SLA California appoints Ross as chairman

THE Surplus Line Association of California (SLA) has elected Les Ross - the executive vice-president of San Francisco based Crump Insurance Services - as its new chairman.

The decision to elect Ross was made during the organisation’s 2010 Annual Meetings in San Francisco and Beverly Hills.

The president of Socius Insurance Services, Patrick Hanley, was elected vice chairman of the SLA, while the organisation’s members voted in Davis Moore, the president of Worldwide Facilities, Inc, as secretary treasurer.

Made up of 4,350 California surplus line broker licensees, the SLA is the official surplus lines advisory organisation to the California Department of Insurance.

Almost all of the surplus line insurance policies written in the State must be filed with the SLA for record keeping, statistical reporting and regulatory compliance, while it also has the responsibility for reviewing and evaluating the suitability of those insurers who wish to become eligible surplus line insurers in California.

In addition to the appointments of Ross, Hanley and Moore, the members of the SLA also elected 10 executive committee members – the previous SLA chairman John Edack of Arch Specialty Insurance Agency, Westchester Specialty Insurance Services’ Dean Adrighetto, Crouse & Associates’ Pamela Quilici, Frank Cravens of M.J. Hall & Company, Colemont Insurance Brokers’ Doris Barnett, Anne McNally of Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Gerald Sullivan of Gerald J. Sullivan & Associates, Inc, Brown & Riding Insurance Brokers’ Chris Brown, Western Re/Managers Insurance Services’ Ian Fitt and Phil Mazur of Swett & Crawford.

The former Insurance Commissioner Justice Harry Low was also elected by the SLA’s members to serve a one year term as the organisation’s mediator. This motion to appoint Low as mediator was passed by a unanimous vote.