The affiliation was first announced in December 2016
The affiliation between Auto-Owners Insurance and The Concord General Mutual Insurance is a go. On April 4, 2017, the insurers announced that all the necessary regulatory bodies as well as policyholders have officially approved the affiliation which became effective as of April 1, 2017. The companies had originally announced their planned affiliation in December of 2016.
In commenting on the official announcement, Jeff Harrold, Auto-Owners Insurance chairman and CEO, said, “We are excited about combining the efforts of these two groups of companies to expand our geographic reach into New England with additional products and services. Adding Concord and its affiliates to the Auto-Owners family of companies will present tremendous synergies and opportunities for growth on a superior financial platform, providing increased value to agents, their customers and our companies.”
For Concord, joining forces with Auto-Owners will allow the New England-based mutual insurer to expand its commercial product offerings as well as to grow its workforce. It will also give it the additional resources to strengthen its agency relationships, improve efficiency while providing greater value to its policyholders. It will also give the regional insurer the resources and support to expand into other product lines.
“The combining of capabilities will allow us to expand our product and premium base and help support the Concord name in the (New England) region,” said Linda Day, Concord’s president and CEO.
Both companies are mutual insurers working exclusively with independent agents
Founded in 1928, Concord operates through its independent agent partners in four New England states including Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.
The company includes the Concord General Mutual Insurance Company, the Green Mountain Insurance Company, Inc., State Mutual Insurance Company, Sunapee Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and Vermont Accident Insurance Company, Inc. is currently rated A-(Excellent) by A.M. Best.
Established in 1916, Auto-Owners is both a Fortune 500 company and one of the leading property and casualty insurers in the U.S. Comprised of five property and casualty companies in addition to one life/health/annuity insurers, the insurer has combined writings of $6 billion in premium and assets surpassing $22 billion. It currently partners with approximately 43,056 agents in 6,256 agencies through 26 states and is also one of only ten insurers to be rated A++ (Superior) by A.M. Best.
As Agency Checklists noted in its December 2016 article announcing the proposed affiliation, the deal makes a lot for the Michigan-based insurer. By affiliating with the highly-rated and well-regarded regional insurer, Auto-Owners had found a company whose culture and reputation mirror its own in addition to giving the Michigan-based insurer a strong introduction and foothold into the New England region.
Auto-Owners has made an application to the MA Division of Insurance
On March 31, 2017, Auto Owners made an application to the Division of Insurance to obtain a Certificate of Authority (Domestic Companies Only) to transact Life, Accident and Health insurance in the Commonwealth.
