Mutual insurance

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A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. It is a form of consumers' co-operative. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of dividend distributions or reduced future premiums. In contrast, a stock insurance company is owned by investors who have purchased company stock; any profits generated by a stock insurance company are distributed to the investors without necessarily benefiting the policyholders.

Contents

History

The concept of mutual insurance originated in England in the late 17th century to cover losses due to fire. [1] The mutual/casualty insurance industry began in the United States in 1752 when Benjamin Franklin established the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses From Loss by Fire. [1] Mutual property/casualty insurance companies exist now in nearly every country around the globe. [2]

The global trade association for the industry, the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, claims 216 members in 74 countries, in turn representing over 400 insurers. [3] In North America the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), founded in 1895, is the sole representative of U.S. and Canadian mutual insurance companies in the areas of advocacy and education. [4]

Recent developments in the United States

The "mutual holding company" structure was first introduced in Iowa in 1995, and has spread since then. [5] There have been concerns that the mutual holding company conversion is disadvantageous for the owners of the company, the policyholders. [6] The major disadvantage of mutual insurance companies is the difficulty of raising capital. [7]

In the 111th Congress, Carolyn Maloney sponsored a bill that she claimed would have protected mutual holding company owners. The measure, H.R. 3291, died in committee.[ citation needed ]

Mutual holding companies are one way to undergo privatization, also called demutualization.

List of mutual insurance companies

Multinational

Bermuda

Canada

  • Algoma Mutual Insurance Company
  • Amherst Island Mutual Insurance Company
  • Antigonish Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company
  • Ayr Farmers Mutual Insurance Company
  • Bay of Quinte Mutual Insurance Company
  • Bertie & Clinton Mutual Insurance Company
  • Brant Mutual Insurance Company
  • Caradoc Delaware Mutual Insurance Company
  • Carleton Mutual Insurance Company
  • Cayuga Mutual Insurance Company
  • Clare Mutual Insurance Company
  • The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
  • Dufferin Mutual Insurance Company
  • Dumfries Mutual Insurance Company
  • Edge Mutual Insurance Company
  • The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada
  • Erie Mutual Insurance Company
  • Fundy Mutual Insurance Company
  • Germania Mutual Insurance Company
  • Germania Mutual Insurance Company Saskatchewan
  • Gore Mutual Insurance Company
  • Grenville Mutual Insurance Company
  • Halwell Mutual Insurance Company
  • Hay Mutual Insurance Company
  • Heartland Farm Mutual (formerly North Waterloo & Oxford)
  • Howard Mutual Insurance Company
  • Howick Mutual Insurance Company
  • HTM Insurance Company
  • Kent & Essex Mutual Insurance Company
  • The Kings Mutual Insurance Company
  • Lambton Mutual Insurance Company
  • L&A Mutual Insurance Company
  • MAX Canada Insurance Company
  • McKillop Mutual Insurance Company
  • My Mutual Insurance
  • Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company (Alberta) Ltd.
  • Middlesex Mutual Insurance Company
  • The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of British Columbia
  • Norfolk Mutual Insurance Company
  • North Blenheim Mutual Insurance Company
  • North Kent Mutual Insurance Company
  • Peel Mutual Insurance Company
  • PEI Mutual Insurance Company
  • Pictou County Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company
  • Portage la Prairie Mutual Insurance Company
  • Promutuel Mutual Insurance Company
  • Red River Mutual Insurance
  • Saskatchewan Mutual Insurance Company
  • SouthEastern Mutual Insurance Company
  • South Easthope Mutual Insurance Company
  • Stanley Mutual Insurance Company
  • Town & Country Mutual Insurance Company
  • Townsend Mutual Insurance Company
  • Tradition Mutual Insurance Company
  • Trillium Mutual Insurance Company
  • United General Insurance Corporation
  • Usborne & Hibbert Mutual Insurance Company
  • Wabisa Mutual Insurance Company
  • Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company
  • West Elgin Mutual Insurance Compa
  • Westminster Mutual Insurance Company
  • West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance Company
  • Yarmouth Mutual Insurance Company

Denmark

Faroe Islands

Finland

France

General Mutual insurance companies

Health insurance companies

Germany

Japan

New Zealand

Philippines

Slovenia

South Africa

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurance</span> Equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another in exchange for payment

Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.

A mutual organization, or mutual society is an organization based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a true cooperative, members usually do not contribute to the capital of the company by direct investment, but derive their right to profits and votes through their customer relationship. A mutual organization or society is often simply referred to as a mutual.

