NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
Contact: John Huff

ABIR, ABIC team with Bermuda government to bring home local students and residents
Bermuda’s leading international insurers & reinsurers pitch in to reunite families during pandemic

Hamilton, Bermuda, April 8, 2020—The Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers (ABIR) teamed up with the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC), in cooperation with the government of Bermuda, to bring a group of Bermuda students and island residents home to their families amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bermuda government officials reached out to both industry organisations to request help after it became apparent Bermuda students were not going to make it home from Canada before the island’s shelter-in-place restrictions took effect. Working quickly, ABIR and ABIC made collaborative arrangements to charter a plane to offer the stranded individuals a ride home.

The LearJet35 left Toronto Friday with five passengers aboard, arriving in Bermuda just a few hours before the island’s lockdown began.

Albert Benchimol, President and CEO of AXIS Capital and chair of ABIR, said: “Reuniting Bermudian students with their families together during the pandemic is a small gesture that means a great deal. ABIR member companies are pleased to work with ABIC and the Bermuda government to ensure a safe homecoming for Bermudian students studying in Canada.”

“This was an impressive and very commendable initiative, and underscores these companies’ deep commitment to the island,” said Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone, founder of Lili Bermuda Perfumery and Bermuda’s Honorary Consul of Canada.

“ABIR and ABIC were pleased to come together to address an immediate need in our community,” said John M. Huff, President & CEO of ABIR, and Richard Winchell, CEO of ABIC, in a joint statement. “Bermuda’s international business sector remains committed to Bermuda’s health and economic recovery from COVID-19.”

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About ABIR: The Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers (ABIR) represents Bermuda’s major property and casualty insurers and reinsurers doing business in 150 countries. Bermuda is an internationally recognized center of global expertise on underwriting for catastrophe, climate risk and cyber-risk transfer products, along with other specialty insurance and reinsurance. For more information, please visit: www.abir.bm. Follow us on Twitter at @ABIR_Bermuda.