Sterling Insurance Group is the holding company for a family of subsidiaries that provide insurance underwriting and administration in the UK. The company serves some 2 million customers with life and property/casualty insurance policies, including specialized creditor, personal accident, household, and commercial lines. It also provides limited health insurance products. Insurance subsidiaries include Sterling Insurance Company and Sterling Life. Its Sterling Administration Services unit provides third-party claims processing.

United Fire & Casualty Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in writing property, casualty, and life insurance; and selling annuities in the United States. Its commercial insurance product line comprises fire and allied lines, other liability, automobile, workers’ compensation, fidelity and surety, and miscellaneous products. The company’s personal insurance product line includes fire and allied lines, including homeowners; and automobile insurance. Its life insurance products comprise single premium annuities, universal life products, and traditional life products; and term and whole life insurance products. The company markets its products through independent agents. United Fire & Casualty Company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

West Bend Mutual helps protect the property and other assets for its members in nine midwestern states. The company provides personal and commercial property/casualty insurance, including auto, homeowners, workers' compensation, and umbrella coverage. Its National Specialty Insurance (NSI) division offers specialty policies for businesses including child care centers, tanning parlors, not-for-profit organizations, and athletic leagues. Some 700 independent agencies sell the company's products. West Bend Mutual was founded in 1894.

The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company stands like a sentinel protecting its clients' retirement savings. The company, a subsidiary of mutually owned life insurer The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, sells variable annuities and variable life insurance policies to individuals and groups looking to accumulate and manage savings over the long term. Its variable annuities have optional riders, including a Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit, that protect a client's investment from market fluctuations. Guardian Insurance & Annuity distributes its products primarily through its sister firm, Guardian Investor Services.

Credit Guarantee Insurance of Africa insures that your debtors won't leave you holding the bill. The South Africa-based insurance and reinsurance underwriting firm provides coverage products to businesses that protect them from bad debt and non-payment. Credit Guarantee Insurance of Africa also helps companies spot credit risks, both domestic and international. In business since 1956, the company is owned by insurers, banks, and financial institutions.

American Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in property and casualty insurance business in the United States. It offers property and transportation insurance products that include inland and ocean marine, agricultural-related, and commercial automobile insurance; specialty casualty products consisting of executive and professional liability, umbrella and excess liability, excess and surplus, general liability, and targeted programs; and specialty financial products, such as fidelity and surety bonds, and lease and loan services; and workers’ compensation products. The company also provides various retirement products, primarily fixed, indexed, and variable annuities; life; and supplemental insurance products. In addition, it engages in commercial real estate operations, including hotels, marinas, resorts, apartments, and office buildings. The company was founded in 1872 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Seibels Bruce Group writes and sells auto, homeowners, and other property/casualty insurance products and services. Subsidiary Universal Insurance provides standard and nonstandard auto coverage in six Southeastern states. Commercial lines include business owners' policies, commercial auto and umbrella, and commercial package policies. Seibels Bruce, which was taken private in 2004, traces its history back to 1869 and the beginnings of the insurance industry.

One part of the Faraday Group, Faraday Holdings is the parent company of Faraday Underwriting, which in turn is the manager of the Faraday Syndicate 435 at Lloyd's. Funding for the syndicate (to the tune of $575 million in 2004) is provided by another subsidiary, Faraday Capital. Berkshire Hathaway acquired the syndicate in 1999 and Faraday Holdings is now a subsidiary of Berkshire's General Re. The company provides risk management underwriting through three primary teams: property, casualty, and aviation. The Faraday Group also includes Faraday Reinsurance, a separate unit of General Re.

Hallmark Financial sells insurance to cover risks both general and exceptional. Its Hallmark General Agency unit markets and underwrites general commercial property/casualty insurance, while its Texas General Agency sells specialty property/casualty coverage to businesses that don't fit into standard coverage. Its Aerospace unit provides specialty aviation insurance to both commercial and private pilots and small airports. Other Hallmark Financial units provide personal non-standard auto insurance and specialty commercial auto and umbrella policies. Chairman Mark Schwarz owns about 60% of the company, partially through his investment firm, Newcastle Partners.

large companies need some assurance that their holdings are safe. Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Company Holdings aims to provide that. It offers insurance and reinsurance products internationally. Its insurance products include general property coverage, professional liability, and health care liability coverage in Bermuda, Europe, Hong Kong, and the US. Its US insurance operations target small and mid-market clients through regional offices while its Bermuda insurance operations serve larger US companies. In Europe its products are geared for large non-US based companies. Allied World's reinsurance segment operates out of its Bermuda, New York, and Swiss offices.

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