AmTrust Financial Services said it will transfer to Liberty Mutual renewal rights in six states for its Republic Personal Lines business.

The deal involves Liberty’s Safeco Insurance unit, and it will allow Republic General Agency personal lines agents to transition their business to Safeco starting in the 2020 third quarter. AmTrust said that Republic personal lines policyholders Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and New Mexico should experience a smooth transition with the change.

AmTrust’s decision to exit its Republic personal lines business lets it focus on core areas such as workers compensation and providing extended warranties. The move was a strategic decision, it said, allowing it to devote attention to leveraging its unique strengths globally.

“AmTrust is focused on our core lines where we are an industry leader and have decided to exit our personal lines business written directly through Republic,” Jeffrey Fenster, EVP, Head of North American Specialty Risk at AmTrust Financial, said in prepared remarks. “We selected Safeco as our carrier partner given what we consider to be their world-class book transfer capabilities and a proven track record for smooth transitions.”

Safeco Insurance is a top three personal lines writer in the independent agency channel and was named the carrier champion of the independent agent in the 2019 Channel Harvest Study, AmTrust noted.

“We have an unwavering dedication to our independent agency partners and look forward to bringing our best-in-class products, people, programs and service capabilities to Republic agents and policyholders,” Gary Fischer, Senior Vice President of IA Channel Growth and Engagement at Safeco Insurance, said in prepared remarks.

This isn’t the first time that Liberty Mutual has picked up business that AmTrust chose to exit. Last April, Liberty Mutual agreed to acquire AmTrust’s global surety and credit reinsurance operations at an undisclosed price.

AmTrust is a multinational insurance holding company based in New York, with a focus on specialty property/casualty insurance products including workers compensation, business owner’s policy, general liability and extended service/warranty coverage.

Source: AmTrust