Business Moves

LWG Consulting

LWG Consulting launched a new Mexico subsidiary, operating as LWG Consulting Mexico, S.A. de C.V, based in Mexico City.

The new location will focus on providing property loss investigation, failure analysis/damage assessment and litigation support to insurance carriers, legal professionals, governmental agencies and corporations throughout Latin America.

GEICO

GEICO plans on filling more than 500 new positions at its Macon, Ga., office.

The Macon office already employs more than 5,400 associates. Available job openings include customer service, claims, emergency roadside service, glass claims and salvage total loss.

In a separate announcement, the company’s regional office in Fredericksburg, Va., plans to hire more than 725 new associates for growth and replacement in 2014. The office already employs more than 3,300 associates.

The company is also hiring college graduates for liability claims customer service positions, as well as for the Management Development Program (MDP), one of GEICO’s leadership programs.

Engle Martin, Tortura

Atlanta-based independent claims adjusting firm Engle Martin & Associates Inc. has acquired Totura & Co., a regional claims adjusting firm based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Terms were not disclosed.

John Quinn, president and CEO of Engle Martin said the deal will strengthen his firm’s market presence throughout Florida and the rest of the southeastern United States.

Totura operates throughout Florida and in Georgia and Virginia.

Esurance

Esurance, the direct-to-consumer insurance company, will open a new sales and claims office in Greenville, S.C., this summer that will employ up to 450 residents.

The insurers said job openings will include a variety of claims roles, including first-notice-of-loss associates and express and material damage adjusters.

York, American Claims Services

New Jersey-based York Risk Services Group, a claims administration and risk management services provider, has acquired the assets of American Claims Services Inc. (ACSI) based in Houston, Texas, and Destrehan, La.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

ACSI provides claims adjusting services primarily to the London market, as well as first response and medical management services to the energy sector.

The acquisition is part of York’s strategy of expanding the breadth of its specialized loss adjusting and medical cost containment services.

Chris Heckert, vice president of Generational Capital Markets, was advisor to ACSI in this transaction.

Patriot National, Stonewood

Fla.-based Patriot National Insurance Group, a workers’ compensation insurance provider, announced a partnership with Stonewood National Insurance Co., an affiliate of the Franklin Holdings Ltd. Group.

Under their partnership arrangement, Patriot will write workers’ compensation insurance through its managing general agency Patriot Underwriters Inc. Patriot will serve as a program administrator with defined underwriting and claims settlement authority.

For Stonewood, the agreement will further build its specialty workers’ compensation platform. The program is focused in select Midwestern states on segments within the health care industry.

This is Patriot’s second partnership with an A-rated insurance carrier and comes shortly after a $28-million capital infusion into Patriot’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Guarantee Insurance Co.

Allianz, UnipolSai

Germany’s Allianz SE plans to buy part of Italian insurer UnipolSai’s property/casualty insurance business in a deal worth up to 440 million euros ($612 million).

Allianz said that the business had premiums last year of 1.1 billion euros and has 500 employees serving 1.5 million customers in Italy.

The deal requires regulatory approval.

Kemper

Kemper Corp. is realigning its property/casualty business, resulting in one property/casualty segment for financial reporting purposes, beginning with the first quarter of 2014.

The new Kemper Property & Casualty segment will consist of: