EXHIBIT 99.1

                                                                      [CNA LOGO]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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CONTACT:

MEDIA:                                       ANALYSTS:
Charles M. Boesel, 312/822-2592                    Dawn M. Jaffray, 312/822-7757
Katrina W. Parker, 312/822-5167

              CNA ANNOUNCES EXIT FROM ASSUMED REINSURANCE BUSINESS
                         AND SALE OF ASSUMED REINSURANCE
                         RENEWAL RIGHTS TO FOLKSAMERICA

CHICAGO, OCTOBER 3, 2003 --- Today, CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE: CNA)
announced that it agreed to sell the renewal rights for most of the treaty
business of CNA Re, its assumed reinsurance business unit, to Folksamerica
Reinsurance Company (Folksamerica). Concurrently with the sale, CNA will be
withdrawing from the assumed reinsurance business and will manage the run-off of
its retained liabilities.

"Today's announcement allows CNA to concentrate its property and casualty
capabilities on its primary operations. CNA Re, which expects to write
approximately $600 million of premium in 2003, has done an outstanding job
building a profitable book of reinsurance business," said Stephen W. Lilienthal,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CNA insurance companies. "We are
pleased that we found a high quality partner to purchase the renewal rights to
this book of business."

Folksamerica, a leading U.S. reinsurance company, ranks among the top four
broker market reinsurers. Folksamerica is a wholly owned subsidiary of White
Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. of Hamilton, Bermuda. White Mountains is traded
on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "WTM."

Under the terms of the transaction, Folksamerica will compensate CNA based upon
the amount of premiums renewed by Folksamerica over the next two contract
renewals. In addition, Folksamerica has indicated its intention to offer
employment to a number of CNA Re's staff.

CNA is the country's fourth largest commercial insurance writer, the 11th
largest property and casualty company and the 51st largest life insurance
organization. CNA's insurance products include standard commercial lines,
specialty lines, surety, marine and other property and casualty coverages; life
and accident insurance; group long term care, disability and life insurance; and
pension products. CNA services include risk management, information services,
underwriting, risk control and claims administration. For more information,
please visit CNA at www.cna.com. CNA is a registered service mark, trade name
and domain name of CNA Financial Corporation.




                            FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

The statements contained in this press release, which are not historical facts,
are forward-looking statements. When included in this press release, the words
"believes," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimates," and analogous
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements include expected developments in the insurance business of CNA (the
"Company"), including losses for asbestos, environmental pollution and mass tort
claims; the Company's expectations concerning its revenues, earnings, expenses
and investment activities; expected cost savings and other results from the
Company's expense reduction and restructuring activities; and the Company's
proposed actions in response to trends in its business.

Such statements, and the financial condition and results of operations of the
Company and the price of the Company's common stock, are subject to a variety of
inherent risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks and
uncertainties include, among others: general economic and business conditions,
including inflationary pressures on medical care costs, construction costs and
other economic sectors that increase the severity of claims; changes in
financial markets such as fluctuations in interest rates, long-term periods of
low interest rates, credit conditions and currency, commodity and stock prices;
the effects of corporate bankruptcies, such as Enron and WorldCom, on surety
bond claims, as well as on capital markets and on the markets for directors &
officers and errors & omissions coverages; changes in foreign or domestic
political, social and economic conditions; regulatory initiatives and compliance
with governmental regulations; judicial decisions and rulings, including
interpretation of policy provisions, decisions regarding coverage and theories
of liability, trends in litigation and the outcome of any litigation involving
the Company; changes in tax laws and regulations; regulatory limitations and
restrictions upon the Company and its insurance subsidiaries; the impact of
competitive products, policies and pricing and the competitive environment in
which the Company operates, including changes in the Company's books of
business; product and policy availability and demand and market responses,
including the level of ability to obtain rate increases and decline or non-renew
underpriced accounts, to achieve premium targets and profitability and to
realize growth and retention estimates; development of claims and the impact on
loss reserves, including changes in claim settlement practices; the
effectiveness of current initiatives by claims management to reduce loss and
expense ratio through more efficacious claims handling techniques; the
performance of reinsurance companies under reinsurance contracts with the
Company; results of financing efforts, including the availability of bank credit
facilities; changes in the Company's composition of operating segments; weather
and other natural physical events, including the severity and frequency of
storms, hail, snowfall and other winter conditions, as well as of natural
disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes; man-made disasters, including the
possible occurrence of terrorist attacks and the effect of the absence of
applicable terrorism legislation on coverages; the occurrence of epidemics;
exposure to liabilities due to claims made by insureds and others relating to
asbestos remediation and health-based asbestos impairments, and exposure to
liabilities for environmental pollution and other mass tort claims; whether a
national privately financed trust to replace litigation of asbestos claims with
payments to claimants from the trust will be established or approved through
federal legislation, or, if established and approved, whether it will contain
funding requirements in excess of the Company's established loss reserves or
carried loss reserves; the sufficiency of the Company's loss reserves and the
possibility of future increases in reserves; the level of success in integrating
acquired businesses and operations, and in consolidating existing ones; the
possibility of changes in the Company's ratings by ratings agencies, including
the inability to access certain markets or distribution channels and the
required collateralization of future payment obligations as a result of such
changes, and changes in rating agency policies and practices; the actual closing
of contemplated transactions and agreements; and various other matters and risks
(many of which are beyond the Company's control) detailed in the Company's
Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press
release. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to
release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained in
this press release to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with
regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any
statement is based.

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