People

Markel Corp. has promoted Henry Lopez to executive vice president for the Markel Midwest region.

Lopez has been with Markel since 1995 and most recently was the vice president, director of business development for underwriting administration. He also held a variety of leadership positions within Markel, including assistant vice president, marketing services; vice president, marketing services; and vice president, underwriting administration.

Markel also announced Brad Kiscaden will serve as the chief administrative officer. He will also continue his current role as chief corporate actuary.

He joined Markel in 1986 as an assistant actuarial analyst. He had held several positions within Markel including actuarial supervisor, assistant manager and actuarial manager.

The Midwest region is one of five in the new structure of Markel Corporation’s excess and surplus lines operations. Markel’s new regional structure is an effort to improve customer service by getting closer to its agents, providing one point of contact, and offering a wider range of insurance products. Plans for the new structure will be implemented in early 2009.

Burns & Wilcox added David Derigiotis as a professional lines underwriter in its Special Risk Division (SRD), the company’s internal brokerage division located in Farmington Hills, Mich.

Derigiotis is responsible for underwriting the company’s professional lines products, including miscellaneous errors and omissions, cyber liability, employment practices liability (EPLI), directors and officers liability, and lawyer’s professional.

Prior to joining Burns & Wilcox, Derigiotis was a professional liability underwriter at Colony Insurance Company in Chicago. In this role, he managed a portfolio of diversified professional liability business.

Burns & Wilcox also announced it has added two other promotions in its Farmington Hills, Mich., office.

Laura Colbert was named director of sales and marketing. She is responsible for developing initiatives that will expand the company’s array of specialized insurance products. Previously, Colbert was senior underwriter, personal lines. She has 15 years of insurance industry experience. Prior to joining Burns & Wilcox in 2003 as an underwriter, Colbert held positions at Auto-Owners, an insurance company located in Lansing, Mich.

Chandra Kwaske was promoted to underwriting manager. Kwaske has overall responsibility for the production underwriting operations of the office. Previously, Kwaske was a senior underwriter. Prior to joining Burns & Wilcox in 2004 as a commercial underwriter, she was a commercial underwriter at Cameron Wilson & Associates, a managing general agent in Kalamazoo, Mich. Kwaske is a certified insurance counselor and service representative.

Martha Lester-Mittenzwei recently joined the Independent Insurance Agents of Wisconsin (IIAW) as its new director of Education and Membership.

Mittenzwei began her insurance career in the agency ranks, working her way from a customer service position to overseeing the entire property and casualty sales department for an agency. Most recently, Mittenzwei spent 16 years operating TIL, Insurance Staffing Co. As owner and president of TIL, her primary concern was filling the staffing needs of insurance industry entities.

Mittenzwei also taught prelicensing insurance for the association, as well as continuing education courses for a Madison area technical college. She spent five years as the member human resources consultant for the IIAW, writing articles on employment issues for the Wisconsin Independent Agent.

Mark Wobbe has been named property/casualty practice leader for Gibson Insurance Group. Wobbe will provide risk management and insurance services to business clients and will lead the firm’s technology and life sciences specialty area. Wobbe will also work closely with the department managers and be responsible for the overall strategic direction, operations, and carrier relationships for commercial and personal insurance and risk management services for all three Gibson locations.

Wobbe’s insurance career began in 1989. After progressing through several assignments with national carriers, gaining commercial lines underwriting experience and advancing to territory manager, he was senior underwriter for the technology practice at Chubb Insurance Co. He joined Gibson Insurance Group in 2003.

In addition, Gibson has named Wes Mantooth employee benefits practice Leader for Gibson Insurance Group. In addition to the responsibilities of assisting employers with analyzing, developing, and implementing employee benefit strategies.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Rockhill Insurance Company recently added Alex Pittignano to its Rockhill Underwriting Management as vice president of Environmental. Additionally, Jim Ziogas has joined National Environmental Coverage Corporation (NECC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rockhill, as assistant vice president and Midwest regional manager.

Pittignana will lead Rockhill’s Environmental Division, and will be located in the Orangeburg, N.Y., office of NECC.

He joins Rockhill from AIG where he held several positions in their headquarters as well as the position of European regional profit center manager for Environmental Liabilities.

Ziogas, who will be located in Medina, Ohio, also joins Rockhill from AIG where he was regional manager for AIG Environmental in Cleveland.

Topics Agencies Underwriting Pollution Professional Liability