Sunday, 21 December 2014

Acuity Insurance

Acuity Insurance is an insurance company with headquarters in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The company's website claims that it is the 80th largest insurer in the United States

Current business performance

ACUITY operates in 22 states, generates over $1 billion in revenue through 1,000 independent agencies, manages nearly $3 billion in assets, and employs over 950 people. ACUITY is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and also receives an A+ rating from Standard and Poor's


Company history

The company began as the Mutual Auto Insurance Company of the Town of Herman in 1925 (in the unincorporated village of Franklin in Sheboygan County). The name was changed to Mutual Auto of Wisconsin in 1953, and Heritage Mutual Insurance Company. in 1957. The company moved to the city of Sheboygan in 1960, and to its current location in 1984. The company became known as ACUITY Insurance in 2001.

The company opened a $39 million addition to its headquarters in 2004. The addition added 262,000 square feet (24,300 m²) to the facility and renovated about 20,000 square feet (2,000 m²) of spaceAwards[edit]
ACUITY was named the Best Mid-Size Company to work for in the United States in 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 by Great Place to Work Institute and is the only company in the nation to be named ten consecutive years to the Great Place to Work Institute's top five mid-sized companies. ACUITY is recognized as one of Ward, Inc.'s Top 50 best-run insurers for 14 consecutive years. ACUITY has been named to the InformationWeek 500 list of most innovative technology companies for ten consecutive years.ACUITY was awarded the 2001 National Company Award of Excellence by the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents

21st Century Insurance

21st Century Insurance is an auto insurance company and is wholly owned by the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies®. They are headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, and provide private passenger auto insurance in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

History

21st Century Insurance was founded in 1958 by Louis W. Foster as an inter-insurance exchange offering auto insurance, primarily in California. Initially, the company was called 20th Century Insurance.[2]

The company was purchased in 2005 by AIG and then later sold in 2009 to Farmers Insurance Group of Companies®.

American National Insurance Company

American National Insurance Company (ANICO) a major American insurance corporation based in Galveston, Texas. The company and its subsidiaries operate in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa

Company description

American National was founded in 1905 by Galveston businessman William Lewis Moody, Jr. Today the company offers a wide array of insurance products and services including life insurance, annuities, health insurance, property and casualty insurance, credit insurance, and pension plan services. Through its subsidiary, ANREM, the company founded and developed the large-scale housing development, South Shore Harbour, in League City, Texas.[7]

Although a publicly traded company, the majority of the stock continues to be controlled by the Moody family through the Moody Foundation and Libby Shearn Moody Trust, which are administered by the trust department of the family owned Moody National Bank

American Income Life Insurance Company

American Income Life Insurance Company (formerly NASDAQ: AINC), based in Waco, Texas, provides supplemental life insurance to labor unions, credit unions, and associations. American Income Life (AIL) was founded in 1951. The company's executive offices have been located in Waco, Texas, since 1959. American Income Life is licensed in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and is registered to carry on business in New Zealand. AIL also has two wholly owned subsidiaries: National Income Life Insurance Company, licensed in the state of New York, and Union Heritage Life Assurance Company Limited, licensed in the Republic of Ireland.

AIL has more than two million policyholders (as of June 2013).[1] With its New York subsidiary, National Income Life Insurance Company (NILICO), the company has combined assets of more than $2.6 billion, with more than $41.3 billion of life insurance in force (as of April 2013).[2] American Income Life is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: TMK), based in McKinney, Texas

History

The company's history began in 1951 under the name American Income. American Income was chartered as a mutual assessment association in Indiana with $25,000 of borrowed capital. It was reinsured through American Standard[disambiguation needed] as a new mutual reserve company in March 1951. American Income Insurance Company was officially founded in May 1951 by the company's president, Harold Goodman, and executive vice president, Bernard Rapoport (Goodman's nephew). The company's home offices were located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

American Income originally sold low-cost hospital insurance plans. During its first year, the company took in about $95,000 worth of premium income. The company reached $1 million worth of insurance premiums in 1953. By 1954, the company was receiving 6,000 insurance policy applications per month.

In September 1954, with $200,000 in capital and $100,000 of surplus, Goodman and Rapoport formed a new company called American Income Life Insurance Company (AIL). American Income Life reinsured the policies of American Income and was transformed from a mutual reserve company to a stock company. American Standard, the company's original insurer, was merged with American Income Life, and the company acquired about $400,000 worth of premiums.

Between 1954 and 1955, AIL's assets had doubled, its net reserve had tripled, its capital and surplus more than doubled, and it had about $15 million of insurance in force.[3] In 1956, Rapoport desired to take the Indiana-based company national. He obtained a license in Ohio and opened a central office in Columbus. By the close of 1956, American Income Life was operating in thirteen states with 300 sales personnel in the field operating out of 96 general agencies. In March 1958, the company's home offices were moved from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Waco, Texas.

In 1961, AIL began providing supplemental insurance to members of labor unions and serving union policyholders in ways unfamiliar to the industry. For example, AIL waived payment of premiums by union members during an authorized strike action, a benefit still offered in 2014. AIL also developed a college scholarship program for children of union members, and the company contributed to the strike funds of unions engaged in lawful strikes.[3] The company was positioned as the only 100% union insurance company, and termed the phrase, “Be Union-Buy Union." In 1963, AIL's income was about $6 or $7 million.[3] By 1973, income reached $31.5 million.

