DARAG closes Zurich’s €180m German A&E portfolio transfer

European legacy acquirer DARAG Group has completed the  legal transfer of Zurich Insurance’s German architects and engineers professional indemnity portfolio, assuming reserves of over €180 million.

The portfolio has been transferred to DARAG’s German risk carrier, DARAG Deutsche Versicherungs- und Rückversicherungs-AG.

The transaction, structured initially as an LPT or retrospective reinsurance, has received approval from the Irish High Court, and regulatory approval from the CBI in Ireland and BaFin in Germany.

DARAG has appointed Pro Insurance Solutions GmbH, re/insurance outsourcing and consulting specialist, as claims administrator to manage the A&E PI policies with DARAG’s expert oversight.

Tom Booth, CEO of DARAG, said: “DARAG is expanding globally, with an active transaction pipeline in a number of territories, including in our core markets like Germany. Zurich’s German architects and engineers professional indemnity book is a great match for DARAG’s existing business and the timely completion of this transfer and the transition of the claims handling to PRO, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, is testimony to our operational capabilities and financial strength.

"The seamless transaction has been a joint effort between DARAG, PRO and the expert Zurich legacy team. It has been a pleasure to work with Zurich and PRO in the course of the past few months. We are very pleased to announce the completion of this transaction with Zurich and we look forward to announcing further deals in the near future.”