<PAGE>

                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.11


                     [AMERICAN BANKERS INSURANCE GROUP LOGO]


October 17, 1997

Philip Bruce Camacho
16100 S.W. 76 Avenue
Miami, Florida 33157

Dear Mr. Camacho:

American Bankers Insurance Group, Inc., (the "Company") considers the attraction
and retention of qualified senior management to be essential to protecting and
enhancing the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. In furtherance
of that objective, the Company has always endeavored to provide its senior
management (as well as its other employees) with a competitive compensation
package. In order for the Company's compensation package to remain competitive
with respect to certain members of senior management (including yourself), the
Compensation and Nominating Committee has recommended that such package be
expanded to include customary severance benefits for disability, retirement,
death, and termination other than "for cause."

In addition, as is the case with many publicly held corporations, there exists
the possibility of a "change in the control of the Company." Unless appropriate
measures are taken by the Company, this uncertainty may lead to the departure of
key senior management personnel, distract those who remain from performing their
assigned duties, or result in the inability of the Company to attract and retain
additional or replacement senior management. Thus, in order to encourage key
senior management such as yourself to remain with the Company in the face of any
possible change in control and to minimize the distraction resulting therefrom,
the Compensation and Nominating Committee has recommended that you (and certain
other key senior management personnel) be provided reasonable severance benefits
in the event that a change in control adversely affects your position or status
with the Company. These recommendations by the Compensation and Nominating
Committee have been adopted by the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board")
after due consideration.

Accordingly, in order to induce you to remain in the employ of the Company, this
letter agreement sets forth the severance benefits the Company shall provide to
you under the circumstances described below.

This Agreement shall commence on the date hereof and shall continue in effect
until all obligations of the Company have been satisfied.

      1. Severance Benefit for Death, Disability, Retirement, and Termination
other than for Cause.

            (a) Disability. Severance by the Company or you of your employment
for "Disability" shall mean a severance following your absence from your
full-time duties with the Company for three (3) consecutive months as a result
of your incapacity due to physical or
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 2


mental illness. If your employment shall be severed on account of your
Disability, you shall be entitled to a severance payment equal to fifty percent
(50%) of your Current Annual Salary. For purposes of Section 1, your "Current
Annual Salary" shall mean the total amount of salary (excluding any bonus or
deferred compensation) to which you were entitled during the twelve-month period
immediately preceding the date of your severance, or if you were not employed
full-time by the Company during such twelve-month period, then your Current
Annual Salary shall be the total amount of salary to which you were entitled in
the last consecutive or non-consecutive twelve months of full-time employment
with the Company.

            (b) Retirement or Death. Severance of your employment based on
"Retirement" shall mean severance in accordance with the terms of the Company's
normal retirement policies in effect on the date hereof or in accordance with
any other retirement arrangement established with your written consent.
Severance based on "Retirement" shall not include, for purposes of this
Agreement, your taking normal or early retirement by reason of a resignation of
your employment under Section 2. If your employment shall be severed on account
of your Retirement or Death, you shall be entitled to a severance payment equal
to one hundred and fifty percent (150%) of your Current Annual Salary.

            (c) Termination other than for Cause. If either (i) the Company
terminates your employment for any reason other than for "Cause," or (ii) the
Company decreases your base salary for any year to a level that is less than
eighty percent (80%) of your base salary for any prior year and you resign after
such decrease, then you shall be entitled to a severance payment equal to one
hundred percent (100%) of your Current Annual Salary. This section 1(c) shall
apply only in the event that the date of termination or resignation is (i) prior
to the occurrence of a "change in control of the Company" (as defined in Section
2(a) hereof), or (ii) subject to the expiration of the provisions of Section 2
as specified in Section 2(c). Termination by the Company of your employment for
"Cause" shall mean a termination upon (i) the willful and continued failure by
you substantially to perform your duties with the Company (other than any such
failure resulting from your incapacity due to physical or mental illness), after
a written demand for substantial performance is delivered to you together with a
copy of a resolution adopted by the Board, which resolution specifically
identifies the manner in which it is believed that you have not substantially
performed your duties, or (ii) the willful engaging by you in conduct that is
materially and demonstrably injurious to the Company. For purposes of this
paragraph, no act, or failure to act, on your part shall be considered "willful"
unless done, or omitted to be done, by you in bad faith and without reasonable
belief that your action or omission was in the best interest of the Company.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, you shall not be deemed to have been terminated
for Cause unless and until there shall have been delivered to you a copy of a
resolution adopted by the Board to the effect that in its good-faith opinion you
were guilty of conduct set forth above in clauses (i) or (ii) of the third
sentence of this paragraph and specifying the particulars thereof in detail.

