IWIF Becomes Chesapeake Employers' Insurance Co.

By Michael Whiteley, Eastern Bureau ChiefThe Insured Workers' Insurance Fund, Maryland's 99-year-old, state-run workers' compensation carrier of last resort, became Chesapeake Employers' Insurance Co. this morning at a cost of about $110 million.Tom Phelan, president and chief executive officer of IWIF and now Chesapeake, said in an interview that the carrier will continue to be run by a nine-member board appointed by Maryland's governor, but its coffers will be immune from future raids by lawmakers to shore up the state's budget.He said the conversion to Chesapeake wil...