People

Gregory Habay, a New York-based reinsurance broker, has joined Collins as senior vice president. Habay most recently was a vice president and property/casualty reinsurance broker at Guy Carpenter & Co. in New York City. He also has worked in the New York offices of International Business Machines, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and The Constantin Group.

He also is a founding member of the U.S. Reinsurance Under 40s Group, a group of young professionals organized to provide educational, social and networking opportunities for members of the reinsurance industry within the U.S.

Westbrook, Connecticut-based The Gowrie Group of Cos. named Whitney Peterson as vice president of marketing. Peterson will direct marketing activities for all of the Gowrie Group. Her initial efforts will focus on active brand positioning, increasing customer awareness of the company and its wide range of offerings and improving the company’s web presence. She will work out of the company’s Westbrook office.

Peterson spent 13 years in marketing, customer research and strategic planning the last four of which she spent working for the global marketing agency, Digitas, as director of the Customer Insights department.

Eric Labo has joined Rogers & Gray Insurance Agency Inc., as a personal lines sales executive for the Massachusetts-based agency. Prior to joining the agency, Labo was employed by Wells Fargo Financial.

John Rafferty has joined the executive team of Narragansett Bay Insurance Co. as a senior vice president for business development. This hire continues the expansion of Narragansett Bay’s homeowners insurance market from New England down the Atlantic seaboard. He will be based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Nena West has joined Pennsylvania-based NSM Insurance Group as director of NSM’s Express Hotel Program. West has 30 years experience, including as principal of her own Florida agency. She is an active member of National Association of Insurance Women and the 2009 president of the Tampa Association of Insurance Professionals. The Express Hotel Program offers a package for both franchised and non-franchised hotels and motels.

The Excess/Surplus Lines Claims Association (ESLCA) has announced its new slate of officers and directors.

Newly elected officers are:

• President – Sandra Van Enk, vice president, The Toa Reinsurance Co. of America
• Vice President – Miles Banks, executive director – Group Claims, Willis Ltd.
• Treasurer – Bruce Carlino, chief claims officer, QBE Specialty Group and QBE Reinsurance Corp.
• Secretary – Stuart Willoughby, Claims Director, Markel International Insurance Co. Ltd.
• Immediate Past President
• Kurt Steinhauer, Vice President of Claims, General Reinsurance Corp.

New members joining the ESCLA board of directors are:

• Robert Dudzik, vice president, Arch Insurance Group
• Ed Quinn, chief operating officer, Rockville Risk Management Associates
• Terry Tuttle, vice president, Reinsurance Solutions

Additional directors currently serving on the board include:

• Eric Herstine, assistant vice president of Reinsurance Claims, Lexington Insurance Co.
• Kevin Shea, senior vice president, Direct Claims, Berkley Insurance Co./Signet Star Re
• Susan Wain, senior vice president, Claims, Scottsdale Insurance Co.
• Peter Fennell, senior vice president, Aon Re, Inc.
• Joachim Krane, chief claims officer, Continental Europe and Asia, XL Insurance

The ESLCA, formed in 1971, is an insurance industry association that provides a forum in which claim professionals can network with their peers, enhance their knowledge of claim issues and trends, and exchange views and ideas.

John R. Benedetto has been named president of BerkleyPro, the New York-based professional liability unit of W.R. Berkley Corp. Benedetto has 19 years of experience in the insurance and financial services industries. He previously served in senior positions with a major insurer.

Steven P. Walsh has been appointed executive vice president of BerkleyPro. Walsh has 14 years of related experience in the insurance industry.

Paul Brophy has been named BerkleyPro’s senior vice president. He has over 15 years of insurance experience in both underwriting and management roles.

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. appointed Darryl Page president for the Personal Insurance division, and appointed Greg Meyer senior vice president, product management for the Personal Insurance division.

Page joins Fireman’s Fund from Allstate Insurance Co. He has 27 years of insurance experience, including roles in underwriting, sales and operations, and experience working directly with independent agents in several regions throughout the United States. He most recently served as vice president, Western market operating committee.

Meyer joins Fireman’s Fund from Zurich Insurance, where he served as senior vice president overseeing small business and commercial automobile programs. Prior to Zurich, he worked for Allstate for eight years, most recently as vice president of independent agency business. He also spent seven years at The Progressive Corp. in a variety of product management roles.