            (d) Payment of Severance Benefit. The payment to be made to you by
the Company pursuant to Section 1 shall be paid in a lump sum on the fifth
business day following the date that your employment with the Company was
severed or terminated, and shall be in addition to, and without diminution of,
all amounts which are payable pursuant to the terms of
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 3


any employee benefit plan, stock option plan, or other compensation plan of the
Company applicable to you. You shall not be required to mitigate the amount of
any severance payment provided under Section 1 or by seeking other employment or
otherwise, nor shall the amount of any severance payment be reduced by any
compensation earned by you following the severance of your employment with the
Company as the result of your employment by another employer.

            (e) Term. The provisions of Section 1 will remain in full force and
effect until such time as any severance payments that may be due you under
Section 1 are paid in full.

      2. Severance Benefit for Adverse Change in Circumstances Following a
Change in Control.

            (a) Change in Control. For purposes of this Agreement, a "change in
control of the Company" shall be determined to have occurred if (i) any "Person"
(as such term is used in Section 13(d)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(the "Exchange Act")), other than a trustee or other fiduciary under an employee
benefit plan of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, shall have become the
beneficial owner (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) (the
"Beneficial Owner"), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company
representing more than twenty percent (20%) of the combined voting power of the
Company's then outstanding securities (the "Control Shares"); (ii) a change in
control of a nature that would be required to be reported in response to Item 1
of Form 8-K promulgated under the Exchange Act shall have occurred; (iii) during
any period of two (2) consecutive years, individuals who at the beginning of
such period constitute the Board cease for any reason to constitute at least a
majority thereof unless the nomination for election of each new director was
approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the directors then still in office
who were directors at the beginning of the period; or (iv) the Company shall
adopt any plan of complete liquidation or shall have sold assets of the Company
or any of its subsidiaries, if the aggregate amount of the assets sold, whenever
sold after the date hereof, represents more than fifty percent (50%) of the
assets of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole. Notwithstanding
anything herein to the contrary, no change of control of the Company shall be
deemed to have occurred by virtue of any transaction which results in you, or a
group of Persons which includes you, becoming the Beneficial Owner, directly or
indirectly, of Control Shares.

            (b) Escrow Deposit Upon Change of Control. Within fifteen (15)
business days following the occurrence of a change in control of the Company,
the Company shall deposit in a segregated interest bearing account (Emerald
Treasury Fund) established for your benefit with Barnett Banks Trust Company,
N.A. (the "Escrow Agent") an amount equal to the "Maximum Amount" calculated as
of the date of the change in control of the Company (the "Escrow Deposit"). The
Escrow Deposit, together with interest earned thereon at the prevailing rate
paid by the Escrow Agent on deposits in like accounts (collectively the "Escrow
Fund") shall be held by the Escrow Agent in accordance with the terms of Section
2 and 11 hereof.

            (c) If, within 24 months following a change in control of the
Company, you in good faith determine that there has been a significant adverse
change in circumstances affecting your position or status within the Company,
you shall be entitled to resign your employment and be paid a severance payment
equal to the maximum amount that will not constitute a "parachute
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 4


payment" as defined in Section 280G of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or any
successor provision or, if no such provision then exists, as defined in such
provision immediately prior to its repeal) and as calculated by the Company's
independent auditors (the "Maximum Amount"). The Maximum Amount shall be
calculated as of the date of your resignation. By way of illustration, but not
limitation, the following shall be deemed to be significant adverse changes in
circumstances affecting your position or status within the Company (unless,
prior to any such change, you consent in writing thereto):

                        (1) A change in the powers, duties, responsibilities,
            functions or titles attached to your position, including, if
            applicable, your removal from the Board or any committee thereof;

                        (2) A reduction in your base salary as in effect on the
            date hereof or as the same may be increased from time to time, a
            change in the manner by which your bonus is determined, or the
            failure by the Company to increase your base salary each year after
            1995 by an amount which is at least reasonable having regard to your
            duties and responsibilities and all other relevant circumstances;

