Berkley Southeast Insurance Group Names Ben Nichols Vice President, Georgia Branch Manager

Berkley Southeast Insurance Group today announced that Ben Nichols has joined Berkley Southeast Insurance Group (BSIG) as vice president, Georgia branch manager.

Ben will be responsible for launching the BSIG strategy in the state of Georgia. He will begin to recruit, hire and train a fully staffed branch underwriting team in the greater Atlanta area. He will be responsible for building an agency distribution in Georgia that will write small to mid-market commercial accounts. Ben will report directly to the president of BSIG, Dennis Barger, CIC, who recently joined W. R. Berkley Corporation to form a new regional company focused on six Southeastern states.

According to Dennis, "Ben has a great deal of underwriting experience combined with many deep personal agency relationships in Georgia, which will be valuable to our success. We are very fortunate to have somebody of Ben's caliber join us to lead our new Georgia branch office."

Ben has had a strong underwriting and leadership insurance career, having held senior management positions at other major insurance companies. He graduated from University of Alabama with a B. S. in Business Administration and Marketing, and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation.

For further information about the products and services available from the Georgia branch of Berkley Southeast, please contact Ben Nichols at ben.nichols@berkleysig.com.

About Berkley Southeast Insurance Group

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Berkley Southeast will offer standard commercial lines insurance services and expertise to a wide range of businesses in six Southeastern states: Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina through the independent agency system. Berkley Southeast will underwrite products on behalf of W. R. Berkley Corporation's regional member insurance companies, which are all rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, Inc.