NEW YORK, April 23, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Specialist insurer Beazley has expanded its US terrorism underwriting capabilities, responding to an upsurge in demand for standalone US domestic terrorism coverage. Lucy Straker and Joe Gilliland have joined Beazley's Political Risks and Contingency Group, the division that insures political violence and terrorism risks, in New York.
Ms. Straker joins Beazley from Hiscox in London where she had been an underwriter in the War, Terrorism and Political Violence team since 2010. Mr. Gilliland joins from Aon Risk Solutions where he worked as a terrorism and political violence broker from 2007.
Commenting on the appointments, Chris Parker, head of Beazley's political violence and terrorism underwriting team, said: "We have seen twice as many US terrorism enquiries in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, and our US book is growing at around 15 percent annually.
"With political unrest continuing in many parts of the world we expect demand for terrorism coverage to continue to grow. Lucy and Joe will help ensure that both new and existing clients receive the service they expect and need. We know that many US clients like to place their terrorism business locally and, with our dedicated team, we are able to offer clients an attractive new option with competitive pricing, as well as broad policy terms and conditions."