                        (3) The failure by the Company to pay you any portion of
            your current compensation, or any portion of an installment of
            deferred compensation under any deferred compensation program,
            within seven (7) days of the date such compensation is due;

                        (4) The failure by the Company to continue in effect any
            benefit or compensation plan in which you are participating at the
            time of a change in control of the Company, or plans providing you
            with substantially similar benefits, the taking of any action by the
            Company which would adversely affect your participation in or
            materially reduce your benefits under any such plan or deprive you
            of any material fringe benefit enjoyed by you at the time of the
            change in control, or the failure of the Company to provide you with
            the number of paid vacation days to which you are then entitled on
            the basis of years of service with the Company in accordance with
            the Company's normal vacation policies in effect on the date hereof;

                        (5) The relocation of the Company's principal executive
            offices to a location outside the greater Miami area or the
            Company's requiring you to be based anywhere other than at the
            Company's principal executive offices, except for required travel on
            the Company's business to an extent substantially consistent with
            your then applicable business travel obligations; or

                        (6) The failure of the Company either (i) to comply with
            subsection (b) hereof or (ii) to obtain the assumption in writing of
            its obligation to perform this Agreement by any successor as
            contemplated in Section 4 hereof.

            (d) If, within twenty-four (24) months following a change in control
of the Company, the Company terminates your employment for any reason other than
fraud,
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 5


misappropriation, embezzlement, or other acts of dishonesty of a like kind
(collectively "Acts of Dishonesty"), you shall be paid a severance payment equal
to the Maximum Amount calculated as of the date of your termination. You shall
not be deemed to have been terminated for an Act of Dishonesty unless and until
there shall have been delivered to you a copy of a resolution adopted by the
Board to the effect that in its good-faith opinion you were guilty of an Act of
Dishonesty and specifying the particulars thereof in detail.

            (e) Payment of Severance Benefit.

                        (1) Payment by the Escrow Agent. Within seven (7)
            business days following the Escrow Agent's receipt of written
            notification from you that your employment was severed under Section
            2, the Escrow Agent shall deliver to you a certified check made
            payable to you in the amount equal to the Escrow Fund. Your written
            notification must specify the basis for your resignation, if your
            severance is predicated upon subsection (c) hereof; or certify that
            you were not terminated for an Act of Dishonesty, if your severance
            is predicated upon Subsection (d) hereof. The Escrow Agent shall
            deliver to the Company a copy of your written notification within
            one (1) business day of its receipt of same from you.

                        (2) Payment by the Company. The payment to be made to
            you by the Company pursuant to Section 2 shall be an amount equal to
            (i) the Maximum Amount calculated as of the date of your resignation
            or termination, less (ii) the amount of the Escrow Fund paid to you
            by the Escrow Agent, above. Such payment to you by the Company shall
            be paid in a lump sum on the fifth business day following the date
            that your employment with the Company was severed or terminated, and
            shall be in addition to, and without diminution of, all amounts
            which are payable pursuant to the terms of any employee benefit
            plan, stock option plan, or other compensation plan of the Company
            applicable to you. You shall not be required to mitigate the amount
            of any severance payment provided under Section 2 by seeking other
            employment or otherwise, nor shall the amount of any severance
            payment be reduced by any compensation earned by you following the
            severance of your employment with the Company as a result of your
            employment by another employer. In the event, however, that the
            Escrow Fund paid to you by the Escrow Agent exceeds the Maximum
            Amount calculated as of the date of your resignation or termination
            (the "Overage"), you shall within fifteen (15) business days from
            the receipt of written notification from the Company's independent
            auditors specifying the amount of such Overage, repay same to the
            Company.

                        (3) Return of the Escrow Fund to the Company. Within
            five (5) business days following the earlier occurrence of (i) the
            Escrow Agent's receipt of a board of director's resolution under
            subsection (2) hereof certifying that you were terminated for an Act
            of Dishonesty, or (ii) the Escrow Agent's receipt of a written
            notification executed jointly by you and the Company that you have
            remained employed with the Company for a period of twenty-four (24)
            months
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 6


            following a change in control of the Company, the Escrow Agent shall
            repay the Escrow Fund to the Company.

