Zurich North America business insurance

Overview

Zurich North America is the U.S. and Canadian business of Zurich Insurance Group, and a broker market for mid-size and large companies rather than a main-street small business carrier. The group ranked No. 5 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $14.62 billion, based on NAIC market share data, a 3.0% share. It is fourth nationally in workers' comp and surety, second in allied property lines (wind, hail and other perils written alongside fire), third in crime, fifth in inland marine and excess workers' comp, sixth in equipment breakdown, seventh in commercial auto, eighth in ocean marine and ninth in fidelity bonds.

The parent, Zurich Insurance Group, was founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1872 and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In the U.S., the business now presents itself as Zurich U.S., headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, with nearly 9,000 U.S. employees, and says it serves more than 90% of the Fortune 500. The NAIC group is a small set of companies: Zurich American Insurance Company, Zurich American of Illinois, American Guarantee and Liability, American Zurich, Steadfast Insurance Company, the Universal Underwriters companies (auto dealers), Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland and Colonial American Casualty and Surety, Empire Fire and Marine, Centre Insurance and Rural Community Insurance, its agricultural company.

Zurich sells through brokers and agents. The Farmers Exchanges, which a Zurich subsidiary manages, are owned by their policyholders and file as a separate NAIC group; see Farmers Insurance.

History

Zurich Insurance Group dates to 1872. Its U.S. commercial book grew in part through acquisitions; the oldest piece it highlights is Universal Underwriters, started in Kansas City in 1922 to cover fire risks for 85 auto dealers and bought by Zurich in 1981. Zurich still calls itself one of the country's leading insurers of auto dealers, for both property-casualty and the finance and insurance (F&I) products dealers sell.

Recent changes:

• 2022: Zurich created a standalone E&S business unit focused on surplus lines brokers.
• 2023: Zurich's U.S. holding company bought SpearTip, a cyber counterintelligence firm that does managed detection and response, incident response and forensics, adding to the cyber services of Zurich Resilience Solutions, the risk engineering arm.
• 2025: Zurich formed a Specialties unit combining construction, surety and financial lines, and announced a U.S. middle market expansion with more than 100 new underwriting roles in all regions.
• 2026: Zurich completed its £8.1 billion acquisition of Beazley on October 1, 2026; Beazley joins Zurich's global specialty business under Kristof Terryn, the former Zurich North America CEO. In September 2026 Zurich selected Alex Wells, who ran the U.S. middle market, programs, captives and direct markets businesses, as CEO of Zurich U.S., subject to approvals, after the departure of Sierra Signorelli.

Business insurance products

Zurich's U.S. commercial business runs through a few large units:

• U.S. Middle Market (with Programs, Captives and Direct Markets, the largest U.S. segment): property, casualty, financial lines and specialty coverage organized by industry, for construction, technology, manufacturing, life sciences, and financial and professional services. Brokers get tools such as on-demand loss runs and "Smart Renewals," which renew many accounts without full re-underwriting. Captive programs moved into this unit in 2025; see what is a captive insurance company and how does it work?.
• U.S. National Accounts: large national and multinational companies.
• Specialties: construction (including builders risk and construction casualty), surety, and financial lines such as management liability and the Trust Protector Policy for banks and wealth managers. Recent launches include a fronted master builder's risk program for mega-projects and a builders risk product for data center construction.
• Programs: underwriting authority delegated to program administrators; for example, a 2025 workers' comp program for small and mid-size restaurants and hotels through Origin Specialty Underwriters in 26 states.
• E&S: a standalone unit, created in 2022, writing surplus lines business through wholesale brokers.
• Auto dealers and agriculture: Universal Underwriters for dealer property-casualty and F&I products, and Rural Community Insurance for agriculture.

Who it insures

Zurich's sweet spot is the mid-size and large company with a broker: contractors and project owners, Manufacturer insurance, technology and life sciences firms, auto dealers, energy companies, financial institutions and multinationals. Its workers' comp ranking (fourth nationally) reflects that casualty focus. Small businesses are more likely to reach Zurich through a program administrator or an online agency than directly; Zurich was one of the insurers on Simply Business's panel when Travelers bought that agency in 2017.

How to buy

Through a broker. Commercial coverage is placed by retail brokers and agents for admitted business, wholesale brokers for E&S, and program administrators for program business.

Zurich Resilience Solutions provides risk engineering, including construction safety work with telematics and camera-based coaching and, since 2026, a data center risk advisory practice. Ask your broker what risk engineering hours come with the premium before you bind, since service levels are negotiated account by account.

Claims

Report claims through your broker or through Zurich's claims pages at zurichna.com, using the policy number and the issuing company shown on your declarations page. On a large-deductible or captive program, ask your broker for the claim service instructions agreed with Zurich before the first loss, so everyone knows who reports what and to whom.

Financial strength and ratings

Zurich stated in March 2025 that its financial strength is rated A+ (Superior), stable, by AM Best and AA, stable, by S&P. AM Best's A+ is one notch below the A++ held by Travelers, Chubb and Berkshire's main companies, but above the A- minimum that many contracts specify.

For 2025, Zurich Insurance Group reported record net income attributable to shareholders of $6.8 billion, property-casualty gross written premiums above $50 billion for the first time and a P&C combined ratio of 92.6%, according to Reinsurance News. In J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study, Zurich returned to the rankings at No. 10.

Strengths and weaknesses

Zurich is a natural fit for a construction, manufacturing or multinational account that needs casualty, property and surety from one strong carrier with engineers behind it. It is not built for a five-person retail shop, and 2026 brings real change: a new U.S. CEO pending approval and the integration of Beazley's specialty business.

• Strengths: A+ (Superior) from AM Best and AA from S&P (as stated in March 2025); fourth nationally in workers' comp and surety; deep construction offering, from wrap-ups to data center builders risk; global network for multinational programs; a century-long specialty in auto dealers.
• Weaknesses: Little direct access for small businesses, which reach Zurich mainly through programs or agencies; AM Best rating one notch below the A++ tier; leadership turnover in 2026 and the Beazley integration may reshuffle specialty underwriting.

How to contact Zurich North America