Hiscox : leads new US1 billion fine art consortium

London, UK (26th October 2016) - Hiscox has announced a new US$1 billion fine art consortium, the result of a collaboration with Ascot Underwriting.

The $1 billion capacity consortium has been constructed specifically to streamline the process of placing large fine art risks within Lloyd's. It will improve efficiency and put the customer's needs first by providing completely transparent capacity and promoting healthy competition in the market.

It is available to any Lloyd's approved broker and is appropriate for collections in the broadest sense of the word - from large private and corporate collections to museums and their exhibitions.

Robert Read, Head of Fine Art at Hiscox, explained: 'Billion dollar collections used to be a rarity, but this is no longer the case; such large fine art risks are now commonplace in the Lloyd's market. The consortium circumvents the need for some of the exotic facilities being peddled around the market and puts broker and customer convenience first.'

Gary Tredgett, Specie and Fine Art Class Underwriter at Ascot, added: 'For decades, Lloyd's has been a major stronghold for fine art, providing insurance solutions globally. This new fine art consortium, the largest of its kind and open to all approved Lloyd's brokers, will continue to provide the same high level of service and expertise to brokers and to clients.'

Ends

For further information please contact:

Hiscox
Lucy Hensher +44 (0)20 7448 6619 Lucy.hensher@hiscox.com

Notes to editors

About The Hiscox Group

Hiscox is a global specialist insurer, headquartered in Bermuda and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:HSX). Our ambition is to be a respected specialist insurer with a diverse portfolio by product and geography. We believe that building balance between catastrophe-exposed business and less volatile local specialty business gives us opportunities for profitable growth throughout the insurance cycle. It's a long-standing strategy which in 2015 helped generate gross premiums written of £1,944.2 million and a profit before tax of £216.1 million.

The Hiscox Group employs over 2,200 people in 13 countries, and has customers worldwide. Through the retail businesses in the UK, Europe and the US, we offer a range of specialist insurance for professionals and business customers as well as homeowners. Internationally traded, bigger ticket business and reinsurance is underwritten through Hiscox London Market and Hiscox Re.

Our values define our business, with a focus on people, quality, courage and excellence in execution. We pride ourselves on being true to our word and our award-winning claims service is testament to that. For more information, visit www.hiscoxgroup.com.

About Ascot

Ascot Underwriting Ltd. - Syndicate 1414 - commenced trading in 2001. Main Syndicate classes are Property, Energy, Specie & Fine Art, Cargo, Terrorism & Political Risk, Marine Hull, Marine Liabilities, Renewable Energy, Casualty, Personal Accident, and Excess of Loss Reinsurance. Ascot leads in most of these classes and leads over 40% of the slips it writes.