            (f) Term. The provisions of Section 2 shall continue in effect
through December 31, 1995; provided, however, that commencing on January 1,
1996, and each January 1 thereafter, the term of this Section 2 shall
automatically be extended for one additional year unless, not later than
September 30 of the preceding year, the Company shall have given notice that it
does not wish to extend this provision; provided, further, if a change in
control of the Company shall have occurred during the original or extended term
of this Section 2, this Section 2 shall continue in effect for a period of
twenty-four (24) months following the change in control of the Company.

      3. Employment by Subsidiary. For purposes of this Agreement, employment
with any corporation or other entity more than one-half of the ownership
interest in which is held by the Company shall be treated as employment by the
Company.

      4. Successor: Binding Agreement.

            (a) The Company shall require any successor (whether direct or
indirect, by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all or
substantially all the business and/or assets of the Company, by agreement in
form and substance satisfactory to you, to expressly assume and agree to perform
this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Company would
be required to perform it if no such succession has taken place, prior to the
effectiveness of any such succession. As used in this Agreement, "Company" shall
mean the Company as hereinbefore defined and any successor to its business
and/or assets as aforesaid which executes and delivers the agreement provided
for in this Section 4 or which otherwise becomes bound by all the terms and
provisions of this Agreement by operation of law.

            (b) This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be enforceable
by your personal or legal representatives, executors, administrators,
successors, heirs, distributees, devises and legatees. If you should die and any
amounts are payable to you hereunder, all such amounts, unless otherwise
provided herein, shall be paid in accordance with the terms of this Agreement to
your Designated Beneficiary. For purposes hereof, "Designated Beneficiary" shall
mean the person or persons designated in a written statement delivered to the
Company's Compensation and Nominating Committee as being entitled to receive any
amounts due under this Agreement in the event of your death. You shall have the
right to change the Designated Beneficiary at any time; you may name more than
one (1) person as Designated Beneficiary to share in such proportion as you
elect; you may name a hierarchy of persons as Designated Beneficiary, each level
becoming entitled to the rights of the Designated Beneficiary only if all
persons on all higher levels shall predecease you; and, if you fail to name a
Designated Beneficiary or if all such persons predecease you, then upon your
death any amounts payable under this Agreement shall be paid to your estate.

      5. Notice. For the purposes of this Agreement, notices and all other
communications provided for in the Agreement shall be in writing and shall be
deemed to have been duly given when delivered or mailed by United States
registered mail, return receipt requested, postage
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 7


prepaid, addressed to the respective party at its address specified below,
provided that all notices to the Company shall be directed to the attention of
the Board with a copy to the Secretary of the Company, or to such other address
as either party may have furnished to the other in writing in accordance
herewith, except that notices of change of address shall be effective only upon
receipt.

<TABLE>
<S>                                   <C>
If to Mr. Camacho:                    16100 S.W. 76 Avenue
                                      Miami, FL  33157

If to the Company:                    American Bankers Insurance Group, Inc.
                                      11222 Quail Roost Drive
                                      Miami, Florida  33157

If to the Escrow Agent:               Barnett Banks Trust Company, N.A.
                                      Corporate Trust Department
                                      9000 Southside Boulevard
                                      Building 100
                                      Jacksonville, Florida  32256
</TABLE>

      6. Miscellaneous. No provisions of this Agreement may be modified, waived
or discharged unless such waiver, modification or discharge is agreed to in
writing signed by you and an officer of the Company authorized to do so pursuant
to a resolution adopted by the Board and agreed to by the Escrow Agent. No
waiver by either party hereto of, or compliance with, any conditions or
provisions of this Agreement to be performed by such other party shall be deemed
a waiver of similar or dissimilar provisions at the same or at any prior or
subsequent time. No agreements or representations, oral or otherwise, express or
implied, with respect to the subject matter hereof have been made by either
party which are not set forth expressly in this Agreement. The validity,
interpretation, construction, and performance of this Agreement shall be
governed by the laws of the State of Florida.

      7. Validity. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this
Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision
of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect.

      8. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in one or more
counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original but all of which
together constitute one and the same instrument.

