Narragansett Bay Appoints Industry Expert Dale Hammond to Board of Directors

NEWS RELEASE

PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND – October 2, 2012

Dale S. Hammond, a longtime property casualty insurance executive and resident of Lyme, CT, has joined the Board of Directors of the Narragansett Bay Insurance Company (NBIC).

Todd Hart, NBIC Chief Executive Officer, and Stewart H. “Nick” Steffey Jr., Executive Chairman of the Board and Founder of the company, announced the appointment of Hammond to the Board.

“Dale’s extensive knowledge of the insurance industry, especially his expertise in strategic and operational issues, will be a valuable asset to NBIC as the company continues to grow and make improvements,” Hart said.

“Dale has been in the insurance business for more than 40 years, and for many of those years, he headed personal lines businesses that had phenomenal success,” Steffey said.

Hammond started his career in 1970 with Travelers Insurance Companies. During his 25 years with that company, he led a multi-disciplinary team that developed the first computer-based automobile and homeowners quoting and policy issuing system. He also headed Travelers’ product management sector, which was responsible for product development and maintenance, state filings, marketing programs and financial results of different lines.

During his management of Travelers’ automobile, home and personal lines of insurance, the financial performance of those lines dramatically improved. A critical measure that grew profitability was the establishment of stand-alone domestic personal lines companies in Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Hammond then served as president and CEO of the First Floridian Insurance Co., achieving exceptional financial results while reducing the firm’s catastrophe exposure by 60 percent. Following  four years there, he joined Kemper Auto and Home, leading the company’s personal lines business. He overhauled the company and orchestrated its sale to the Unitrin Corp.

After the transition of Kemper to Unitrin, Hammond became president and CEO of the HomeWise Insurance Companies. He started two insurance firms and a management company that focused on dislocated homeowners markets along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In three years, revenues grew to more than $200 million, and the company merged with the First Home Insurance Company in 2011.

Hammond was    Co-Chair of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer.  He was also Chairman of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported by the property insurance industry. The institute works to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other risks to residential and commercial property by advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparedness practices.

About Narragansett Bay Insurance Company (NBIC)

Narragansett Bay Insurance Company, headquartered in Rhode Island, offers specialty insurance services and products to homeowners through an extensive network of independent agents along the eastern seaboard. Backed by highly rated reinsurers, NBIC has undergone a rigorous examination of its financial security and has received an “A, Exceptional” Financial Stability Rating (FSR) from Demotech, Inc., an independent financial analysis and actuarial services firm for property and casualty insurers. To find more information on NBIC, visit www.NBIC.com.
For more information contact John Houle at 401.831.6123 or john@www.jhctesting.com.

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