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Indiana insurer for mutual insurers, agents celebrates 20 years

The blueprint for the company was originally conceived by an ad hoc task force of senior executive officers from several mutual property/casualty insurance companies in response to the liability insurance crisis of the mid-1980s.

This month, NAMIC Insurance Co. Inc., or NAMICO, the specialty lines carrier built from that blueprint, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

NAMICO was incorporated in Indiana on Nov. 21, 1986, and began operations on July 1, 1987, by offering directors and officers liability, insurance company professional liability, and agents’ errors and omissions insurance. The carrier insures insurer members of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and their agents.

NAMIC and a majority of its members were responsible for the company’s capitalization. A “significant number of members” also provided reinsurance support through a pooling arrangement, which still exists today and has proven to be a stabilizing influence on NAMICO’s premiums, according to Jerry Wollam, president of NAMICO.

Chuck Chamness, president of NAMIC, notes that although NAMICO is not licensed in all states, a working relationship with Scottsdale Insurance Co. and the use of counter reinsurance agreements allows the company to manage a program that attracts targeted business from across the United States.

Today, officials say the program writes D&O and E&O coverage and provides risk-management expertise in 42 states to more than 700 mutual property/casualty insurance companies and more than 4,000 property/casualty insurance agents.

NAMICO is rated “A” or “Excellent,” by the A.M. Best Co. Since its inception, surplus has grown from $3.7 million in 1987 to $20 million in 2007. The company employs a staff of 14.

Source: NAMIC.