Dateline: 01/10/2001
Protects public and notaries from notarization errors
BALTIMORE, Md., October 1, 2001 -- Zurich North America Surety today announced its new Notary Bond/Errors & Omissions Package to serve notaries public. The package, distributed through the company’s network of licensed independent agents, combines a notary public bond and an errors & omissions liability policy. The bond is intended to protect the public against harm or loss due to an improper notarization. The errors & omissions (E&O) liability policy is an optional coverage that supplements the notary bond. It protects the notary public against loss of personal assets if the claims and losses under the bond are based upon any negligent act, error or omission of the notary.
The thirty-one states that require notaries public also require notary bonds. To date, 20 states or localities have approved filings for the new Zurich package, which is available to current Zurich North America Surety notary bondholders and notaries public. They are: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.
Eric Barnes, assistant vice president of Commercial Surety, said, "This package offers notaries dual coverage in one convenient package -- the notary bond provides necessary coverage for their customers and the E&O policy protects their own ability to do business."
Registered agents can find both the notary bond form and the E&O policy form at Zurich North America Surety’s on-line forms library at www.zurichna.com/surety.
Zurich North America Surety (formerly part of The Fidelity and Deposit Companies or F&D) is a leading provider of commercial and contract surety bonds for the construction, commercial and government markets in all 50 states, through a network of approximately 5,000 independent agents and 32 field offices.
Zurich North America (www.zurichna.com) is a leading commercial property-casualty, health and accident insurance provider serving the multinational, middle market and small business sectors in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., Zurich North America has 11,650 employees and wrote $8.0 billion in premiums in 2000. Zurich North America includes the Zurich U.S. business units (Corporate Customer, Middle Markets, Small Business, Strategic Partnerships, Construction, Specialties, Zurich Global Energy, Warranty, Surety & Financial Enterprises and Empire Fire and Marine), as well as Universal Underwriters Group and Zurich North America Canada. The Zurich U.S. pool of companies is rated A+ (superior) by A.M. Best and AA (very strong) by Standard & Poor's. Zurich North America is a member of the Zurich Financial Services Group.
Zurich Financial Services Group (www.zurich.com) is a global leader in the financial services industry, providing its customers with integrated and web-enabled solutions in the area of financial protection and asset accumulation. The Group concentrates its activities in five business segments: non-life and life insurance, reinsurance, Farmers Management Services, and asset management. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the Group's worldwide presence builds on strong positions in its three key markets -- the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. It has offices in more than 60 countries reaching about 35 million customers and employing about 70,000 people. The Group achieved gross premiums of USD 50 billion. This amount includes insurance deposits as well as premiums from the Farmers P&C Group. The net income was USD 2.33 billion. On December 31, 2000, the Group had USD 440 billion of assets under management, of which USD 259 billion represent funds managed for third-party institutional and retail customers.
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Media contacts:
Michael Dilworth
Surety & Financial Enterprises
410-261-7942
michael.dilworth@zurichna.com
Neera Varma
Surety Marketing and Product Development
410-261-7976
neera.varma@zurichna.com
Annette Powers
Miller DeMartine Group
718-768-1911
apowers@mdgpr.com
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Actual wording of bond determines coverage, exclusions and limitations and is not altered by statements herein. Coverage is provided by Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, Colonial American Casualty and Surety Company, Mountbatten Surety Company, or by another member of the Zurich Financial Services Group. Coverage is not available in all states.