Society Insurance

Society Insurance is a business insurance carrier headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Society has operated as a mutual company since 1915 and has experienced significant growth in the last 10 years, increasing the policyholders' surplus from roughly $50 million in 2002 to $93 million in 2011.^[1] The company’s more than 250 employees and network of more than 350 independent agencies^[2] currently serves customers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.

In 2011, direct written premiums hit $141.5 million and total assets rose to nearly $303 million, both company records.^[1]

Summary

Society Insurance specializes in workers compensation, commercial property and casualty, and commercial auto insurance. The company serves businesses ranging from taverns and restaurants to supermarkets, contractors, automobile repair shops, hotels, and medical clinics.^[3]

Society is known for its close relationships with industry trade associations such as the Wisconsin Restaurant Association,^[4] the Tavern League of Wisconsin,^[5] the Wisconsin Grocers Association,^[6] the Wisconsin Medical Society,^[7] the Iowa Restaurant Association,^[8] the Iowa Lodging Association,^[9] the Indiana Restaurant Association,^[10] and the Indiana Hotel & Lodging Association.^[11] The company offers special benefits such as extended coverages and dividends to members of each of these associations.

Rating agency A.M. Best assigned Society Insurance an A- rating for 2012 and also placed the company in Category VII for financial size ($50–$100 million).^[12] Despite not officially doing business in these states, the company is also currently licensed in Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri.^[13]

History

In 1911, the Wisconsin legislature passed the state’s first workers compensation law.^[14] Like all other industries, farmers’ threshing crews were required to carry the coverage.

However, insurance carriers were not willing to provide the coverage at a reasonable rate. In response to that difficulty in purchasing workers compensation insurance for themselves, a collection of farm threshing crews formed what is now Society Insurance as Wisconsin Brotherhood of Threshermen Insurance Company, Limited Mutual, on June 8, 1915, in Madison, Wisconsin.^[15]

The company moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1918 and also declared its first policy surplus of $301.69 that year.

In 1930, the company purchased Threshermen’s National Insurance Company, a Madison-area competitor.^[15]

Over the next 50 years, Threshermen’s moved beyond threshing crews and continued to grow as a multi-purpose workers compensation company.

In the early 1980s, what was still Threshermen’s began offering property and casualty insurance to businesses. The company became a servicing carrier for the Wisconsin Workers Compensation Insurance Pool in 1987, a role it continues in to this day.^[15]

The company changed its name from Threshermen’s to Society Insurance in 1995 and expanded into Illinois, Indiana and Iowa in 1996 and 1997.^[15]

Jim Thomas became president and chief executive officer in January 2004, succeeding Michael Wagner.^[16]

The company's surplus grew to $65.6 million in 2005, up from $52.3 million in 2004.^[17]

In 2008, the company saw written premiums grow to $126.2 million, an increase of 6.7 percent over the prior year. The company's surplus hit $86.7 million at year-end.^[18]

Since becoming Society Insurance, the company has placed an even greater focus on its niche insurance capabilities to the hospitality industry and is widely known for its "Uncommon Insurance" and "Uncommon Value" marketing monikers.^[19]

References