfield
Associates commercial lines division. The personal lines division
became the first product of the newly formed St. James Insurance Group,
with plans to refine and expand its options. St. James, a Managing
General Agent (MGA) writing personal lines programs, focuses specifically
on homeowners insurance programs. The St. James team, although new
in name only, is continuing to bring quality programs and exceptional
service to the strong distribution system they represent.
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