QBE Europe expands financial lines offering with launch of W&I product

QBE has launched a warranty and indemnity (W&I) insurance product in Europe.

The new product comes in response to an increased need for capacity and technical expertise to support the demands of the insurer’s customers and increased levels of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the region.

QBE said the W&I product will offer protection for unknown breaches of target and seller representations and warranties in a purchase agreement.

Toria Lessman will be responsible for the build out of a dedicated W&I team in Europe. She has been senior vice president for transactional liability insurance (TLI) in QBE’s North American division, responsible for developing that product in the US.

The new team will report to Jamie Thompson, director of financial lines at QBE Europe.

Commenting on the new product, Thompson said: “This is an exciting opportunity to support our customers in the M&A market.

“We are delighted that Toria will be joining QBE Europe’s financial lines team to spearhead the roll out of our new W&I product. She brings considerable specialist expertise to the role, having successfully grown the TLI business for QBE North America.”

QBE Europe plans to hire three local experts to spearhead development of its new W&I product.

They will initially led out of London but QBE plans to establish an underwriting team across its existing European footprint to fully utilise its strength in coverage, execution and claims.

Image source: QBE

Mark Dugdale