Reinsurance

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Reinsurance

Reinsurance

NOTE 4. Reinsurance

In the normal course of business, OneBeacon’s insurance subsidiaries seek to limit losses that may arise from catastrophes or other events by reinsuring with third party reinsurers. OneBeacon remains liable for risks reinsured even if the reinsurer does not honor its obligations under reinsurance contracts.

Effective May 1, 2012, OneBeacon renewed its property catastrophe reinsurance program through April 30, 2013. The program provides coverage for OneBeacon’s property business as well as certain acts of terrorism. Under the program, the first $25.0 million of losses resulting from any single catastrophe are retained and the next $155.0 million of losses resulting from the catastrophe are reinsured in three layers, although OneBeacon retains a co-participation of 55% of losses from $25.0 million to $40.0 million, 15% of losses from $40.0 million to $80.0 million, and 10% of losses from $80.0 million to $180.0 million. Any loss above $180.0 million would be retained in full. In the event of a catastrophe, OneBeacon’s property catastrophe reinsurance program is reinstated for the remainder of the original contract term by paying a reinstatement premium that is based on the percentage of coverage reinstated and the original property catastrophe coverage premium.

At September 30, 2012, OneBeacon had reinsurance recoverables on paid and unpaid losses of $2.0 million and $41.3 million, respectively. Reinsurance contracts do not relieve OneBeacon of its obligations. Therefore, collectibility of balances due from its reinsurers is critical to OneBeacon’s financial strength. OneBeacon is selective in regard to its reinsurers, principally placing reinsurance with those reinsurers with strong financial condition, industry ratings and underwriting ability. Management monitors the financial condition and ratings of its reinsurers on an ongoing basis. As a result, uncollectible amounts have historically not been significant. The following table provides a listing of OneBeacon’s top reinsurers, excluding industry pools and associations and those with affiliates within OneBeacon. The table shows the recoverable amounts, the percentage of total reinsurance recoverables and the reinsurers’ A.M. Best Company, Inc. (“A.M. Best”) ratings. The table excludes reinsurance balances that have been reclassified as held for sale; see note 14 for the reinsurance information related to those amounts.

	Balance at				A.M. Best
($ in millions)	September 30, 2012		% of total		Rating (1)
Hannover Ruckversich	$	6.4	15	%	A+
Hartford Steam Boiler	4.6		11	%	A++
Munich Reinsurance America	4.5		10	%	A+
Platinum Underwriters Re	4.1		9	%	A
Transatlantic Reinsurance	2.0		5	%	A

(1)A.M. Best ratings as detailed above are: “A++” (Superior, which is the highest of fifteen financial strength ratings), “A+” (Superior, which is the second highest of fifteen financial strength ratings) and “A” (Excellent, which is the third highest of fifteen financial strength ratings).