AmTrust Financial Services
Carrier website links, underwriting access points, mapped product lines, and appetite notes in one place.
This appetite summary is only a guide. Confirm eligibility, submission requirements, restrictions, and binding authority directly with the carrier or underwriter before relying on it.
Carrier appetite summary
Workers Comp: - Preferred business: Small to mid-sized "Main Street" accounts such as offices, retail, restaurants, light manufacturing, auto-related risks, religious organizations and other standard classes, typically with 1–50 employees and stable operations. AmTrust emphasizes small commercial WC as its core line and focuses on partners with sound underwriting and risk control practices. - Basic eligibility: Generally expect at least one full-time employee beyond the owners, with minimum premium around $500 (higher for certain classes; some materials reference a $1,000 minimum for NY restaurants). Risks should typically have about three years in business with continuous workers compensation coverage and a favorable loss history, with a preferred loss ratio under roughly 40% for the experience period. Accounts with large schedules at a single location (e.g., more than ~75 employees on-site) or volatile loss experience will receive additional scrutiny. - Underwriting focus: AmTrust underwriters review class codes, operations, safety culture, claims trends and management’s commitment to loss control, not just payroll and NCCI rates. They “look at the story behind every account” and can make exceptions when risk controls and management quality offset issues like shorter experience, but agents should be ready to explain any negative loss trends or gaps in coverage in the submission. - Restricted/declined: They avoid or strictly limit high-hazard or structurally difficult WC classes often listed as excluded or outside appetite, including but not limited to: 24-hour operations; amusement parks/carnivals/circuses; many heavy construction trades (roofers, steel erection, blasting, boiler installation, coffer dams, mining, logging, sawmills); casual or day labor and employee leasing/PEOs/temporary staffing; foundries, hazardous manufacturing or handling/transportation of explosives or similar materials; hospitals and certain institutional healthcare; municipalities and some public entities; and various niche risks with severe or unusual exposure. Federal act exposures (USL&H, maritime, railroad, etc.) are typically not in appetite for the standard WC product. Agents should assume that heavy-construction, high-elevation, hazardous material, and large institutional accounts need prior discussion or will be declined in the small-business WC program. - Geographic notes: AmTrust writes WC on a multi-state basis and is a top national WC writer, but specific state and class appetites can vary. Certain states or classes (e.g., restaurant business in New York, or very high-hazard jurisdictions) may carry higher minimum premiums or tighter underwriting rules and schedule rating discretion. Public program and delegated-authority business is handled separately through program administrators. - Submission expectations: Producers should provide a fully completed ACORD workers compensation application, detailed description of operations, current and prior NCCI/independent bureau experience mods (if applicable), and at least three years of currently valued loss runs where available. Underwriters expect explanations for losses, safety improvements, and any gaps or non-renewals. Retail agents can submit via AmTrust’s online portal or their designated underwriting contact; program business flows through approved program administrators. - Broker/producer notes: AmTrust positions itself as a small-business partner, with online quote and bind, premium audit tools, and strong loss control support. Agents are expected to help insureds stay current with premium audits and classification changes and to counsel clients on WC compliance. Audit non-compliance may trigger additional charges, so producers should emphasize timely completion of audits and accurate payroll/class reporting. Commercial Property & Package (including BOP): - Preferred business: Small to mid-sized commercial insureds that pair well with AmTrust’s WC and liability offerings: offices, retail shops, light mercantile, service risks, certain light manufacturing, and other standard occupancies. The focus is on accounts where property is part of a broader small commercial package/BOP solution, often aligned with WC and GL. - Risk appetite: AmTrust favors well-maintained buildings, normal construction and protection (e.g., non-combustible or masonry with adequate sprinklers/alarms where warranted), and geographically dispersed property schedules that avoid severe catastrophe aggregation. They explicitly seek to avoid heavy CAT concentrations or properties in situations where a single event (e.g., coastal wind, wildfire, or civil disturbance) could severely impact a book of similar risks. - Restricted/declined: High-hazard property classes (e.g., heavy manufacturing with flammable processes; large-frame habitational with poor protection; high-aggregation coastal properties; or properties with significant vacancy or deterioration) are typically outside the standard small commercial appetite and may be redirected to E&S, declined, or require special program structures. Risks requiring non-standard manuscript property coverage or highly tailored engineering solutions are generally not targeted for the small commercial admitted property program. - Submission expectations: For small commercial property and packages, underwriters expect a complete ACORD application, current and prior carrier information, detailed building and occupancy data (construction, age, protection, updates, square footage and usage), schedules of locations, and any recent losses with explanations and remediation steps. If CAT exposure is material, they will review distances to coast, flood zones, and prior CAT loss history. - Broker notes: Property and package are often structured to complement AmTrust WC and EPLI, so producers gain best traction when presenting bundled accounts. Agents should be prepared for underwriters to push deductibles, sublimits, or coverage terms to manage CAT exposure, especially in coastal or other CAT-prone regions. Commercial Umbrella / Excess: - Product structure: AmTrust offers commercial umbrella and excess liability capacity primarily when it sits over underlying AmTrust policies (e.g., GL, auto, WC, or package) in its admitted small commercial segment, and also operates an E&S excess platform (unsupported excess and specialty casualty) through appointed wholesale brokers for more complex or hard-to-place risks. - Preferred business: For admitted umbrella over retail accounts, they target standard small to mid-sized commercial operations with stable underlying programs and clean liability loss histories. Umbrella is most readily available for accounts whose primary WC, GL, and auto fit AmTrust’s small commercial appetite and are already written by AmTrust. - Restricted/declined: Standalone umbrella or unsupported excess for small accounts via retail agents is limited; standard distribution typically requires AmTrust as the primary underlying carrier. High-hazard liability classes (heavy construction, large habitational with adverse crime or life-safety issues, high-occupancy entertainment venues, and transportation-heavy risks) are more likely to be handled in the E&S division or declined. In the E&S unsupported excess segment, AmTrust targets a broad range of casualty and premises exposures via wholesalers but applies class- and territory-specific constraints, attachment points, and aggregate caps to control frequency and severity. - Geographic notes: Excess and umbrella appetite can vary by jurisdiction based on litigation environment and venue; certain high-severity legal venues may drive higher minimum attachment points, restricted limits, or declinations. For construction and other premises-intensive risks, they actively manage territorial aggregates and may limit participation in CAT- or litigation-prone states. - Submission expectations: For standard small commercial umbrella over AmTrust primary, agents should provide a complete ACORD commercial umbrella/excess application, a copy of the underlying GL/package, auto, and WC details (preferably AmTrust-issued), loss runs for all underlying lines (usually three to five years), and a clear schedule of locations and operations. E&S/unsupported excess submissions must go through appointed wholesale brokers, with detailed exposure data, full underlying program structure, limits, and loss history. - Broker/producer notes: Retail agents should assume that small-account umbrella is primarily an add-on to existing AmTrust business rather than a standalone play. For larger or non-standard risks, producers are expected to work through the designated wholesale partners that hold delegated authority or binding facilities with AmTrust’s E&S division. Operational reminders: - Use AmTrust’s online agent/portal resources and appetite materials when available; many detailed class lists and state-specific rules are behind login and subject to change. - For borderline or unusual classes (especially in construction, healthcare, transportation, or habitational), obtain pre-approval or appetite confirmation from your underwriter or marketing contact before investing significant submission effort. - Document and communicate risk-improvement measures (safety programs, training, physical risk controls) clearly in submissions; AmTrust underwriters are encouraged to consider the full account story and may flex where controls are strong even if some mechanical criteria (e.g., exact years-in-business or loss ratio thresholds) are not fully met.