Effective February 15, 2012, Insurance Specialty Group, LLC (“ISG”) will discontinue its wholesale brokerage operation of Pacific Wholesale Insurance Brokers, LLC (“PWIB”).  ISG sold the renewal rights on much of PWIB’s book of business and will be winding down the affairs of PWIB over the next several months.

ISG’s underwriting operation, Insurance Specialty Construction Group, LLC (“ISCG”), underwrites residential and commercial contractors and remains fully operational and focused on growth.  The closure of PWIB will have no adverse impact on the underwriting operations.

ISCG continues to have very strong relationships with AmTrust (GL Insurer) and AXIS (Builders Risk Insurer) and both companies are working with ISCG to continue strengthening our program.  Our underwriters have begun to see improvements in the housing market with increased submission flow and increased in builder exposure values.  The company is well positioned to serve our clients and to respond to future growth.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact Stephen Harrell or me.  Contact information is listed below.

Regards,

Bruce Harrell
President and CEO

According to the National Association of Home Builders, builder sentiment is up 4 points in January to 25.  This is the highest level seen since June 2007.  While any reading below 50 shows negative sentiment, positive articles on the building industry are being published daily.  Submissions into ISG show that many builders expect to do more construction in 2012 than they did in 2011.

View the full USA Today article at usatoday.com

If you or your insured need a copy of the audit, please contact your ISG Underwriting Assistant (contact information below).  Contact your underwriter directly for an specific concerns regarding an audit, the audit process or audit disputes.  It is important that the insured complete the audit process as non-productive audits will be forced at 150% of the exposure at binding.

The Insurance Specialty Group family of companies will soon be performing
significant computer network improvements that require us to move the
location of our network servers. These changes will occur this Thursday,
December 8th, through Sunday, December 11th. Unfortunately, our servers
will be down during business hours on both Thursday & Friday.

Our brokers, underwriters and associates will have full access to email and phones during
this time, but will not be able to access our Agency Management System or
any client-specific information. We apologize for the inconvenience and
sincerely appreciate your patience as we perform this work. We look forward
to being back up and serving you on Monday, December 12th!

Please contact us if you would like additional information. We
thank you for your business!

- The ISG Family of Companies

Insurance Specialty Construction Group “(ISCG”) is a national leading provider of risk management and insurance products for residential developers and contractors. As a leader in the industry, ISCG is constantly creating new ways to address the needs and frustrations of our clients.

ISCG understands the economic constraints placed on contractors and developers, which can result in their inability to accurately estimate sales projects. In response to that, ISCG has developed a new project policy that provides tremendous relief to Builders/Developers. We don’t have a real name for it, but we have been calling it the “Project/Practice Thingy.” We think you’ll like it!

The “Project/Practice Thingy” is based on an annual/renewable policy and is endorsed to provide full extended products/competed operations coverage. Available in all states except New York & Nevada, the policy offers the following benefits:

• Lower minimum premiums than a standard project policy
• Total premium payment for the project is spread over multiple policy periods and is not all due at the start of the project
• Premium for the annual period is based on estimated sales for that annual period, and not the entire project
• Extended Products Completed Operations Coverage (“EPOCH”) Endorsement is utilized, which is typically only available on a project policy (Statute of Limitations, up to 10 yrs)
• The policy can be “wrapped” to provide coverage to enrolled subcontractors

Below are some recent success stories:

WA – EPOCH – $13,072

$2 million sales, single family homes
1/2/2 limits

CA – EPOCH & Wrapped – $21,000
$1.2 million sales, condo construction
1/2/2 limits

AZ – EPOCH & Wrapped – $21,000
$1.9 million 1st year sales, condo construction
1/2/2 limits

CA – EPOCH – $10,000
$1.1 million sales, single family homes
1/2/2 limits

For more information, please contact one of our APP Underwriting Managers listed below:

Stephen Harrell: 678-742-6336
sharrell@isgins.com

Elizabeth Davis: 678-742-6314
ldavis@isgins.com

ISCG has underwritten more then $700 million of CGL premium on residential and commercial contractors since 1999, and the plan is to write another $700 million or more over the next ten years!  ISCG is proud to offer the Asset Protection Program CGL policies in all states except New York, Alaska, Nevada and Hawaii.

Please contact an ISCG Underwriter for more information.  Contact information can be found here.

Thanks to the professionals at Louder Media for their design work!

The first securities class action jury verdict arising out of the Current REAL ESTATE crisis occurred on November 18, 2010 [In re BankAtlantic Bancorp, Inc. Securities Litigation, No.07-61542, S.D. Fla]. After a four week trial, the Florida jury found that the bank and two of its officers had failed to disclose the extent of risk in its troubled real estate portfolio. Damages are estimated to exceed $42 million.

Click on the link below to view the full article.

Florida Banking Article