Amwins Launches Excess Wildfire Product for California Residential Properties

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Amwins Access, a nationwide binding and brokerage platform for small P&C and Personal Lines accounts, announced the launch of their Excess Wildfire Product, designed to complement a self-insured retention plan or the California FAIR (or a similar) plan. This product is written in partnership with AM Best, A+ (Superior) rated PartnerRe Insurance Solutions Bermuda Ltd. who is providing excess wildfire coverage. Additionally, Kettle Limited (Kettle) will provide key data analysis, modeling and pricing, matching markets with appetite.

"Risk placements in wildfire and other CAT-exposed areas remain challenging, with rates and deductibles continuing to climb," said Kris Zebratski, senior vice president at Amwins Access. "The situation not only presents capacity challenges, but also adds complexity to the coverage placement process, leaving policyholders exposed to significant losses. Within this dynamic market, we're excited to join with PartnerRe Insurance Solutions Bermuda Ltd. and Kettle to provide our market partners with profitable results and unparalleled distribution, while also acting as problem solvers for our retail agents, creating innovative products tailored to their unique needs."

Amwins' excess wildfire product is available in California only and to Amwins appointed retail partners exclusively. This single-peril product is specific to wildfire loss, providing up to $7 million excess wildfire coverage for residential dwellings with replacement costs of up to $20 million. The policy is designed to work with a Homeowners / Dwelling Property (HO/DP) policy that has a minimum $3 million fire or wildfire sublimit, and if there is no underlying wildfire coverage, the Self Insured Retention (SIR) is a minimum $3 million.

"With the launch of the Excess Wildfire Product, Kettle is proud to expand our partnership with Amwins and PartnerRe Insurance Solutions Bermuda Ltd. to provide a meaningful solution for homeowners in an extremely difficult environment," said Amit Shah, president of Kettle. "Kettle's proven modeling technology and analytics give a crucial underwriting edge in a time when catastrophic losses are increasing in both severity and frequency."

"Wildfires in California remain challenging – most carriers either will not entertain a risk with the exposure, or they'll exclude the peril entirely," said Joel Livingston, head of Insurance Programs at PartnerRe. "Thanks to the CatFocus® California Wildfire catastrophe model developed by our research team, we are able to further validate Kettle's modeling approach and provide a reliable benchmark to price this risk. By combining PartnerRe's know-how with the expertise of Amwins and the capabilities of Kettle, our tri-party effort is poised to be a true game-changer."

Over the past decade, California has experienced a series of devastating wildfire losses that have particularly impacted high-value residential properties, creating a perfect storm of vulnerability. With climate change and weather patterns predicting little respite from these disasters, Amwins continues to fearlessly tackle the challenge of the California wildfire market.

Kettle uses proprietary machine learning algorithms utilizing more than seven billion lines of weather and ground truth data to determine eligibility and pricing.

For more information, contact your Amwins Access broker or visit amwins.com to request an appointment.

About Amwins
Amwins is the largest independent wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products in the U.S. dedicated to serving retail insurance agents by providing property and casualty products, specialty group benefit products, and administrative services. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the company operates through more than 155 offices globally and handles premium placements in excess of $29 billion annually. For more information, visit amwins.com.

About PartnerRe
PartnerRe Ltd. is a leading global reinsurer that helps insurance companies reduce their earnings volatility, strengthen their capital and grow their businesses through reinsurance solutions. Risks are underwritten on a worldwide basis through the Company's three segments: P&C, Specialty, and Life and Health. For the year ended December 31, 2022, total revenues were $5.7 billion, total assets were $27.3 billion, total capital was $8.1 billion and total shareholders' equity was $6.3 billion. PartnerRe maintains strong financial strength ratings as follows: A.M. Best A+ / Moody's A1 / Standard & Poor's A+.  www.partnerre.com. Media inquiries – [email protected]

About Kettle 
Kettle uses deep learning and proprietary algorithms to reshape the reinsurance industry and better protect people from the growing risks associated with climate change. Kettle's first products protect Californians' businesses, homes, and livelihoods via wildfire re/insurance. To learn more, visit ourkettle.com.

For further information contact:
Amwins
Lisa Kuszmar
Telephone: 704.749.2780
Email: [email protected]  

SOURCE Amwins