Price Forbes has launched a new Security Risks practice following the hire of three highly experienced experts with backgrounds in international risk management, military operations and insurance broking and underwriting. The new practice will provide a new service aimed at corporates and organisations of all sizes, and across all sectors, arranging pro-active, pre-incident cover that sits above existing traditional insurance policies with access to a panel of international incident response specialists as well as traditional security product lines.
The new team is led by Head of Security Risks, Alistair Fox OBE, a former Army Colonel who served as a Royal Engineer bomb disposal and search expert before heading up operations for political and security risks at a major insurance broker.
Joining Alistair are Executive Director Sam Aiken and Director Ashley Coles. Sam Aiken has experience as Head of Kidnap and Ransom insurance for a major London specialty broker focused on North American risks including the delivery of risk services across the wider political violence, terrorism risk and crisis management sectors. He has also worked in business, as Director of Risk Management for a US capacity development company working in Kabul and prior to that served in the Parachute Regiment.
Ashley Coles brings underwriting experience to the team, having worked as a Kidnap and Ransom underwriter at Hiscox Special Risks focussing on Latin American family Kidnap and Ransom business and latterly Maritime Piracy. Ashley has spent the last 11 years as a broker specialising in Emergency Security Evacuation and Security Risks, including five years based in Hong Kong as Asia’s first specialty security risks broker where he established a broad portfolio of business across the region.
Alistair Fox commented: “We believe this is a shift change for the insurance market as we focus on arranging cover that will help to prevent and mitigate the impact of major claims before they happen. Our bespoke solutions make the most of innovative product launches from insurers, filling a gap in the market between traditional covers. It is designed to provide access to specialists such as evacuation, security, cyber and reputation and legal experts, helping clients to Prevent, Protect and Recover from security related threats and incidents. Uniquely, some policies can be triggered on suspicion, imminence or allegation of an insured event rather than waiting for traditional policy triggers”.
Sam Aiken added: “The insurance market is very silo’d, but our clients’ risks are not; we can help clients of all sizes build a wrap-around solution which dovetails with their other traditional lines of cover. We work closely with the client C-suite to develop an offering that meets their needs and, with our team’s international experience and our access to the best providers and responders in the market, we can advise clients on what help is available to mitigate and transfer risk via indemnity. It has been welcomed by a range of clients as it helps them deal with problems as, and often before, they arise.”
James Masterton, CEO Price Forbes, said: “I am delighted to be able to launch this new practice and add to the specialties that Price Forbes offers. As an independent broker, our focus is on listening to and working with clients to protect their interests on an individual basis – and this is exactly what the Security Risks team is doing. These appointments also underline Price Forbes’ strategic vision of growing the business in core sectors by investing in talented market specialists to ensure we continue to provide the right cover for our clients no matter how challenging the market conditions.”