Marine Assekuranz, Fram Insurance Brokers Form JV "Marine Alliance"
Marine insurance brokers Marine Assekuranz from Hamburg and Fram from Norway are joining forces. With the core expertise in insuring ships and transports worldwide for decades – now they are joining forces under the umbrella of the "Marine Alliance". The alliance was founded last year by Söderberg & Partners, a Stockholm-based family business that is the majority shareholder of Fram. The Marine Alliance will offer specialized industry know-how, provide marketing services for both partners and bundle their purchasing power.
5 ‘Gotchas’ of Marine Insurance
“Gotchas” are pitfalls, catches, bait and land mines – a kicker, snare or snag. They are surprises and, in the world of insurance, surprises are rarely a good thing. ‘Gotchas’ can be caused by different things. It may be the age of the coverage forms; it may be case law has moved on beyond the policy’s intent. Or, it may be there is a ‘disconnect’ between policy wording and current business practices. Sometimes, these things occur simply because some insurance contracts are impenetrable. Insurance policies are a distinctly difficult set of documents to understand.
Insurance Industry Instability Triggers Upward Trend
Having been rather "soft," or in layman's terms "very competitive" for the last several years, the marine liability insurance market has begun what appears to be an upward trend in the pricing cycle over the last few months. There are, to be certain, several factors influencing this trend. The collapse of marine insurance giant Reliance Insurance Company and its subsidiaries has caused quite an uproar among various underwriters still active in the market. The resulting search for coverage on the part of insureds left in the wake of Reliance's demise has put a strain on these underwriters and their capacity. Also, the collapse of two major Australian reinsurers, as well as others in the Pacific Rim, have played a role in the tightening of the market.
