Amerisure Turns 100

Evaluate, evolve, sharpen focus, create value.

That’s how a group of executives at one Midwest-based property/casualty insurance company summarized the organization’s ability to grow and thrive through a century of ever-changing political and business climates.

Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Amerisure Mutual Insurance Co. was created as a workers’ compensation carrier — the Michigan Workmen’s Compensation Mutual Insurance Co. As it turns 100 this year, the company describes itself as a multi-line property/casualty insurer with roots in workers’ compensation and a focus on construction, manufacturing and the healthcare industry.

“We are celebrating our 100th year as a U.S. property and casualty company. We’re a mutual insurance company, A-rated by A.M. Best,” said Amerisure Vice President of Marketing Gerald Chiddick.

“Our core products and services that we provide to our agencies and policyholders are really tied to the history of our organization, which was founded in workers’ compensation,” he added.

Chiddick said Amerisure’s financial position and portfolio have grown significantly over the past few years and its surplus is at an all-time high. With workers’ comp representing 50 percent of Amerisure’s book of business, the company also writes general liability, commercial property and commercial automobile, along with some inland marine products, he said.

Narrowing Focus

One way the company has been able to successfully navigate through 10 decades of evolving business environments is to continually adjust to the changing needs of its agencies, said Ted Wagner, vice president of Corporate Underwriting and Loss Control.

Around 15 years ago, Amerisure began to focus on its agency force and product line in order to provide better service to agencies and their customers. The company also launched its Partner for Success (PFS) program, an alliance of agencies, policyholders and their employees.

“At the time we were a generalist company. We focused on many lines and many products,” Wagner said. “And we decided that a much sharper focus would be a better mission for us. So we changed that focus, using our PFS program, on the needs of our agencies and it’s been very successful since then.”

It hasn’t been a rapid adjustment.

“Over the years we’ve provided enhanced and more substantial loss control, a focused and dedicated claims approach, a team approach to providing all of our services, to agencies and policy holders,” Wagner said.

“But the changes are measured. We don’t make large changes in any one year. We have a long-term approach as a mutual company. We can work through these changes in the industry as they occur. And we just continue to maintain our focus on the needs of our customers and the service value that we provide to them,” he said.

In 1997, when Amerisure first launched its PFS program, the company had around 700 agencies, said Michael M. Dieterle, vice president, Field Marketing and Underwriting. “Today we run at about 130 agencies. So that was a pretty dramatic change.”

It took approximately seven years to complete the transition. During that time period, the company doubled its premium volume with fewer agencies and improved its customer service and loss ratio, he added.

Dieterle explained that the move to a smaller agency force compelled the company to look closely at its agencies to determine their capability to handle the types of business on which Amerisure was focused.

“It was our strategic belief that the very best agencies were the trusted advisors to our policyholders, and that we had to understand their needs.

“We felt that those leading agencies, the ones that knew the most about the book of business, had the best underwriting information to help us … produce profitable results,” he said.

The agencies that remained at the culmination of the paring down process tended to be larger firms located in metropolitan areas that produce a fairly large volume of business.

“I’d say at least 80 percent or 85 percent of our business is from an urban setting,” Dieterle said.

Most of Amerisure’s agencies average around $50 million in commercial written premium, though there are a few smaller agencies with a specific focus, like construction, that have a somewhat lower volume of sales, he added.

The Next Century

Going forward, Amerisure expects to retain workers’ compensation as a significant portion of the company’s business.

But, Chiddick said, “We do write commercial property, commercial liability, commercial automobile. We have the commercial umbrella and the marine products.”

While Amerisure maintains a strong focus on construction and manufacturing, in 2009 the company added the healthcare industry as one of its target markets.

“As we continue to evaluate the needs of both our agencies and their policyholders as well as take a look at what’s happening within the market at large, that’s how we’ll continue to evolve both our product and our service mix to support the profitable growth of our organization and the needs of our customers,” Chiddick said.

All in all, Chiddick said, “it’s been a great first hundred years. We’re doing a lot to prepare for the next hundred years.”