Mitigation of Excise Tax. Except to the extent otherwise provided in a written agreement between the Company and the Participant, the Restricted Stock issued hereunder is subject to reduction by the Committee for the reasons specified in [Section 13.01] of the Plan.

Excise Tax. The Ceding Company and the Reinsurer acknowledge and agree that, as of the date hereof, premiums payable pursuant to this Agreement are subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4371 of the Code (the “Premium Excise Tax”). The Ceding Company shall be responsible for reporting and remitting the Premium Excise Tax as indicated on the Monthly Accounting Report. The Premium Excise Tax shall be borne by the Reinsurer through inclusion on the Monthly Accounting Report.

Excise Tax Limitation. In the event that any amounts payable to the Executive under this Agreement or otherwise would # constitute “parachute payments” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and # but for this Paragraph 12(b), be subject to the excise tax imposed by Code Section 4999, then such payments shall be reduced in a manner determined by the Company (by the minimum possible amounts) that is consistent with the requirements of Section 409A until no amount payable to the Executive will be subject to the excise tax under Code Section 4999.

Change of Control – Excise Tax. If the Company’s legal counsel, tax advisors or accountants, as selected by the Company prior to the Change of Control, determine that any payment, benefit or transfer by the Company under this Agreement or any other plan, agreement, or arrangement to or for the benefit of the Employee (in the aggregate, the “Total Payments”) to be subject to the tax (“Excise Tax”) imposed by Code Section 4999 but for this Section 5, then, notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement to the contrary, the Total Payments shall be delivered either # in full or # in an amount such that the value of the aggregate Total Payments that the Employee is entitled to receive shall be One Dollar ($1.00) less than the maximum amount that the Employee may receive without being subject to the Excise Tax, whichever of (a) or (b) results in the receipt by the Participant of the greatest benefit on an after-tax basis (taking into account applicable federal, state and local income taxes and the Excise Tax). In the event that # results in a greater after-tax benefit to the Employee, payments or benefits included in the Total Payments shall be reduced or eliminated by applying the following principles, in order: # the payment or benefit with the higher ratio of the parachute payment value to present economic value (determined using reasonable actuarial assumptions) shall be reduced or eliminated before a payment or benefit with a lower ratio; # the payment or benefit with the later possible payment date shall be reduced or eliminated before a payment or benefit with an earlier payment date; and # cash payments shall be reduced prior to non-cash benefits; provided that if the foregoing order of reduction or elimination would violate Section 409A of the Code, then the reduction shall be made pro rata among the payments or benefits included in the Total Payments (on the basis of the relative present value of the parachute payments). The Employee shall be entitled to receive a copy of the Company’s legal counsel, tax advisor’s or accountant’s calculations performed for purposes of this Section 5 upon request.

Excise Taxes. If any payments or benefits paid or provided or to be paid or provided to the Employee or for the Employee's benefit pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise in connection with, or arising out of, employment with the Company or its subsidiaries or the termination thereof (an "Employment Payment" and, collectively, the "Employment Payments") would be subject to the excise tax imposed by section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code" and such tax, the "Excise Tax"), then the Employee may elect for such Employment Payments to be reduced to one dollar less than the amount that would constitute a "parachute payment" under section 280G of the Code (the "Scaled Back Amount"). Any such election must be in writing and delivered to the Company. If the Employee does not elect to have Employment Payments reduced to the Scaled Back Amount, the Employee shall be responsible for payment of any Excise Tax resulting from the Employment Payments and the Employee shall not be entitled to a gross‑up payment under this Agreement or any other arrangement for such Excise Tax. If the Employment Payments are to be reduced, they shall be reduced in the following order of priority: # first from cash compensation, # next from equity compensation, then # pro‑rated among all remaining Employment Payments and benefits. Within each such priority category, Employment Payments shall be reduced on a last to be paid, first reduced basis; provided that if there is a question as to which Employment Payments within any of the foregoing categories are to be reduced first, the Employment Payments that will produce the greatest present value reduction in the Employment Payments with the least reduction in economic value provided to the Employee shall be reduced first.

“Excise Tax” shall mean the excise tax imposed by Code Section 4999, together with any interest or penalties imposed with respect to such excise tax.

The “Gross-Up Amount” # shall be determined if any payment or distribution by the Company to or for your benefit, whether paid, distributed, payable or distributed or distributable pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, any stock option or stock award plan, retirement plan or otherwise (such payment or distribution, other than an Excise Tax Adjustment Payment under [clause (ii)], is referred to herein as a “Payment”), would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code (or any successor provision) or any interest or penalties with respect to such excise tax (such excise tax together with any such interest or penalties are referred to herein as the “Excise Tax”), and # shall mean an additional payment (the “Excise Tax Adjustment Payment”) in an amount such that after subtracting from the Excise Tax Adjustment Payment your payment of all applicable Federal, state and local taxes (computed at the maximum marginal rates and including any interest or penalties imposed with respect to such taxes), including any Excise Tax imposed upon the Excise Tax Adjustment Payment, the balance will be equal to the Excise Tax imposed upon the Payments. All determinations required to be made with respect to the “Gross-Up Amount”, including whether an Excise Tax Adjustment Payment is required and the amount of such Excise Tax Adjustment Payment, shall be made by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, or such national accounting firm as the Company may designate prior to a Change in Control, which shall provide detailed supporting calculations to the Company and you. Except as provided in clause (iv) of paragraph 10, all such determinations shall be binding upon you and the Company.

For purposes of determining whether any of the Total Change in Control Payments will be subject to the Excise Tax and the amount of such Excise Tax:

No Mitigation. In no event shall the Executive be obligated to seek other employment or take other action by way of mitigation of the amounts payable to Executive under any of the provisions of this Agreement and, except as set forth herein, such amounts shall not be subject to offset or otherwise reduced whether or not the Executive obtains other employment. The Company’s obligation to make any payment pursuant to, and otherwise to perform its obligations under, this Agreement shall not be affected by any offset, counterclaim or other right that the Company have against the Executive for any reason; provided that the Company may cease making the payments or providing the benefits, in each case, under [Section 4] if Executive materially violates the provisions of [Sections 5 through 8] and, if curable, does not cure such violation within fifteen (15) days after written notice from the Company.

“Excise Tax” has the meaning provided in Section 13.3(a).