Insurance group sees information, understanding as antidotes to peril. The Chubb Group is rolling out a set of free risk-mitigation services for its high-end clients. The Warren, N.J.-based network of 8,000 independent insurance agencies and brokerages says its new “Signature Suite” of services is intended to “protect the lifestyles of high-net-worth individuals and families in an era of complex and proliferating risks.”

The new offering – aimed at Chubb customers reckoned to be worth at least $5 million – includes consultations to help families gauge their susceptibility to risks like identity theft, kidnapping, home invasion or other hazards to life, limb and property. Signature Suite also provides travel safety and emergency medical services, including access to web-based reports on terrorist threats, political instability and airline safety.

Equal weight 

On the home front, Signature Suite users get advice on managing household employees from online sources or employment attorneys and run background checks on cooks, nannies, drivers, yacht captains and other employees. Collectors can also use auction-house-grade software to build and store text and photographic records of their valuables, and keep track of purchase prices, appraisals and provenances.

“This comprehensive risk management program is tailored to help protect and enhance the lifestyles of affluent individuals and families,” says Chubb Personal Insurance COO Andrew McElwee Jr.” We believe that risk management is just as important as sound investment, tax and legal advice.”

Mark Schussel, Chubb’s public relations manager, adds that the company has gained expertise as a service provider to high-net-worth individuals and families through appraisal visits to its customers homes – to the tune of about 60,000 such visits a year. “For years now we’ve been going into our clients homes,” says Schussel. “That has given us insights into risks and a sense of how to advise our clients on ways to lessen what we see as acute risks.”

Schussel adds that it isn’t just possessions and money that put the well-to-do at risk – it’s also a result of their cutting-edge lifestyles. “The affluent travel more, whether for business or pleasure, own more homes, some in different countries, and they tend to first adopters of technologies, which can put them at risk of identity theft or cyber stalking.”

In addition to working with high-net-worth individuals, Chubb partners with high-end investment advisors and other wealth managers to increase awareness of personal insurance and other risk-management tools. It also works extensively as an insurance provider to family offices. –FWR

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