AMI defends CEO's month-long Europe trip

AMI chief executive John Balmforth Photo / supplied

AMI Insurance, which could receive a Government bailout of up to $1 billion, has sent its chief executive John Balmforth on a month long trip to Europe to meet reinsurers.

Balmforth was in Bermuda last week and will travel to London and Europe with his products manager Melanie Elliott who's only been in the job for a few months.

The Government said it should have known about the trip but the company's chairman Kerry Nolan said Balmforth could cut a better deal than a broker.

"If you know a lot about something and you're there and you know the people, the odds are you'll get a much better deal."

Nolan said it was important for Balmforth to take Elliott along.

"This is part of our succession planning," he told Newstalk ZB. "You don't want to leave all this in the hands of one person in case something happens to him and this is what has happened in the past."

AMI policyholders have been guaranteed by the Government after the company faced some financial difficulty.

- NEWSTALK ZB