      9. Reimbursement of Certain Expenses. If any dispute shall arise in
connection with your entitlement to any severance benefits provided by this
Agreement, you shall be entitled to reimbursement for any expenses incurred by
you (including the legal fees and disbursements of counsel retained by you) in
connection with successfully seeking to obtain or enforce any benefit or right
provided by this Agreement.
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 8


      10. Transfer of Rights. Unless applicable state or Federal law requires a
contrary result:

            (a) You may not assign, transfer, hypothecate, encumber, commute or
anticipate either your interest in this Agreement or amounts which may be
payable to you hereunder; and

            (b) Neither your interest in this Agreement nor the amounts which
may be payable to you hereunder shall in any way be subject to any legal process
or be levied upon or attached for payment of any claim against you or otherwise
availed of by any other person. Any such attempted assignment, transfer,
hypothecation, encumbrance, commutation or anticipation and any such attempted
levy, attachment or other subjection to legal process shall be void and shall
not be recognized by the Company.

      11. Miscellaneous Escrow Provisions.

            (a) The Company agrees to indemnify the Escrow Agent and hold the
Escrow Agent harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, losses, actions,
suits, or proceedings, at law or in equity, that it may incur or with which it
may be threatened by reason of its acting as Escrow Agent as described herein;
and in connection herewith, to indemnify the Escrow Agent against any and all
expenses (including attorney's fees) or costs of defending any such action, suit
or proceeding or resisting any such claim, provided, however, that the
provisions of this paragraph shall not apply in the event of any claim,
liability, loss, action, suit, or proceeding resulting from the breach by the
Escrow Agent of any provision of this Agreement or from its gross negligence or
willful misconduct.

            (b) The obligations and duties of the Escrow Agent in connection
herewith are confined to those specifically enumerated herein, and the Escrow
Agent shall not be liable or responsible for any act or failure to act on its
part except in the case of its own willful act or gross negligence.

            (c) The Escrow Agent may act or refrain from acting with respect to
any matter referred to herein in full reliance upon, and by and with the advice
of its own counsel, and shall be fully protected and released from liability
when acting upon the advice of such counsel.

            (d) The Escrow Agent may rely on or act upon orders or directions
signed by the proper parties bearing signatures believed by it to be genuine.

            (e) The Escrow Agent shall not be required to institute or defend
any action or legal process involving any matter referred to in this Agreement
which in any manner affects it or its duties or liabilities hereunder, unless or
until requested to do so by the parties to this Agreement, and then only after
receiving full indemnity in an amount, and of such character as it shall
require, against any and all claims, liabilities, judgments, attorneys' fees,
and other expenses of every kind in relation thereto.
<PAGE>
Mr. Philip Bruce Camacho
October 17, 1997
Page 9


            (f) In the event that the Escrow Agent becomes involved in
litigation on account of this Agreement, it shall have the right to retain
counsel and shall have a lien on the Escrow Funds for any and all costs and
attorneys' fees, charges, disbursements and expenses in connection with such
litigation that it might incur, and shall be entitled to reimburse itself for
such expenses out of the Escrow Funds. If the Escrow Agent shall be unable to
reimburse itself from the Escrow Fund, the Company agrees to pay to the Escrow
Agent, on demand, the Escrow Agent's reasonable charges, attorneys' fees,
disbursements and expenses in connection with such litigation.

            (g) If the parties shall disagree about the interpretation of this
Agreement or about the rights and obligations or the propriety of any action
contemplated by the Escrow Agent hereunder, the Escrow Agent, in its sole
discretion, may file an action in interpleader to resolve such disagreement. The
Company shall indemnify the Escrow Agent for all costs, including attorneys'
fees in connection with an interpleader action, and shall be fully protected in
suspending all or a part of its activities under this Agreement until a final
judgment in the interpleader action shall have been rendered by the appropriate
judicial body.

            (h) Upon such date that the Escrow Agent has released the Escrow
Funds to you or to the Company, as the case may be, the Escrow Agent shall have
no further obligations under this Agreement.

                                      * * *

      If this letter correctly sets forth our agreement on the subject matter
hereof, kindly sign and return to the company the enclosed copy of this letter
which will then constitute our agreement on this subject.

                                    Sincerely,


                                    AMERICAN BANKERS INSURANCE GROUP, INC.


                                    By: /s/ Gerald N. Gaston
                                        ---------------------------------------
                                        Gerald N. Gaston, Vice Chairman
                                        and Chief Executive Officer

AGREED TO THIS 24 DAY OF              ESCROW AGENT:
October    , 1997                     BARNETT BANKS TRUST COMPANY, N.A.


By: /s/ Philip Bruce Camacho        By:
    ------------------------            ---------------------------------------
        Philip Bruce Camacho                  Corporate Trust Officer