Mark Ladbrook
Senior Vice President
Marsh, London
A Fraction of the Cost
To an executive for a railroad client with operations in Australia, Bowring Marsh's Mark Ladbrook's property renewal effort last summer went beyond the ultimate in professionalism.
"You really know when someone is passionately working for you -- not just professionally but when it's personally important to them," the client said.
As it prepared for its Aug. 1 renewal, the railroad faced numerous challenges. It recently had sustained losses in Australia, which had been pummeled in the past year by a cyclone and flooding. Australia's insurance market for railroads, which had provided 20 percent of the client's capacity, dropped off the placement. Meanwhile, insurers worldwide had sustained a series of catastrophic property losses.
The railroad initially faced a market that demanded a 300 percent premium increase and that the railroad assume five times as much risk as it had previously. The client had anticipated a tighter market, but not one that threatened to squeeze its balance sheet so significantly.
But the renewal was "brokered in fantastic fashion," the client said. Ladbrook brought all of his resources to bear on the renewal. Facing the loss of a significant portion of the original dozen or so insurers on the account, Ladbrook and his team approached insurers around the world. Ladbrook ultimately lined up around three dozen insurers, including many that previously had not written much if any rail business previously, to cobble together all the capacity his client previously had. The railroad did not have to assume a higher deductible, and its cost increased only 50 percent -- or one-sixth the amount it had feared.
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February 21, 2012 Copyright 2012© LRP Publications |