Demutualization is the process by which a customer-owned mutual organization (mutual) or co-operative changes legal form to a joint stock company. It is sometimes called stocking or privatization. As part of the demutualization process, members of a mutual usually receive a "windfall" payout, in the form of shares in the successor company, a cash payment, or a mixture of both. Mutualization or mutualisation is the opposite process, wherein a shareholder-owned company is converted into a mutual organization, typically through takeover by an existing mutual organization. Furthermore, re-mutualization depicts the process of aligning or refreshing the interest and objectives of the members of the mutual society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axa</span> French multinational insurance firm

Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance company headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Family Insurance</span> American private mutual company

American Family Insurance, also abbreviated as AmFam, is an American private mutual company that focuses on property, casualty, and auto insurance, and also offers commercial insurance, life, health, and homeowners coverage as well as investment and retirement-planning products. It is a Fortune 500 company and its revenues were over $9.5 billion in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unum</span> American insurance company

Unum Group is an American insurance company headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded as Union Mutual in 1848 and known as UnumProvident from 1999-2007. The company is part of the Fortune 500. Unum Group was created by the 1999 merger of Unum Corporation and The Provident Companies and comprises four distinct businesses – Unum US, Unum UK, Unum Poland and Colonial Life. Its underwriting insurers include The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company and Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dai-ichi Life</span> Japanese life insurance company

The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited, or Dai-ichi Life for short, is the third-largest life insurer in Japan by revenue, behind Japan Post Insurance and Nippon Life.

A reciprocal inter-insurance exchange or simply a reciprocal in the United States is an unincorporated association in which subscribers exchange insurance policies to pool and spread risk. For consumers, reciprocal exchanges often offer similar policies to those offered by a stock company or a mutual insurance company. Notable reciprocal exchanges are managed by USAA, Farmers, and Erie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groupama</span> French insurance group

Groupama an abbreviation for Groupe des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles is a French insurance group headquartered in Paris with operations in 10 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NFU Mutual</span> British mutual insurance company

NFU Mutual is a UK insurance composite. As a mutual, its policyholder members own the business, and the executives and directors are accountable to them. The full name of the organisation is National Farmers' Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmers Insurance Group</span> American insurance company

Farmers Insurance Group is an American insurer group of vehicles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers is the trade name for three reciprocal exchanges, Farmers, Fire, and Truck, each a managed by Farmers Group, Inc. as attorney-in-fact on behalf of their respective policyholders. Farmers Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss-based Zurich Insurance Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grinnell Mutual</span> Mutual insurance company

Grinnell Mutual is a property-casualty mutual insurance company and reinsurer based in Grinnell, Iowa, United States.

ProAssurance Corporation, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a property and casualty company that sells professional liability insurance to doctors. The company was founded in 1976 as Mutual Assurance and was later renamed to Medical Assurance in 1997. The name "ProAssurance" was created in 2001 when Medical Assurance merged with Professionals Group. The company is currently the fourth largest medical professional liability insurance writer and has over $6 billion in assets.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) is the only U.S. trade association representing mutual property/casualty insurance companies. Founded in 1895, NAMIC has been serving its U.S. and Canadian members in areas of advocacy and education.

ROAM is an association at the service of mutual insurance companies for more than 150 years.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is a statutory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India and is tasked with regulating and licensing the insurance and re-insurance industries in India. It was constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999, an Act of Parliament passed by the Government of India. The agency's headquarters are in Hyderabad, Telangana, where it moved from Delhi in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covéa</span>

Covéa is a French mutual insurance company that covers property, liability and reinsurance businesses headquartered in Paris. It was formed from the merger of three separate French mutual insurance companies Garantie Mutuelle des Fonctionnaires (GMF), Mutuelle d'assurance des artisans de France (MAAF) and Mutuelle du Mans Assurance (MMA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Capitale (company)</span> Canadian financial services company

La Capitale Financial Group Inc. was a Canadian business that provided insurance products and financial services in Quebec, Canada. The company was headquartered in Quebec City and mainly active in Quebec, though extending its services into Ontario since 2008. With more than 900 institutions and 600,000 members of staff, La Capitale General Insurance ranked among the largest insurers in Quebec. It merged with SSQ Insurance in 2022 to become Beneva.

Ohio Mutual Insurance Group is a group of property and casualty insurance companies based in Bucyrus, Ohio. The group is composed of three affiliates: Ohio Mutual Insurance Company, United Ohio Insurance Company and Casco Indemnity Company. As a mutual insurance company, Ohio Mutual Insurance Group is not a stock company but one that is mutually owned by its policyholders. A board of directors and an appointed president and chief executive officer manage the company.

References

  1. 1 2 Wright, Janet; Virginia Wadsley; Janice Artandi (1994). The History of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, A Century of Commitment, 1895–1995. Indianapolis, IN: National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. pp. 1–5.
  2. "Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe". AMICE. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  3. "ICMIF Members list". Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
  4. Wright, Janet; Virginia Wadsley; Janice Artandi (1994). The History of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, A Century of Commitment, 1895–1995. Indianapolis, IN: National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. p. 21.
  5. Banstetter et al. (1997). The Mutual Holding Company: A New Structural Option. The Association of Life Insurance Counsel. pp 65-140
  6. Rambeck R. (2001). Mutual Holding Company: A Shell Game Without the Pea. Insurance Journal.
  7. What demutualization means for policyholders. Insure.com. January 28, 2003
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  16. Insurance, Mennonite Mutual. "Faith-Based & Church Insurance - Agribusiness & Farm Insurance". www.mennonitemutual.com.
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Further reading