Spotlight On: Retirement News – Christopher Crucitt

After an illustrious 45-year insurance career, Christopher Crucitt, Vice President of Underwriting, has retired from our company and the industry to which he has dedicated most of his professional life.

After a brief stint in the nuclear industry, Chris joined Continental Insurance as an underwriting trainee. Chris devoted much of his career to rising through the ranks of the underwriting side of both nationally known public insurance companies and more recently with Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company.

For 40 years, Chris has worked in commercial lines underwriting. He joined PLM in 2007 as an Underwriting Manager and he was quickly appointed the following year to Assistant Vice President by the PLM Board of Directors. After several years of success in this role, Chris was promoted to Vice President in 2014.

Known for his thorough understanding of the underwriting process, coverage and pricing, as well as risk management and the administrative support arena, Chris was a “go to” professional for both junior and senior team members inside and outside the underwriting department. His analytical skills and his ability to determine the root cause and potential solutions to problems was unparalleled. Never afraid to speak his mind regardless of the consequences, he spurred open dialogue that advanced analysis of opportunities and challenges.

The true measure of his capability was demonstrated late in his career. Chris was tapped to move outside his expertise to lead the marketing department. As vice president of marketing, Chris expanded our producer and policyholder reach and enhanced the quality of our marketing materials and processes. Always approachable and quick on his feet, Chris was a natural in this role, masterfully interacting with customers and brokers, onsite and at trade shows.

A few years later, when PLM was searching for the right leadership skills to assume the day-to-day operations in the Amtrust renewal rights transaction and lead the underwriting team that was required in that deal, Chris immediately stepped to the front. He spent almost two years navigating the transition while PLM-izing the talented group of professionals who came to us at that time.

Perhaps it is another demonstration of the measure of the man that after watching his wife and four children graduate from college, with PLM’s support, Chris returned to and finished undergraduate degree in Business Administration at The State University of New York at the age of 64. He simply felt it was the right thing to do!

We at PLM wish Chris and his lovely wife Christine, his four children and their spouses, and his 12 grandchildren, a long, healthy, and enjoyable retirement.  He will be sorely missed by the PLM team he was part of and has meant so much to.