Hiscox signs up to Willis Global 360 despite ‘stall’ in talks

Hiscox has now signed up to Willis’s Global 360 subscription programme despite talks about the Lloyd’s insurer’s participation having “stalled” earlier this year.

The deal comes almost a year after Willis first announced Hiscox’s support of the programme.

A Willis spokesman told Insurance Times: “We can confirm that Hiscox have agreed to participate in Global 360 and have so far committed capacity across a range of specialty risks. This is good news for our clients who continue to benefit from increased, full-follow capacity and simplified claims negotiations and payments.”

A Hiscox spokeswoman confirmed that the insurer has now signed up on terms that “work for Willis, their clients and us”.

Willis announced in October 2013 that Hiscox had offered to support Global 360 alongside Berkshire Hathaway and the People’s Insurance Company of China.

But Hiscox clarified that it had yet to fully sign up to the programme. Then, in February this year, Hiscox chairman Robert Childs told Insurance Times that the talks about the insurer’s participation had ground to a halt.

He said at the time: “We still have that offer in the table but [Willis] haven’t been able to meet our requirements, so I would say the negotiations are stalled.”

Willis Global 360 is Willis’s version of Aon’s controversial Lloyd’s subscription deal with US insurance heavyweight Berkshire Hathaway. Under the Aon deal  Berkshire agreed to underwrite 7.5% of any subscription business Aon placed into Lloyd’s.