Risk for Uber affiliate was mispriced – insurer James River's CEO

A Bermuda-based insurer that recently severed ties with an Uber Technologies Inc affiliate said on Thursday the risk of providing driver ride-hailing coverage had become too great and that it had mispriced policies during its initial years on the account. James River Group Holdings Ltd said on Oct. 8 it would cut ties with a unit of Uber, its largest client, cancel all related policies as of Dec. 31 this year, and boost its reserves by $55 million to $60 million, mostly related to its commercial auto line with its specialty lines segment for 2016 and 2017. “In Uber, we wrote a new type of risk that originally seemed to be highly profitable,” said J. Adam Abram, James River executive chairman and chief executive officer, in a call with analysts on Thursday to discuss its third-quarter results.