In June 1966, the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) organized the Home Office staff, making AIL the only insurance company with all union employees. In October 1973, the company was granted an official designation as a Union Label company by the AFL-CIO. AIL was one of only two insurance companies in the entire United States with the official Union Label.

In 1994, American Income Life was sold to Torchmark Corporation for $563 million.[3]

American Income Life Insurance Co. is suing Google Inc. and the unnamed owners of two websites for featuring unflattering web pages in the top page of search results for American Income Life Insurance

American Family Insurance

American Family Insurance


American Family Insurance (aka AmFam) is a private mutual company that focuses on property, casualty and auto insurance, but also offers commercial insurance, life, health, and homeowners coverage, as well as investment and retirement-planning products. A Fortune 500 company, its revenues for 2008 were over $6.7 billion.[2][4]

It should not be confused with American Family Home Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Munich Re subsidiary American Modern Insurance Group, Inc..

History[edit]
American Family Insurance's history began on October 3, 1927,[5] when insurance salesman Herman Wittwer opened the doors of Farmers Mutual Insurance Company in Madison, Wisconsin (not to be confused with the Farmers Insurance Group). At the time, the company's only product was auto insurance and its target market was farmers. Wittwer believed farmers presented lower risks than city drivers because they drove less often and not at all in the winter.[5]

Over the years, Farmers Mutual expanded its market and product line to meet the changing needs of its customers. In 1963, Farmers Mutual changed its name to American Family Mutual Insurance Company to reflect its broader customer base.

Subsidiaries

Companies of the American Family Insurance Group include:[6]


American Family Mutual Insurance Company (AFMIC)
American Standard Insurance Company (ASIC)
American Family Life Insurance Company (AFLIC)[7]
American Family Brokerage, Inc. (AFBI)
American Family Insurance Company of Ohio (AFICO; Ohio subsidiary, companion to American Family Mutual Insurance Company)
American Standard Insurance Company of Ohio (ASICO; Ohio subsidiary; companion to American Standard Insurance Company of Wisconsin)
American Family Securities, LLC (AFS)
Amfam.com Inc.(AMFAM)[8]
PGC Holdings Corporation (General Insurance Companies "The General®")[9]
Products[edit]
American Family insurance products include: term, universal, and whole life insurance; personal and business auto insurance, personal umbrella insurance, home insurance; motorcycle, boat, motor home, snowmobile and car insurance; business liability key policy, and business policy package insurance; farm and ranch liability insurance; travel, trip cancellation, and global medical insurance[10]

Operating Territory

The American Family Insurance Group is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and in 2011 had regional offices in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Saint Joseph, Missouri, Denver, Colorado and Columbus, Ohio among others. In October 2011 it announced that it was downsizing its claims regional and branch offices from twelve to four. Layoffs occurred at the remaining offices in 2012.[11]


Significant Milestones

Below is a list of milestones in the corporate history of American Family Mutual Insurance.

1927 Farmers Mutual Automobile Insurance Company was founded on Oct. 3 in Madison, Wis.
1938 Both premiums and assets surpassed $1 million.
1957 Farmers Mutual began to offer sickness and accident insurance.
1958 Company introduced homeowners insurance and opened American Family Life Insurance Company.
1959 Farmers Mutual entered the computer age with the RAMAC 305.
1961 American Standard began sales.
1962 Company began to offer farmowners insurance.
1963 Policyholders gave final approval to change the company's name to American Family Mutual Insurance Company.
1969 American Family Financial Services opened.
1975 Commercial Lines was introduced. American Family became the fifth-largest mutual auto insurer.
1981 Assets surpass $1 billion. American Family became the fourth-largest mutual auto insurance company.
1985 American Family Brokerage, Inc. opened.
1986 American Family posted its first $100 million operating gain.
1992 Policyholders' surplus exceeded $1 billion.
1994 American Family rolled out its catastrophe trailer. The company ranked as the 11th-largest property/casualty insurer.
1996 American Family first appeared on the Fortune 500 list at number 403.
1997 American Family became the 10th-largest property/casualty insurer in the nation. Assets surpassed $8 billion.
2001 American Family Securities, LLC introduced variable products. Assets for American Family Mutual Insurance Company exceeded $10 billion.
2001 Furthers expansion into Utah and Idaho. American Family in 17 states across the U.S.
2002 American Family celebrated its 75th anniversary.
2003 American Family donated $10,000,000.00 towards construction of the future UW Children's Hospital, to be named American Family Children's Hospital.
2006 Furthers expansion into Washington State. American Family in 18 states across the U.S.
2009 Furthers expansion into Georgia. American Family in 19 states across U.S.
2012 American Family Insurance completes its acquisition of The General Insurance
2013 American Family Insurance completes its acquisition of Homesite Insurance
Awards[edit]
In 2010, National Safety Council selected American Family Insurance as a recipient of its Teen Driving Safety Leadership Award. Through its “Teen Safe Driver Program,” the company has provided, a video feedback program (using the DriveCam system) in which parents can watch the actual driving actions of their teens. The program was validated by scientists at the University of Iowa to produce a 70% reduction in risky driving behavior. [12]


Charitable contributions[edit]

American Family Children’s Hospital
On March 4, 2003, American Family Insurance announced a $10 million gift launching the campaign to create the American Family Children’s Hospital[13] at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. From that initial gift, the amount grew by several millions more through employee, agent and additional corporate donations. The hospital opened for business in September 2007