National Indemnity Company

National Indemnity Company (NICO) is  one of the leading property/casualty members of the Berkshire Hathaway group of insurance companies. Stock control changed from founder Jack Ringwalt to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in March of 1967.  In 1985, National Indemnity Company evolved further, launching its Specialty Risk Division (now known as Professional Liability & Specialty Risks Division). This operation began in the Omaha office and eventually moved to Connecticut with the company’s reinsurance division. Today, National Indemnity is the largest property/casualty company in the world as measured by net worth.

The NICO Group offers traditional property/casualty reinsurance on both an excess-of-loss and a quota-share basis, catastrophe excess-of-loss treaty and facultative reinsurance, and primary insurance on an excess-of-loss basis for large or unusual risks for clients worldwide. The NICO Group periodically participates in underwriting placements with major brokers in the London Market through Berkshire Hathaway Insurance International, Ltd., based in Great Britain. Business is written through intermediary brokers or directly with the insured or reinsured. NICO also occasionally writes retroactive reinsurance contracts, which cover past loss events arising from property and casualty contracts written by ceding insurers and reinsurers.

In 2016, the National Indemnity Company, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company (“Medical Liability Mutual”), a writer of medical professional liability insurance. The acquisition price was approximately $2.5 billion.

In 2017 AIG and National Indemnity signed a major reinsurance deal - covering 80% of almost all of AIGs US commercial exposures for years 2015 and prior - worth almost $10bn.

In 2019 the National Indemnity Company signed a multi-year, quote-share reinsurance agreement with health insurtech Oscar, suggesting the health company may be expanding in the individual and small group markets.