A stream of submissions for specialised school insurance coverage has been attracted by Scholastic Risk Services (SRS), a newly-formed division of Arthur J. Gallagher (Bermuda).

The division was formed just last month to market the broad excess liability and educators' legal liability products of Bermuda-based School, College and University Underwriters Limited (SCUUL). The programmes available from SCUUL were, until recently, only available to colleges, universities and independent primary and secondary schools.

But with the formation of SRS, and SCUUL's unique relationship with Arthur Gallagher's Bermuda office, SCUUL'S capacity is available to public school district pools or large public school districts.

SRS director, Peter Mullen, said captives or other insurance groups with good loss histories, and which represent several districts in a combined insurance programme, may also access the SCUUL market. He described the SCUUL/Gallagher arrangement as a natural fit.

"They have the product which has been created by educators for educators, and we have the market in public entities,'' he said. He made it clear, however, that SRS's role is a wholesale one and the SCUUL programme is available to all retail brokers on a full commission basis.

Given an "A'' rating by A.M. Best, SCUUL writes limits of up to $10 million per programme, excess of a self-insured retention of $100,000.

SCUUL's general liability policy includes auto liability for bus fleets, and covers sports activities, physical and sexual abuse, child care, incidental medical malpractice and corporal punishment.

Its educators' legal liability cover provides institutions and their staffs with protection against errors and omissions, directors and officers, wrongful termination, failure to educate and discrimination claims.

Arthur J. Gallagher has been operating in Bermuda's vast expanding alternative risk transfer market for more than 20 years.

The firm has been providing extensive captive consulting services as well as insurance and reinsurance programmes designed to meet the particular needs of the self-insured and other formalised risk retention vehicles, for both public and commercial entities.

They operate a number of specialised all-lines "basket aggregate'' programmes for groups such as religious and other non-profit organisations, while providing on-the-spot access to Bermuda's finite risk and high-layer excess liability markets.