"Insurer jacks up deep-water rates"

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"WR Berkley a property insurer, is boosting premiums on deep-water oil rig insurance by 40% after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, insurer's chief operating officer said today.

Berkley was an insurer of the Transocean rig, and has paid out $25 million on it, but after reinsurance, its net payout is $5 million.

WR Berkley believed it was charging the right price for deep-water oil rig insurance, but is happier to charge higher prices now that it better understands everything that could go wrong on a rig, said W Robert Berkley in a meeting with reporters..."