Exhibit 99.1

Navigators Announces Closing of $125 Million Senior Notes Offering

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2006--The Navigators Group,
Inc. (NASDAQ:NAVG) today announced that it closed the public offering
of $125 million principal amount of 7% senior unsecured notes due
2016. The offering generated net proceeds of approximately $124
million.
    Credit Suisse and JPMorgan acted as Joint Book-Running Managers of
the offering and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and LaSalle Capital Markets
were co-managers for the offering. A copy of the prospectus supplement
relating to the offering may be obtained from Credit Suisse Securities
(USA) LLC, at One Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10010
(1-212-325-2580) or from J.P.Morgan Securities Inc., at 270 Park
Avenue, New York, New York 10172 (1-212-834-4533).
    A Form S-3 registration statement relating to these securities has
been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was
declared effective on November 18, 2005. This announcement shall not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor
shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such
offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or
qualification under the securities laws of such state.
    The Navigators Group, Inc. is an international 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 Belgium.
    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 which we
anticipate will be achieved, since results may differ materially
because of known and unknown risks and uncertainties which we face.
Please refer to Navigators' most recent Form 10-K and its other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a description
of the Company's business and the important factors which may affect
that business. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward-looking statement.

    CONTACT: The Navigators Group, Inc.
             Paul J. Malvasio
             Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
             914-933-6088
             pmalvasio@navg.com
             www.navg.com