IGI hires head of property, political violence and contingency as COVID creates new opportunities

International General Insurance Holdings (IGI) has seized what it believes to be a compelling new opportunity created by COVID-related market dislocations in the contingency market, with a new hire.

Richard Foster joins IGI in London as head of property, political violence and contingency. IGI said it will be launching the contingency line of business to take advantage of the considerable opportunity in this line stemming from market dislocation caused by COVID-19.

Foster, who has 24 years of specialty lines underwriting experience, joins from London-based Agile Risk Partners, where he was director of underwriting. He is also a former head of global property for London at Zurich Insurance and Brit Global Specialty, before which he held senior roles with Allied World.

The contingency line will primarily cover event cancellation, interruption or curtailment of events, non-appearance, and/or other contractual obligations.

Andreas Loucaides, UK chief executive officer at IGI, said: “The addition of the contingency line of business complements our existing portfolio of specialty risks, and consistent with our measured underwriting approach, we will develop the contingency business with the same level of pragmatism and commitment to underwriting profitability.”

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