QBE North America business insurance

Overview

QBE North America is the U.S. division of QBE Insurance Group, a Sydney-based global insurer and reinsurer that traces its roots to 1886. Its NAIC group was ranked No. 45 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $2.05 billion, based on NAIC market share data. Other liability, which holds general, excess, professional and management liability, accounts for $1.16 billion of that, followed by workers' compensation, allied lines property and aircraft. QBE does not rank in the national top 10 in any single commercial line. The group's all-lines premium of $7.70 billion is far larger than its commercial figure mainly because of crop insurance written by NAU Country, which falls outside the 17 commercial lines in the ranking.

The NAIC group includes QBE Insurance Corporation, QBE Specialty Insurance Company (its surplus lines carrier), General Casualty Company of Wisconsin, General Casualty Insurance Company, NAU Country Insurance Company, North Pointe, Praetorian, Regent, Southern Pilot and Stonington. The division is headquartered in New York, and the insurance companies list their administrative office at One QBE Way in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the former General Casualty home.

Julie Wood has been CEO of QBE North America since September 2023. The parent, QBE Insurance Group Limited, is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. QBE sells through brokers and agents, wholesale brokers and program administrators; it does not sell directly to businesses.

History

QBE's name comes from three Australian insurers: the North Queensland Insurance Company (founded 1886), Bankers' and Traders' Insurance (1921) and Equitable Probate and General Insurance (acquired 1959). They merged in 1973 into QBE Insurance Group Limited, listed in Australia.

In the United States, QBE opened a representative office in 1991, formed QBE Reinsurance Corporation in 1993, QBE Insurance Corporation in 1997 and QBE Specialty Insurance Company in 2002. It then bought its way into scale: Praetorian Financial Group, the General Casualty companies and Unigard in 2007, North Pointe Holdings in 2008, and NAU Country Insurance Company in 2010.

The last several years have been about narrowing that footprint:

• 2018 to 2019: QBE agreed in November 2018 to sell its Farmers Union Insurance business, covering personal lines, farm owners and a telecommunications program, to National General.
• April 2022: QBE launched a Specialty Casualty unit, hiring a team from Berkshire Hathaway to write admitted and non-admitted primary, lead umbrella and excess liability.
• June 2024: after a strategic review, QBE announced an orderly exit from its North American middle-market business, about $0.5 billion of 2023 premium that had performed poorly for several years, with a restructuring charge of about $100 million. Policies were non-renewed in line with state rules, with most of the reduction in 2025. QBE said in February 2026 that the run-off of non-core lines was near completion.
• April 2025: QBE launched a shared and layered Commercial Property product for large companies.

Business insurance products

QBE North America is organized into Commercial, Specialty and Crop businesses.

Commercial. This covers specialty casualty, construction, commercial property and programs:

• Specialty Casualty writes excess and surplus lines general liability and products liability, primary and excess, construction primary and excess, and transportation excess, for accounts the standard market does not readily serve.
• Construction writes auto, general liability, property, umbrella and workers' compensation for contractors with account premium of $100,000 to $3 million, including general contractors, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, excavation, interior carpentry, painting and flooring trades. Residential work is limited to artisan contractors, and territory restrictions apply.
• Commercial Property offers all-risk shared and layered capacity for Fortune 1000-type accounts: total insured values of at least $500 million, minimum premium of $100,000, and up to $100 million per occurrence for fire, $10 million for Tier 1 named windstorm and $10 million aggregate for California earthquake.
• Programs works with program administrators and MGAs on admitted and non-admitted niche programs (general liability, property and retail, flood and workers' compensation) for small and middle-market accounts. A September 2025 example is a pay-as-you-sell general liability program with Assureful for online marketplace sellers. See program business: niche insurance through program administrators.

Specialty. Accident and health (including medical stop-loss for self-funded employers and Agora, a stop-loss group captive program), aviation, financial lines (professional, management, cyber and transactional liability), healthcare liability and environmental liability.

Crop. NAU Country Insurance Company writes federal multi-peril crop insurance and related products for farmers.

Who it insures

QBE today is a specialist, not a Main Street carrier. Its sweet spots are mid-size and large companies buying D&O, E&O, cyber or excess casualty; contractors in its construction appetite; large property schedules looking for a layered participant; employers with self-funded health plans; and niche programs. Small businesses usually reach QBE paper only through a program administrator or insurtech partner, never directly. Since the middle-market exit, a typical mid-size package account outside construction is no longer in appetite.

How to buy

Work through a broker or agent appointed with QBE; the company describes its distribution as a limited and preferred network. E&S casualty comes through wholesale brokers, programs through their administrators, and crop coverage through NAU Country's crop agents. QBE publishes appetite guides for construction and specialty casualty, which a broker can review before submitting. Agents use the QBE agent portal; there is no online quoting for business owners.

Claims

Report a business claim through your agent or broker, or call QBE's 24/7 claims line at 844-723-2524 (844-QBE-CLAIMS), which was still the published number in September 2026. Claims can also be emailed or faxed with the loss details each claim page lists (policy number, insured contact, date and description of loss). Workers' compensation claims have an online form, and QBE publishes a preferred provider network directory. Cyber claims and events go to the same hotline or the cyber claims team by email; because cyber, D&O and E&O policies are usually claims-made, report a potential claim within the policy period. QBE's site also runs a catastrophe center with reporting tips for hurricanes and wildfires.

Financial strength and ratings

QBE's ratings page, as captured in September 2026, lists its U.S. insurance companies at A (Excellent) from AM Best and AA- from S&P, both with stable outlooks, with Fitch rating QBE Insurance Corporation and QBE Reinsurance Corporation AA- (stable). The group-level actions it lists are dated May 21, 2026 (S&P), June 10, 2026 (Fitch) and July 30, 2026 (AM Best).

For 2025, QBE Group reported gross written premium of $23.96 billion and a combined operating ratio of 91.9%. North America wrote $7.66 billion, up 5% (9% excluding run-off lines), with a 97.7% combined operating ratio, improved from 98.9% in 2024. Crop ran at 88.1%, but QBE said the core North American business tracked behind plan because of rising medical costs in accident and health and large aviation losses.

Strengths and weaknesses

QBE North America brings the capital and ratings of a large global group to a specialist U.S. book. Its U.S. results have lagged the rest of the group for years, though, and the business has been reshaped repeatedly.

• Strengths: AA- from S&P and Fitch and A (Excellent) from AM Best, backed by a group with $23.96 billion of premium. Real depth in E&S casualty, financial lines, construction and A&H. Large shared and layered property capacity. A big crop franchise through NAU Country.
• Weaknesses: North America's 97.7% combined ratio in 2025 trailed the group's 91.9%. The 2024 middle-market exit and earlier sales mean appetite can change and accounts can be non-renewed. Little direct access for small businesses. Phone numbers and service vary by business unit, so your broker is the practical point of contact.

How to contact QBE North America