NAMIC History

Mutual insurance in America dates back to the mid-1700s when Benjamin Franklin helped found the first company in 1752. As was the case with Franklin’s company more than 250 years ago, mutual companies today can be characterized as groups of people coming together to protect themselves in a common need. Mutual insurance companies are formed to provide insurance to policyholders who hold ownership in the company by paying premiums.

With a boom of farm mutual companies following the Civil War, many states began forming associations to bring together their respective states’ companies on common ground. One night after Iowa Association of Insurance Companies’ annual meeting in 1895, W.A. Rutledge and a few other men from farm mutuals across the country were discussing the need for an association on a national scale. This came to be considered the first organizational meeting of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

For nearly 115 years NAMIC has been serving in the best interests of mutual insurance companies – large and small – across the nation as well as in Canada. NAMIC began small, but has grown to become an association with more than 1,400 member companies that account for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. The association prides itself on diversity in membership which includes national member companies such as Nationwide, State Farm, and regional companies such as American Family. Members also include small mutuals throughout the 50 states.

NAMIC was incorporated in 1920 in Indiana, where long-time NAMIC secretary Harry P. Cooper resided. The association is still headquartered in Indianapolis, but our grassroots presence in federal legislative and regulatory issues are thoroughly felt in Washington, D.C., where our federal affairs office is located just blocks from the Capitol. NAMIC staff and lobbyists work on Capitol Hill to serve the interests of members companies as well as their millions of policyholders. NAMIC also strives to advocate for individual states and the issues each faces, working in partnership with state-based trade associations.

NAMIC’s mission is to strengthen and support its members and the property/casualty insurance industry by providing effective and high-value advocacy, member services, and public policy development.

To fulfill its mission, NAMIC works to provide services that will assist member companies, state trade associations, and the insurance industry in the effective utilization of resources; to promote a financially sound, competitive, private insurance industry; and to educate the public about the principle of insurance and the positive contribution of the insurance industry to our society.

Posted: Thursday, March 18, 2010 3:01:11 PM. Modified: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 12:18:28 AM.