News

Eagle is proud to join GroupAssur

Nicole Esguerra

Eagle is honored to announce that they have been acquired by GroupAssur, a Canadian Managing General Agent (“MGA”) specializing in Property and Casualty (“P&C”) insurance lines.

Founded in 1993 by a group of brokers coming together to provide services to larger enterprises, GroupAssur is an MGA servicing specialized insurance needs of brokers and customers across Canada. The company provides underwriting services for complex insurance policies on behalf of Canadian insurance carriers, international insurance carriers, and Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicates.

Since 2020, GroupAssur is owned majority interest by Novacap, one of Canada’s leading private equity firms. Groupassur’s stellar reputation for competitive underwriting initiatives, complemented by Eagles unique service offering and deep industry insight, will provide the company with the resources required to further develop their “Insurance for Things That Move” strategy.

The acquisition is effective October 1st 2021.

Eagle underwriting will continue to operate under their existing structure and brand name. All management, underwriting and claims staff will remain on board, and brokers can expect to see new and enhanced products in the near future.

Read More

A message from our Chairman

Nicole Esguerra

Dear Eagle Clients,

As cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to spread internationally, we at Eagle are doing our part to lower levels of social contact that may help mitigate the spread of this virus. We have put a plan in place to serve our clients and protect our staff and their families.

We have implemented plans for our staff to work at home, our staff have full access to our systems to quote, issue policies and same for our claims files.

This is out of an abundance of caution, there is currently no sickness in our office. We’ve restricted all business travel and are postponing all scheduled meetings. Our staff, which includes Accounting, Administration, Claims and Underwriting have access to retrieve their phone messages and are all available via email.

If for any reason you do not have access to your systems and need your renewal lists for the next few months to service your clients; please email operations@eagleunderwriting.com.

As information is quickly changing, we will be sure to keep you updated.

Stay healthy,
Bernie Cissek
Chairman
Eagle Underwriting Group Inc.

Read More

Trade Disruption Lessons From Hanjin

Bernie Cissek

Following several quarters of financial difficulties, banks stopped providing financial support to Hanjin Shipping, which has triggered their restructuring and payment default to several counterparties, inclusive of fuel suppliers, port authorities and even its employees. Hanjin Shipping reported a net loss of $233.6 million in Q1/16 citing freight rates’ drop to record lows. By last Friday, Hanjin said 44 out of its 98 container ships have been denied access to ports around the world and one ship was seized. Hanjin isn’t alone in struggling in the current market, several transportation companies have been dealing with increased volatility in fuel costs and currency swings that test even the most sophisticated and larger operators.

Hanjin’s demise demonstrates the perils several companies face in regards to Trade Disruption. Either directly owned money by Hanjin (its suppliers) or having products sitting in containers on their ships (its clients) where its unlikely these products will reach destination in time for their optimal distribution, several dozen companies are now struggling to figure how they will survive without the funds or with contractual penalties deriving from the shipper credit default. Companies of all sizes can run counterparty risk scenarios, however the reality is, these scenarios are only as good as the real protection arranged to indemnify the company, in case they occur.

Daniel R. Galvao
Trade Credit

Read More

Environmental Liability Insurance isn’t for you? You might want to reconsider

Mike Wills

In 2012 directors of Northstar Aerospace Inc. were held personally liable by the Ontario Ministry of Environment for contaminating the surrounding area of their Cambridge, Ontario manufacturing facility. Unfortunately for Northstar, environmental remediation costs were excluded from the directors’ and officers’ insurance policy.

In the end, “the directors and officers were forced to pay approximately $800,000 out of their own pockets for the completion of interim remediation work,” and “subsequently reach a settlement with the Ministry of Environment to withdraw the remediation order at $4.75 million.
(more…)

Read More

Introducing Insurance for “Things That Move”

Mike Wills

“Our vision for Eagle is to become a one-stop insurance provider for risks associated with “Things That Move”.

We’re excited to share our new vision for Eagle Underwriting.

Changes in the insurance marketplace and the globalization of business for companies of all sizes, have resulted in the need to view many risks differently – especially those with a transportation component.

(more…)

Read More

A unique strategy for an increasingly complex industry

Mike Wills

Eagle underwriting’s ‘things that move’ strategy was developed in response to a challenging insuring climate that is making it difficult for brokers and clients to source adequate insurance protection, at a time when business risk itself is undergoing rapid change.

Much of the insurance industry sees players making substantial changes in strategy and direction based on what other carriers are doing, rather than examining what their clients actually need. Narrowly defined profit centres prevent many carriers from examining the while risk, and it is not uncommon for parts of an attractive account to be declined, simply because it falls slightly outside of one departments target class or fails to meet a minimum premium threshold.

(more…)

Read More