XL Group’s CapAssure Combines Unprecedented Protection for Contractor and Subcontractor Performance Risks

XL Group plc's (NYSE: XL) North America Construction and Surety units today unveiled CapAssure, a collaborative solution to address performance risk on private construction projects using elements of contractor and subcontractor risk analysis. The new coverage is the result of XL's Competition 25, an internal product development competition conducted last year in celebration of XL's 25th Anniversary to spark innovative solutions for XL's clients' most complex risks.

According to Greg Hendrick, Chief Executive of XL's Insurance Operations, "We initiated Competition 25 to further enhance creative thinking and teamwork - the XL qualities that we think set us apart in this market. CapAssure's development showed that we can find creative, unique approaches to tackling risk through insurance products and we will."

"By combining coverage for contractor and subcontractor performance risk, CapAssure is a transformative product for our industry," according to Jason LaMonica, Vice President and Profit Center Head for XL's Subcontractor Default Insurance business, and part of the team who developed XL's new product. Mr. LaMonica collaborated with Bill Mills, Senior Vice President and Martha Gaines, Vice President of Surety to develop CapAssure.

"The goal of CapAssure is to protect large, private construction owners from the risk of default by General Contractors and protect General Contractors from the risk of default by Subcontractors," said Mr. Mills. "By bringing together the surety and SDI underwriting capabilities of XL, we're able to provide a very flexible insurance product to address performance risk securitization."

"Not only does CapAssure eliminate coverage redundancies and provide an alternative to Letters of Credit and other capital requirements, it gives project owners much more control in a default scenario to directly manage project completion," explains Ms. Gaines.

Through the XL Group insurance companies, CapAssure provides coverage for both a project's owner and the general contractor to cover direct and indirect costs in the event of a contractor's failure to perform as contracted. The coverage provides financial protection against costs incurred to correct the scope of a project or in the event of a default, and other costs that may be incurred such as extended overhead, acceleration or liquidated damages. Under a single policy, limits are available up to $25 million per loss for owners and up to $50 million per loss for each subcontractor.