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                           The Navigators Group, Inc.
                                 CORPORATE NEWS

                              Navigators Announces
                           New Chief Financial Officer


NEW YORK - (BUSINESS WIRE) - July 28, 2008 -- The Navigators Group, Inc.
(NASDAQ:NAVG) today announced the hiring of Francis McDonnell as Senior Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. McDonnell will join the Company on
August 5, 2008 and will assume responsibility as Chief Financial Officer on
August 15, 2008 upon the retirement of Paul J. Malvasio, which had been
previously announced by the Company.

Mr. McDonnell most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of ACE USA, a
subsidiary of ACE Ltd. Previously he held the position of Chief Financial
Officer of PMA Capital Corporation and, before that, various financial
management positions with Reliance Insurance Company. He is a Certified Public
Accountant and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation.
Mr. McDonnell holds an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and a Master
of Business Administration degree from St. Joseph's University.

Stan Galanski, Chief Executive Officer of Navigators, commented, "We are pleased
to announce the transition in our Chief Financial Officer role from Paul
Malvasio to Frank McDonnell. Paul has served our shareholders well during his
tenure, with significant growth in the Company's earnings, assets and book
value, and we are grateful for his many contributions. We are delighted to
welcome Frank McDonnell to Navigators, and have every expectation that he will
continue to develop our culture of excellence and performance in all areas of
financial management."

The Navigators Group, Inc. is an international specialty insurance holding
company with insurance company operations, underwriting management companies,
and operations at Lloyd's of London. Headquartered in New York City, Navigators
has offices in major insurance centers in the United States, the United Kingdom
and Continental Europe. For more information, please visit our web site at
www.navg.com.

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Whenever used in this release,
the words "estimate," expect," "believe" or similar expressions are intended to
identify such forward-looking statements. We cannot assure that results that we
anticipate will be achieved, since results may differ materially because of
known and unknown risks and uncertainties that we face. Please refer to
Navigators' most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q and its other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission for a description of Navigators' business and
the important factors that may affect that business. Navigators undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.


CONTACT: The Navigators Group, Inc.
Elliot S. Orol, 914-933-6027
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
eorol@navg.com
http://www.navg.com