GAIG creates new environmental division

Great American Insurance Group has launched a new environmental liability insurance business.

Great American’s newly created Environmental Division will be headed by John W. Reynolds, divisional president.

Reynolds recently served as chief executive of the Willis Environmental Practice and has also held senior positions with Kemper Environmental and American Reinsurance Company’s environmental business.

Reynolds is joined by divisional senior vice presidents, Mark Vuono and Doug Stepenosky. Vuono previously served as senior vice president and executive

underwriter for Worldwide Pollution at XL Insurance and executive vice president and

chief underwriting officer of ECS Underwriting, Inc.

Stepenosky was senior vice president at XL Insurance with responsibility for all environmental operations.

Carl Lindner III, head of Great American’s Property and Casualty Insurance Group, commented, “This is a great way for us to grow our specialty business. We were able to attract outstanding professional underwriting talent to our company by providing them with the capital, security, and back office support to operate this division in an entrepreneurial manner. We are very pleased to have John, Mark, and Doug lead this new division.”

Great American expects the Environmental Division to begin writing business in April

2008. The division’s offices will be located in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

The new division will offer an array of environmental liability products on both a retail and wholesale basis, and will provide coverage up to $25m in policy limits.