Travelers 2008 Annual Report Download - page 189

THE TRAVELERS COMPANIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Continued)
•Target Risk Underwriting. The following units serve commercial businesses requiring specialized
product underwriting, claims handling and risk management services:
•National Property provides traditional and customized property insurance programs to large
and mid-sized customers, including office building owners, manufacturers, municipalities and
schools, retailers, and service businesses. These insurance programs cover losses on
buildings, business assets, personal property and business interruption exposures.
•Inland Marine provides insurance for goods in transit and movable objects for customers
such as jewelers, museums, contractors and the transportation industry. Builders’ risk
insurance is also offered to customers during the construction, renovation or repair of
buildings and other structures.
•Ocean Marine serves the marine transportation industry and related services, as well as
other businesses involved in international trade. The Company’s product offerings in this
unit fall under six main coverage categories: marine liability, cargo, hull and machinery,
protection and indemnity, pleasure craft, and marine property and liability.
•Excess Casualty serves small to mid-sized commercial businesses, offering mono-line
umbrella and excess coverage where the Company typically does not write the primary
casualty coverage, or where other business units within the Company prefer to access the
underwriting expertise and/or limit capacity of the Excess Casualty business unit.
•Boiler & Machinery serves small to large companies, offering comprehensive breakdown
coverages for equipment, including property and business interruption coverages. Through
the BoilerRe unit, Boiler & Machinery also serves other property casualty carriers that do
not have in-house expertise with reinsurance, underwriting, engineering, claim handling and
risk management services for this type of coverage.
•Global Accounts provides insurance to U.S. companies with foreign property and liability
exposures (home-foreign), and foreign organizations with property and liability exposures
located in the United States (reverse-flow), as part of a global program.
•Specialized Distribution. The following units market and underwrite their products to customers
predominantly through licensed wholesale, general and program agents that manage customers’
unique insurance requirements:
•Northland provides insurance coverage for the commercial transportation industry, as well as
commercial liability and package policies for small, difficult to place specialty classes of
commercial business on an admitted or excess and surplus lines basis.
•National Programs offers tailored property and casualty programs on an admitted basis for
customers with common risk characteristics or coverage requirements. Programs available
include those for entertainment, architects and engineers, equipment rental and golf
services.
Business Insurance also includes the Special Liability Group (which manages the Company’s
asbestos and environmental liabilities); the assumed reinsurance, health care, and certain international
and other runoff operations; and policies written by the Company’s Gulf operation (Gulf), which is in
runoff. These are collectively referred to as Business Insurance Other. In December 2008, the Company
177