Bermuda-based A.C.E. Insurance Company, Ltd. (A.C.E. Insurance) and its US-based sister company ACE USA today announced an agreement to provide coverages aggregating up to $250 million for Excess Liability and up to $100 million for Property. The combined offering is aimed at meeting client demand for large blocks of capacity from single insurers and reducing the number of carriers required to complete complex insurance programs.

The announcement was made today at the annual Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) conference being held in San Diego, California.

Under the Excess Liability program, ACE USA will offer to A.C.E. Insurance prospects and clients $50 million of "occurrence" form coverage. This form of coverage, prevalent in the American market, will generally attach immediately under the A.C.E. Insurance coverage as the top "occurrence" form layer with combined capacity of up to $250 million.

ACE USA President and CEO Dennis Reding hailed the new integrated capacity agreement as "an exciting opportunity for ACE USA to build long-term relationships with the A.C.E. Insurance client base and to build on its franchise of US customers."

Patrick Mitchell, senior underwriting officer for A.C.E. Insurance's excess liability business agreed, "ACE USA's ability to provide top layer "occurrence" coverage to the A.C.E. Insurance client base in the same way that A.C.E. Insurance now provides top layer "occurrence reported" coverage represents an extremely attractive expanded product to our clients and brokers."

The integrated capacity agreement for property coverage brings together for the customer the primary layer underwriting capabilities of ACE USA and the excess underwriting of A.C.E. Insurance in an integrated block of $100 million pro rata property capacity. Brian Dowd, senior property underwriting officer for A.C.E. Insurance commented, "The A.C.E. Insurance/ACE USA joint venture with its new seamless product enhances our attractiveness to the North American market by combining into a single capacity unit the underwriting expertise of both companies. This joint venture reaffirms our position as a market leader in the specialty property arena."

Under the integrated capacity program, separately underwritten policies will be simultaneously issued in Bermuda (by A.C.E. Insurance) and in the US (by ACE USA), giving clients the benefit of ACE USA admitted policy forms. The A.C.E. Insurance policies will continue to be underwritten as before in Bermuda on an offshore basis through non US-based brokers. Coverage may also be written as reinsurance of a client captive. Combined property/liability programs are also available.

Marketing materials and underwriting guidelines will be released shortly. Brokers should contact ACE USA, their ACE USA representative or, for A.C.E. Insurance, brokers should use their non US-based broker contact for more details and underwriting instructions.

The ACE Group of Companies provides insurance and reinsurance for a diverse group of international clients. Operating subsidiaries are based in Bermuda, the United States, the United Kingdom (Lloyd's) and the Republic of Ireland. At March 31, 1998, ACE Limited (NYSE: ACL) had approximately $2.8 billion in shareholders' equity and approximately $7.0 billion in assets.

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Contact Information

Media Contact: Wendy Davis Johnson (441) 299-9347 Broker Contact: Roger Gillett (441) 299-9353