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mutual insurance

{{Short description|Policyholder-owned risk compensation company}}

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.

History

The concept of mutual insurance originated in England in the late 17th century to cover losses due to fire.{{cite book|last=Wright|first=Janet|title=The History of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, A Century of Commitment, 1895–1995|year=1994|publisher=National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies|location=Indianapolis, IN|pages=1–5|author2=Virginia Wadsley |author3=Janice Artandi }} 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. Mutual property/casualty insurance companies exist now in nearly every country around the globe.{{cite web|title=Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe|url=http://www.amice-eu.org/worldwide.aspx| publisher=AMICE| access-date=24 February 2011}}

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.{{Cite web| url= http://www.icmif.org/members| title= ICMIF Members list| access-date= March 5, 2010| url-status= dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110203195346/http://www.icmif.org/members| archive-date= February 3, 2011}} 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.{{cite book| last=Wright| first=Janet| title=The History of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, A Century of Commitment, 1895–1995|year=1994|publisher=National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies|location=Indianapolis, IN|pages=21|author2=Virginia Wadsley |author3=Janice Artandi }}

Recent developments in the United States

The "mutual holding company" structure was first introduced in Iowa in 1995, and has spread since then.Banstetter et al. (1997). [http://www.americasmutualholdingcompanies.com/The_Mutual_Holding_Company.pdf The Mutual Holding Company: A New Structural Option]. The Association of Life Insurance Counsel. pp 65-140 There have been concerns that the mutual holding company conversion is disadvantageous for the owners of the company, the policyholders.Rambeck R. (2001). [http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/southcentral/2001/04/30/partingshots/18694.htm Mutual Holding Company: A Shell Game Without the Pea]. Insurance Journal.

The major disadvantage of mutual insurance companies is the difficulty of raising capital.[http://www.insure.com/articles/lifeinsurance/demutualization.html What demutualization means for policyholders]. Insure.com. January 28, 2003

In the 111th Congress, Carolyn Maloney sponsored a bill that she claimed would have protected mutual holding company owners. The measure, {{USBill|111|hr|3291}}, died in committee.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

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

List of mutual insurance companies

= Multinational =

= Bermuda =

= Canada =

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  • 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
  • Beneva insurance
  • Bertie & Clinton Mutual Insurance Company
  • Brant Mutual Insurance Company
  • Caradoc Delaware Mutual Insurance Company
  • Carleton Mutual Insurance Company
  • [http://www.cayugamutual.com 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
  • North Blenheim Mutual Insurance Company
  • North Kent Mutual Insurance Company
  • Nova Mutual Insurance Company (created from the merger of Norfolk Mutual Insurance Company and Wabisa Mutual Insurance Company){{cite news |last1=Gambrill |first1=David |title=Two 100-year-old mutual insurers vote to amalgamate |url=https://canadianunderwriter.ca/news/risk/two-100-year-old-mutual-insurers-vote-to-amalgamate/ |access-date=29 March 2025 |work=Canadian Underwriter |date=13 July 2018}}
  • 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
  • Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company
  • West Elgin Mutual Insurance Compa
  • Westminster Mutual Insurance Company
  • West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance Company
  • Yarmouth Mutual Insurance Company

}}

= Denmark =

  • Tryg (owned 60% by the mutual company Tryghedsgruppen)
  • Lærerstandens Brandforsikring{{Cite web|url=https://www.lbforsikring.dk/om-lb-forsikring|title = Om LB Forsikring A/S}}

== Faroe Islands ==

= Finland =

= France =

General Mutual insurance companies

Health insurance companies

  • ACORIS Mutuelles
  • Almutra
  • Avenir Santé Mutuelle
  • Choralis Mutuelle le libre choix
  • Complévie
  • CMIP
  • EMOA Mutuelle du Var
  • Groupe Victor HUGO
  • La Maison du Fonctionnaire
  • La Mutuelle Catalane
  • La Mutuelle des Remparts
  • MBA Mutuelle
  • MCEN
  • M Comme Mutuelle
  • MFCF
  • Mutuelle Entrain
  • Mutuelle Générale d'Avignon
  • Mutuelle Générale des Cheminots
  • MIPSS Auvergne
  • MOAT
  • Mutuelle Matra Hachette
  • Mutuelle du Pays Martégal
  • Mutuelle du Pays de Vaucluse
  • Mutuelle du Rempart
  • Mutuelle SEPR
  • Mutuelle SERAMM
  • Mutuelles du Soleil
  • Precocia
  • Sereina Mutuelle

= Germany =

  • [https://www.arge-vvag.de/ Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Versicherungsvereine auf Gegenseitigkeit e.V.]
  • [https://www.verband-vvag.de/ VERBAND DER VERSICHERUNGSVEREINE]

= Japan =

= New Zealand =

= Philippines =

= Slovenia =

= South Africa =

  • PPS (Professional Provident Society){{cite web |url=https://www.pps.co.za/pages/about/our-heritage.php |title=About PPS - Our Heritage | Mutual Financial Services Exclusively for Graduate Professionals |access-date=2014-12-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141217182216/https://www.pps.co.za/pages/about/our-heritage.php |archive-date=2014-12-17 }}
  • Iemas{{cite web |url=http://www.iemas.co.za/index.php/who-we-are/who-we-are-2 |title=Overview |access-date=2014-12-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217115558/http://www.iemas.co.za/index.php/who-we-are/who-we-are-2 |archive-date=2014-12-17 }}
  • AVBOB{{cite web|url=http://www.avbob.co.za/Static/Our_Origin|title=AVBOB – Home Page|work=avbob.co.za}}

= Spain =

= Sweden =

= United Kingdom =

= United States =

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See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Emery, Herbert, and George Emery. A Young Man’s Benefit: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows And Sickness Insurance in the United States and Canada, 1860–1929 (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1999).
  • Van Leeuwen, Marco H.D. Mutual Insurance, 1550–2015: From Guild Welfare and Friendly Societies to Contemporary Micro-Insurers (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) 321 pp. [http://eh.net/?s=Mutual+Insurance%2C+1550-2015 online review], A standard scholarly history

External links

  • [http://www.namic.org/ NAMIC] – National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
  • [http://www.icmif.org/ ICMIF] – International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation
  • [http://www.financialmutuals.org/ AFM] – Association of Financial Mutuals (UK)
  • [http://reic.uwcc.wisc.edu/mutualinsurance/ University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives: Research on the Economic Impact of Cooperatives. Economic Impacts of Cooperatives › Financial Services > Mutual Insurance]

{{Co-operatives|types}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cooperatives

Category:Mutualism (movement)

Category:Types of insurance