People – Southeast

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, a Republican, was re-elected to a third term in the office on Nov. 3, according to the Associated Press. A Mississippi native, Chaney is the state’s 11th Commissioner of Insurance and also serves as state Fire Marshal.

His run was unopposed in this election after officials removed Reform Party Candidate Johnny McLeod from the ballot. The AP reported in September that state officials couldn’t prove McLeod met the five-year state residence requirement to run for the position.

Chaney’s accomplishments as commissioner since taking office in January 2008, as listed on his website, include opening a Mississippi Insurance Department office on the Gulf Coast.

Chaney also spearheaded a wind mitigation program for the Gulf Coast region to strengthen homes against hurricane-force winds and provide homeowners with discounts on their wind insurance premiums.

In addition, Chaney oversaw the addition of nearly 200 new insurance companies in the state.

Chaney said he has also worked to modernize the state licensing procedures used in the department and stabilize the state’s Windpool, the insurer of last resort for some homeowners.

The Gulf Coast office of the Mississippi Insurance Department announced it is expanding its services to coastal consumers with the addition of Tina Parker to its staff.

Parker, a resident of Ocean Springs, will be answering consumer questions, assisting with consumer complaints and working with outreach events from the MID Coast Office located in the Bolton State Building on Bayview Avenue in Biloxi.

“With her extensive background in insurance, customer and complaint service, and her knowledge of real estate sales and brokering, Tina will be a valuable addition to the MID consumer team on the coast,” Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said.

Parker will join Roy “Tippy” O’Bryant, director of Coastal Office Consumer Affairs in assisting Gulf Coast consumers with insurance questions and complaints.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has added new leadership to its Executive & Professional Lines as part of the company’s expansion of its dedicated underwriting capabilities in the U.S.

According to Dan Fortin, senior vice president, head of Executive & Professional Lines, BHSI will be expanding into numerous executive & professional lines with plans to grow rapidly in its targeted areas.

The company has made the following appointments:

• Danielle Librizzi is senior vice president, head of Professional Liability
• Will Fahey is senior vice president, head of Commercial Executive Lines
• Joe Schrancz is vice president, head of Architects & Engineers (A&E) Professional Liability
• Maura Verrone is vice president, head of Private & Not for Profit, Executive & Professional Lines.

Verrone is leading BHSI’s move into middle market executive lines, focusing on private company and not-for-profit risks in the U.S.

She comes to BHSI with 27 years of industry experience spanning both the underwriting and brokerage sides of the business. She was most recently National Underwriting manager for Professional Risk at ACE Commercial Risk Services.

Prior to that, Verrone was senior vice president at Aon Financial Services Group, and senior vice president & FINPRO Practice leader at Marsh FINPRO. She began her career as an underwriter at National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. Verrone received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond.

She is based in BHSI’s Atlanta office.

Florida-based Normandy Insurance has promoted Greta Cook to the position of underwriting manager. Formerly a senior underwriter with Normandy, Cook’s new role will include managing the underwriting team and focusing on opportunities for expansion and improving processes for the underwriting division.

During her tenure at Normandy, Cook has assisted in launching several new projects and worked closely with other departments to help Normandy continue to advance its position with agents, insureds and the workers’ compensation industry, according to the company.

Cook was previously the underwriting team manager for a national insurance group. She has also functioned as a subject matter expert and lead contact person for complex accounts; served as liaison for internal and external departments and clients; and performed classification analyses for a national workers’ compensation rating and data collection bureau.

According to Normandy’s Senior Vice President, Jayson Buechler, Cook will play a large role in the company’s planned growth and broaden its offerings as a full-service provider of integrated insurance products.

Normandy is a provider of workers’ compensation insurance products for Florida small and mid-size business owners. The company is headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Topics Mississippi