Markel American Insurance Company Announces Launch of New Excess Flood Program

PEWAUKEE, Wis., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ — Markel American Insurance Company is pleased to announce the December 15, 2007 launch of their new admitted Excess Flood program for residential and non-residential properties. The program will be available in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.


The Markel American Insurance Company (MAIC) Excess Flood program provides property owners with coverage in excess of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The new MAIC program will be offered through Advanced Insurance Coverages, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Flood Services, Inc. and is designed to provide additional protection for the tens of thousands of property owners who are affected by flooding each year.


“Since most standard homeowner insurance policies don’t provide coverage against flood damage, homeowners have traditionally turned to the NFIP for flood protection,” according to Timberlee Grove, president and COO of Markel American Insurance Company. “However, the NFIP doesn’t offer enough protection for many homeowners, given the maximum $250,000 available for dwelling coverage. MAIC’s Excess Flood insurance allows property owners to more fully protect against flood damage.”


National Flood Services, Inc., known as NFS, provides third-party flood insurance administration services to many Property and Casualty companies that participate in the federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). NFS performs full administrative services such as flood insurance applications processing, claims management, accounting and financial reporting, customer service phone support, and insurance marketing assistance. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) , NFS serves property/casualty companies issuing policies in the US, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.


P. Michael Jones, president of NFS, said “NFS is very happy with the relationship we have developed with Markel, and looks forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership with them. The Excess Flood program complements offerings to our clients through the primary flood program, and offers property owners coverage for those exposures above that provided by the NFIP.”


Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) , a Fortune 500 company, provides information management systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. The company serves more than 18,000 clients worldwide and is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., Fiserv reported more than $4.4 billion in total revenue for 2006. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.


A subsidiary of the Markel Corporation, Markel American Insurance Company specializes in the lines of Power Sport Products, Specialty Marine, Preferred Yacht and Small Boat, Specialty Property, and Wedding/Private Event Insurance. For more information on our products, please visit www.markelamerican.com


The Richmond, VA-based Markel Corporation markets and underwrites specialty insurance products and programs to a variety of niche markets. In each of these markets, the company strives to provide quality products and excellent customer service. For more information, please visit www.markelcorp.com.


First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: kbehringer@markelcorp.com


Source: Markel American Insurance Company