HDI provides new insurance solutions for art market and high net worth customers

The new art&lifestyle team from the HDI Group has successfully completed its establishment phase and will immediately start underwriting in the Continental European art insurance market. Comprehensive insurance solutions will be offered to private customers, galleries and museums for all types of artwork and collectibles.

The entry into the art insurance market is being made with a specialist company, HDI Global Specialty Underwriting Agency, with its registered office in Cologne. The central risk carrier will be HDI Global Specialty. The selected structure will allow the flexibility of a specialist company to be combined with the capabilities and capacities of HDI Global Specialty.

Within the underwriting agency, Dr Alexander Wiebe will be responsible for this business segment as managing director. In recent weeks, he has been putting together a specialist team with a long track record of many years of experience in this sector: Philippe Dietz as head of underwriting and Christina Meyer as senior underwriter, along with Christian Himmelberg as head of claims. The team will be complemented by other specialists in staff functions.

“We regard ourselves as being part of the art community,” said Wiebe. “Our aim is to join forces with our customers and sales partners to safeguard against the unexpected, insure valuable objects with judiciousness and expertise, and in this way preserve cultural heritage over the long term. On the one hand, we thereby take on the risks of our customers, and on the other hand we also live up to our social responsibility.”

The new products for art and collectibles are available with immediate effect. They include insurance of private and corporate collections, for museums and for the gallery business.

The art insurance offer is complemented in the private sphere (B2C) by the opportunity to insure valuable household effects and residential buildings with all-risks cover. Today, it is already possible for high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) to also insure private aeroplanes. Expansion of the offer of lifestyle insurance policies with HNWIs as a target group is planned.

The team is also taking over the existing activities relating to valuables insurance of HDI in Germany. This relates to all-risks cover for insurance of valuable objects like jewellery, cash, gold, and strongbox and safe contents. HDI also offers “cash in transit” insurance for transporters of money and valuables. HDI is already regarded as one of the leading providers in this segment.

HDI Global Specialty Underwriting Agency can delegate underwriting powers of attorney to leading specialist sales partners. These powers are intended to place these partners in an outstanding position in relation to the competition because they are close to the customer and can respond quickly.

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