Novae expands US excess casualty unit

Lloyd’s insurer Novae has appointed Nicola Wood as unit head of its US excess casualty unit and Laurence Burrows as a senior underwriter in the same unit.

Both are based in the London office and will report to Bob Patten, divisional head of casualty.

Wood brings more than 12 years of US casualty experience to Novae and joins from Aspen Insurance UK where she spent seven years, latterly as head of global casualty. Prior to this she spent four years at XL in Dublin where she served as an assistant vice president.

Burrows previously served as business development manager in the US casualty team at Starr Underwriting. Before this he spent six years at Aspen Insurance UK as class underwriter within the global casualty team.

“As part of our planned development of the casualty division we identified profitable growth opportunities for Novae in the US excess casualty market,” said Bob Patten, divisional head of casualty at Novae Group.

“I am delighted that Nicola and Laurence have joined us to lead this new class; they are quality underwriters with excellent track records, significant expertise and an in-depth knowledge of the technical aspects of US liability risks and the wordings that apply to this class.

“I look forward to working with them both and they are fantastic additions to Novae’s underwriting talent pool.”