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Church Mutual has record premium, surplus and assets
MERRILL, Wis. (March 16, 2016) — Church Mutual Insurance Company (CMIC) posted record numbers in 2015, President and CEO Rich Poirier reported at Wednesday's annual meeting at the company's headquarters in Merrill.
Some of the highlights included:
- The highest policyholders' surplus in company history at $585.1 million
- Assets in excess of $1.6 billion
- Direct written premium of $663.1 million — the third consecutive year the company has topped $600 million
In addition, the company posted the lowest claim volume (26,121) in almost 30 years.
"Mild weather patterns across the country and our risk control partnership with our almost 100,000 customers have allowed us to become stronger financially," Poirier said. "That means we will be there for our customer-owners when we are needed most."
Other impressive numbers that contributed to Church Mutual's bottom line included net income of $58.1 million and a combined ratio of 91.3 percent, marking the fourth consecutive year under 100.
That financial stability prompted prestigious recognition from Ward's as Church Mutual was named one of its 50 Top Performing Property & Casualty Insurers. The company was chosen from among 3,000 potential candidates.
"During 2015, we further demonstrated our commitment to our policyholders by making strategic investments in operations and expertise that will diversify our risk portfolio, expand our product suite, and enrich relationships between our policyholders and the teams that provide them service," Poirier said.
Strategic investments include:
- An alliance with Catholic Mutual Group brings together the expertise of two institutions committed to serving religious organizations. Church Mutual will be the provider of workers' compensation and automobile insurance coverages.
- Planned acquisition of the insurance operations of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association expands CMIC expertise and reach in both public and parochial schools.
- Formation of CM | Vantage Specialty Insurance Company, an excess and surplus lines company, will allow CMIC to offer coverage for the unique risks of our policyholders.
"We are intentionally diversifying our book of business across the United States," Poirier said. "These actions demonstrate our commitment to the religious organizations, schools, senior living centers and camps and conference centers we serve. These actions also demonstrate our commitment to deepen expertise and grow responsibly by expanding into compatible markets."
Continuing to emphasize the importance of service to its customers, Poirier noted that the company's customer service center in Merrill was recently ranked among the Top 10 Centers of Excellence in the nation by BenchmarkPortal.
"This kind of success allows us to invest in our insurance and technology infrastructures and our community," Poirier added. "We are soon going live with a new policy administration system that will allow us to offer new products that meet the unique needs of our policyholders. We have also recently expanded our Merrill facilities by renovating a large space that was vacated by Walmart when they constructed a new standalone space across the street."
Church Mutual is rated A (Excellent) by industry rating analyst A.M. Best. It insures more than twice as many religious organizations as its nearest competitor.
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Contact:
Jay Lillge
Title: Corporate Communications Manager
Phone: (715) 539-4503
Email: jlillge@churchmutual.com
