News Releases

HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Corporate Officers & Directors Assurance Ltd. (CODA), a Bermuda-based subsidiary of ACE Bermuda Insurance Ltd. (ACE Bermuda) today announced that effective March 1, 2008 all CODA policies will be issued at inception. The company also announced the launch of its new 2008 CODA Premier Policy aimed at the North American business market, featuring the ability for clients to customize their personal asset protection.

CODA is one of the leading providers of quality directors and officers insurance protecting the personal assets of individual directors and officers and is recognized as providing the broadest coverage generally available. The company, with recently affirmed financial strength ratings of A+ from both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s, offers clients up to US$75 million in capacity. All CODA products are backed by decades of specialized experience handling complex and high-profile Side-A claims.

Patrick Tannock, Chief Underwriting Officer of CODA, and Executive Vice President of ACE Bermuda commented, “The 2008 CODA Premier Policy represents an important step in CODA’s long history of providing premium Side-A insurance protection for individual directors and officers,” adding, “CODA’s commitment to issue our policies at inception is a significant differentiator in the D&O market and tangibly demonstrates our commitment to contract certainty.”

The new 2008 CODA Premier Policy offers an expanded scope of coverage, plus a menu of innovative Side-A options such as additional limits that allow clients to customize their insurance programs to address their specific needs.

These additional limit options respond to several recent claims which highlight the fact that different types of insureds under a Side-A policy may have competing interests in accessing the Side-A policy’s limit of liability. In today’s complex D&O claims environment, it is common for several different types of proceedings to be brought against several different groups of insured people at the same time, and it is increasingly difficult to resolve all of those multiple claims against multiple insured people in a single global settlement. As a result, partial settlements pursuant to which some claims against some insured people are settled without resolving other claims against other insured people are much more frequent.

The new 2008 CODA Premier Policy will give each group of insureds greater comfort that they will be protected regardless of what happens to other groups of insureds.

Highlights of the 2008 CODA Premier Policy¹ include:

• Distinct and additional limits of liability for Independent Directors, Officers, Retired Directors
• Most exclusions are either deleted, or significantly narrowed
• Enhanced triggers for DIC drop-down coverage
• Coverage for more types of non-litigation matters

Rees Fletcher, ACE Bermuda President & Chief Executive, said, “CODA has a proven track record of responding to our clients’ needs with new and enhanced products. Together with our unparalleled Side-A claims-handling expertise, our new 2008 CODA Premier Policy will offer invaluable and unprecedented personal asset protection for directors and officers.”

¹ Policy highlights are summaries only; please ask your Bermuda-based broker for a copy of the 2008 CODA Premier Policy form for terms and conditions. To see additional product features, visit www.acebermuda.com orwww.acecoda.com.

ACE Bermuda is a Bermuda-based subsidiary of ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE) and offers high-level excess liability, property and professional lines insurance products and services through Bermuda and non-US based intermediaries. ACE Bermuda offers a secure source of quality directors and officers insurance protection through its subsidiary, CODA. CODA was formed by its policyholders in 1986 and acquired by ACE Bermuda in 1993. Additional information can be found at www.acebermuda.com and www.acecoda.com.