Specialty coverage
Distinguished Programs
Distinguished Programs is a national program administrator and managing general agent. It builds specialty insurance programs and distributes them only through brokers, who register their agency and then quote and bind through its Broker Connect portal.
The program list covers commercial real estate, community associations, hospitality for hotels, resorts and casinos, restaurants, construction professional and environmental risk, executive lines, transactional risk, crisis management, fine art and collectibles, inland marine and marine cargo, commercial surety, and excess property and reinsurance, with high-limit umbrella and excess liability running across them. Support is offered from submission through renewal and into any claim.
The firm has been placing specialty business for almost four decades, says it formed the first real estate purchasing group in the country, and reports a broker network of more than 20,000 brokerages nationwide. It works from 1180 Avenue of the Americas in New York. Its executive lines program writes up to $5 million of capacity per line of coverage, and its Halo active assailant and deadly weapons policy offers up to $20 million per location, insured by Lloyd's of London at an AM Best rating of A+.
Owners and associations cannot buy here directly - the relationship is with the broker - so a buyer's practical step is to ask their retail broker whether they are registered with Distinguished for the program they need.
Best for
Retail and wholesale brokers placing real estate, community association, hospitality or restaurant risks who need program capacity and high-limit umbrellas; owners have to reach it through their own broker.
What they do
- Commercial real estate insurance programs
- Community association insurance programs
- Hospitality programs for hotels, resorts and casinos
- Restaurant insurance programs
- Construction professional and environmental coverage
- Executive lines for public, private and nonprofit organizations
- Crisis management, including active assailant coverage
- Fine art and collectibles insurance
- Transactional risk and commercial surety
- High-limit umbrella and excess liability
- Inland marine and marine cargo
- Excess property and reinsurance
What stands out
- Says its broker network covers more than 20,000 brokerages nationwide
- Halo active assailant policy offers up to $20 million of capacity per location, insured by Lloyd's of London and AM Best rated A+
- Executive lines program writes up to $5 million of capacity per line of coverage
- Says it formed the first real estate purchasing group in the nation
- Has been placing specialty insurance for almost four decades
Common questions
- How does a broker start quoting with Distinguished?
- The brokerage has to be registered with Distinguished first; individual users then request a login for the Broker Connect portal, where submissions are quoted and bound online. A broker unsure whether their agency is registered can check with their sales representative.