Auto-Owners Insurance is a mutual insurance company that offers auto, home, business and life insurance to policyholders exclusively through independent agents. The company, which is located in Delta Township, Michigan, is the largest property and casualty insurance company headquartered in Michigan. Auto-Owners has more than $6 billion in written premium and $20.1 billion in assets. Based on written premium, the company is the 17th-largest insurance company in the U.S.*
Auto-Owners markets its property and casualty and life products in 26 states exclusively through a network of independent agents. The company employs 5,500 associates nationwide in its 98 claims and underwriting branches.
Auto-Owners consists of five property and casualty companies and a life/health/annuity insurer. It has 5.1 million policies in force.
In 2015 the company purchased Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company, an excess and surplus lines company. Auto-Owners began writing excess and surplus lines insurance in 2016.
History
Auto-Owners was founded by Vern Moulton in 1916 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. He moved the company in 1917 to Lansing, Michigan, where the company operated from until it moved to nearby Delta Township in 1976.
Auto-Owners wrote insurance exclusively in Michigan until 1935, when it entered Indiana. It formed the Auto-Owners Insurance Life Company in 1966, and in 1987 it reached $1 billion in written premium. The company has been a member of the Fortune 500 since 2002. In 2016 Auto-Owners was listed at number 398.
A.M. Best has given Auto-Owners its highest rating since 1972. The Auto-Owners Insurance group of companies is one of just 12 carrier groups to earn A.M. Best’s highest rating, A++ (Superior).
CEOs
Auto-Owners has had 10 CEOs in its 100-year history. Founder Vern Moulton was the longest-serving one, holding the company’s top position from 1916 until his death in 1959. His nephew, Ralph Moulton, was CEO for 20 years and oversaw tremendous growth. Written premium increased from $39 million in his first year (1964) to $509 million when he retired (1984).
Current CEO Jeffrey F. Harrold, who is also chairman of the board, has held the position since 2010.
Independent Agents
Auto-Owners Insurance sells its products exclusively through a network of more than 6,200 agencies in its 26-state marketing territory. More than 41,000 agents are licensed to sell Auto-Owners products. The company recently reaffirmed its commitment to this distribution channel through its “Declaration to Independent Insurance Agents and the Independent Agency System,†which is signed by all 13 senior officers.
Award-Recognized Claims Experience
Auto-Owners backs up its products by providing its famous “No Problem†claims service. In a recent study conducted by J.D. Power, the company was once again ranked as “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with the Auto Insurance Claims Experience.â€**
* - A.M. Best, BestWeek, December 21 & 28, 2015
** - Auto-Owners Insurance received the highest numerical score in the proprietary J.D. Power 2015 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction StudySM. Study based on 11,469 total responses, ranking 24 insurance providers. Excludes those with claims only for glass/windshield, theft/stolen, roadside assistance or bodily injury claims. Proprietary results based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed between November 2014 and September 2015. Your experiences may vary. For more information visit jdpower.com.
See also
- List of United States insurance companies
References
External links
- Official website
