Obsidian Insurance business insurance

Overview

Obsidian is a fronting carrier. Business owners don't shop for it. It issues policies for managing general agents (MGAs), managing general underwriters and program administrators, then reinsures almost all of the risk with a panel of reinsurers. It calls itself a "hybrid" program carrier because it keeps a small share of each program, about 5% on average in 2025, instead of passing through 100%. If your declarations page names Obsidian Specialty Insurance Company, Obsidian Insurance Company or Obsidian Pacific Insurance Company, an MGA program put you there.

The NAIC's OBS HOLDINGS GRP ranked No. 86 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $866.6 million, based on NAIC market share data, about 0.18% of the national commercial market. It is not among the 10 largest writers of any single commercial line nationally. Its largest commercial lines were other liability ($353.4 million), fire ($298.1 million), commercial auto ($155.4 million) and inland marine ($38.3 million).

The group is three insurers under Obsidian Insurance Holdings, Inc., which AM Best rates together as Obsidian Insurance Group:

• Obsidian Specialty Insurance Company: the excess and surplus lines carrier, domiciled in Delaware.
• Obsidian Insurance Company: an admitted insurer, domiciled in Ohio.
• Obsidian Pacific Insurance Company: an admitted insurer, domiciled in Delaware.

Obsidian is based in New York. Bill Jewett, formerly president of Endurance Specialty, is CEO. Craig Rappaport, formerly COO of The Hanover's specialty property and casualty business and a founding team member of AIX Group, is president and COO. Genstar Capital, the private equity firm that formed Obsidian, has agreed to sell it to Protective Life.

History

• 2020: Genstar Capital forms Obsidian with Jewett and Rappaport to act as a conduit between specialist underwriters and reinsurance capital.
• July 2021: Obsidian agrees to buy Western Home Insurance Company, a California-domiciled admitted insurer incorporated in 1973, from Western National Mutual Insurance. Together with Obsidian Insurance Company, it gives program managers countrywide admitted capability, including California. The insurer was to be renamed after closing.
• January 2022: David Lockton joins the board.
• 2023: Obsidian strengthens reserves after poor results on commercial auto programs, then raises rates, exits programs and moves away from the hardest classes. Jeff Wittlich, who led Swiss Re America's MGA and program business, becomes chief underwriting officer, and Rappaport is named president.
• 2024: It records its first full year of profitability, according to AM Best.
• November 2025: It raises capital with $40 million of 8% senior notes due 2030, which Kroll Bond Rating Agency rates BBB-, plus $30 million of equity from existing holders including Genstar. Group capital and surplus is about $131.65 million, and more than 200 reinsurers support its programs.
• April 28, 2026: Protective Life Insurance Company, the main subsidiary of Protective Life Corporation and part of Tokyo-based Dai-ichi Life Group, agrees to buy Obsidian from Genstar. Terms are not disclosed. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approval.

Business insurance products

Obsidian has no product catalog of its own. Each program administrator designs its coverage and underwriting rules, Obsidian approves them and issues the policies, and an individual panel of reinsurers takes most of the risk on each program. Obsidian earns fronting fees and keeps a quota share slice.

AM Best's May 2026 report gives the shape of the book. In 2025:

• direct premium written was $956.4 million across 38 programs;
• property and general liability were close to 60% of gross premium, followed by commercial auto liability and claims-made liability lines;
• about 6% was homeowners business;
• the largest states were Florida, Texas, California, New York and Georgia.

Programs that have announced Obsidian as their carrier include:

• DOXA's Arris: an E&S commercial property program launched in 2024.
• Ledgebrook: an architects and engineers product launched in 2024. See Architect and engineer insurance.
• Converge: cyber capacity for companies with up to $1 billion in revenue, announced in February 2025.

For how these structures work, see program business: niche insurance through program administrators and fronting arrangements and fronting carriers: how they work.

Who it insures

Whoever the programs on its paper target, which in 2025 ranged from coastal commercial property to contractors' liability, commercial auto, professional liability and cyber. Admitted programs run on Obsidian Insurance Company or Obsidian Pacific. Hard-to-place risks go to Obsidian Specialty, which only a licensed surplus lines broker can place. Commercial auto has been the toughest class. After the 2023 losses, Obsidian exited some programs and raised rates, so Trucking company insurance and other fleet buyers may find fewer auto programs on its paper. See why commercial auto insurance keeps getting more expensive.

How to buy

You can't buy from Obsidian directly, and its website is aimed at MGAs and reinsurers. The path runs like this:

1. Your retail agent, often working through a wholesale broker, submits your business to an MGA or program administrator.
2. The program quotes and binds within its authority.
3. The policy is issued on Obsidian paper.

The program administrator handles billing, endorsements, certificates and loss runs. Before you bind, ask your agent three things: who handles claims, whether the policy is admitted or surplus lines, and what happens at renewal if the program moves to another carrier. Program capacity does move between fronting carriers, and your coverage forms can change with it.

Claims

Obsidian publishes no claims phone number or claims page. Report a claim the way your policy and the program's claims notice tell you, usually to the MGA's own claims unit or a third-party administrator it has appointed. If you can't find instructions, ask the agent who placed the policy, or write to Obsidian at [email protected] and include your policy number. Under a fronting arrangement, Obsidian is still the insurer on the policy and is responsible for paying covered claims, even though reinsurers reimburse it for most of the cost.

Financial strength and ratings

All three insurers carry an A- (Excellent) financial strength rating from AM Best. On April 30, 2026, after the Protective deal was announced, AM Best placed the ratings under review with positive implications. AM Best expects Obsidian to be strategically important to Protective and to receive group support once the deal closes.

In its May 2026 report, AM Best assessed:

• Balance sheet strength: very strong. Risk-adjusted capitalization returned to the strongest level of Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio after the 2025 capital raise.
• Operating performance: adequate. Profitable since 2024, with a 75.8% net combined ratio in 2025.
• Business profile: limited.
• Enterprise risk management: appropriate.

AM Best also flagged the very low retention, about 4% to 5%, and the heavy dependence on reinsurers. It noted that all reinsurers rated below A are fully collateralized, and that Obsidian verifies letters of credit independently after past industry fraud involving them. Policyholders' surplus was $127.9 million at year-end 2025.

Strengths and weaknesses

Obsidian has grown quickly, to more than $1 billion of gross premium in five years, with a seasoned program-carrier management team and a pending sale to a large life insurer. For a policyholder, the carrier matters less than the program and the claims administrator behind it.

• Strengths: It offers both admitted (countrywide, including California) and surplus lines paper. More than 200 reinsurers sit behind its programs, with collateral required from those rated below A. Its ratings are under review with positive implications because Protective, part of Dai-ichi Life Group, is buying it. Its leaders previously ran Endurance, AIX and Swiss Re's program business.
• Weaknesses: You can't buy, quote, service or report claims through Obsidian directly, and it lists no phone number. Its capital is small next to its premium, so policyholders depend on reinsurers paying their share. Commercial auto reserve problems hurt 2023 results. Ownership will change when the Protective deal closes, and a program can move to another carrier at renewal. Surplus lines policies on Obsidian Specialty generally fall outside state guaranty fund protection.

How to contact Obsidian Insurance