A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-inv ...

distributions or reduced future premiums. In contrast, a stock insurance company is owned by investors who have purchased company stock; any profits generated by a stock insurance company are distributed to the investors without necessarily benefiting the policyholders.

History

The concept of mutual insurance originated in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the late 17th century to cover losses due to fire. The mutual/casualty insurance industry began in the United States in 1752 when

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...

established the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses From Loss by Fire. Mutual property/casualty insurance companies exist now in nearly every country around the globe. The global trade association for the industry, the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, claims 216 members in 74 countries, in turn representing over 400 insurers. In North America the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), founded in 1895, is the sole representative of U.S. and Canadian mutual insurance companies in the areas of advocacy and education.

Recent developments in the United States

The "mutual holding company" structure was first introduced in Iowa in 1995, and has spread since then. There have been concerns that the mutual holding company conversion is disadvantageous for the owners of the company, the policyholders. The major disadvantage of mutual insurance companies is the difficulty of raising capital.What demutualization means for policyholders
Insure.com. January 28, 2003 In the 111th Congress, Carolyn Maloney sponsored a bill that she claimed would have protected mutual holding company owners. The measure, , died in committee. Mutual holding companies are one way to undergo privatization, also called demutualization.

List of mutual insurance companies

Multinational

* Association Internationale de la Mutualité

Bermuda

Oil Insurance Limited Oil Insurance Limited (OIL) is a Bermuda–based mutual insurance company. It was founded in 1972 by 16 oil companies. Founding shareholders The founding shareholders were: * Amerada Hess Corporation * Ashland Oil & Refining * Atlantic Ric ...

Canada

Denmark

* Tryg (owned 60% by the mutual company Tryghedsgruppen) * Lærerstandens Brandforsikring

Faroe Islands

* The Faroe Insurance Company (''Tryggingarfelagið Føroyar'')

Finland

* Pohjantähti Mutual Insurance www.pohjantahti.fi * Mutual Insurance Company Turva www.turva.fi

France

General Mutual insurance companies * Groupama *

MACIF MACIF (Mutuelle assurance des commerçants et industriels de France et des cadres et des salariés de l'industrie et du commerce) is a French mutual insurance company. It was founded in 1960 in Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt ...

* * Matmut * MAAF * MMA * SMACL * Thélem Assurances * Mocf * Mutlog Health insurance companies * ACORIS Mutuelles * Almutra * Avenir Santé Mutuelle * Choralis Mutuelle le libre choix * Complévie * CMIP * EMOA * Groupe Victor HUGO * La Maison du Fonctionnaire * La Mutuelle Catalane * MBA Mutuelle * MCEN * M Comme Mutuelle * MFCF * Mutuelle Entrain * Mutuelle Générale d'Avignon * Mutuelle Générale des Cheminots * MIPSS Auvergne * MOAT * Mutuelle Matra

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

* Mutuelle du Pays Martégal * Mutuelle du Pays de Vaucluse * Mutuelle du Rempart * Mutuelle SEPR * Mutuelle SERAMM * Mutuelles du Soleil * Precocia * Sereina Mutuelle * * Mutualia * Mutuelle Générale *

Harmonie Mutuelle is a German word that, in the context of the history of music, designates an ensemble of wind instruments (usually about five to eight players) employed by an aristocratic patron, particularly during the Classical era of the 18th century. The Harmo ...

* *

MNT MNT may stand for: */mnt in Unix, directory including mount points * Medical nutrition therapy * MNT (gene), a transcription factor * Molecular nanotechnology * Mongolian tögrög, the currency of Mongolia by ISO 4217 currency code *Mononitrotoluen ...

Germany

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Versicherungsvereine auf Gegenseitigkeit e.V.VERBAND DER VERSICHERUNGSVEREINE

Japan

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co is a Japanese insurance company, headquartered in Tokyo. The company was founded in 1888 and is, today, one of the oldest and largest insurers in Japan. Asahi Mutual Life Insurance is a member of the Mizuho Mizuho () literally means "abundan ...

mpany * Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company * Nippon Life Insurance Company *

Sumitomo Life Insurance Company is a mutual life insurance company in Japan, founded in 1907 and headquartered in Osaka. In 2005, the company announced a joint venture with the People's Insurance Company of China. The new company was named PICC Life Insurance, which sells insu ...

* Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Company

New Zealand

* FMG Insurance
MAS

Philippines

* Insular Life

Slovenia

* Vzajemna

South Africa

* PPS (Professional Provident Society) * Iemas * AVBOB

Spain

* Mutua Madrileña

Sweden

* Alecta * Dina Försäkringar *

Folksam Folksam is one of the largest insurance companies in Sweden. The company headquarters are located in Stockholm. Folksam consists of the two mutual insurance companies Folksam sak and Folksam liv. Folksam is today a Swedish insurance company only, a ...

Länsförsäkringar Länsförsäkringar, or literally ''County Insurance'', is a Swedish group of customer owned insurance companies. The group consists of 23 independent companies, one in each of the counties of Sweden (pre 1998 division), that cooperate under a commo ...

Skandia Skandia is a financial services corporation in Sweden. History Skandia started out as a Swedish insurance company in 1855. Today the brand operates in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Skandia also operates an internet bank called Skand ...

United Kingdom

Shepherds Friendly Society Shepherds Friendly Society is a UK friendly society and one of the oldest mutual insurers in the world. It is an incorporated society in the United Kingdom within the meaning of the Friendly Societies Act 1992. It has over 100,000 members. H ...

* The Equitable Life Assurance Society * NFU Mutual *

Engage Mutual Assurance Engage Mutual Assurance (Homeowners Friendly Society Limited) was a financial products provider based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. It operated as a Friendly society, mutual friendly society with no shareholders, and was owned by its 500,000 mem ...

* Health Shield * Royal London Group *

Together Mutual Insurance ''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit (Taiwanese band), Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions (:zh:可米國際影視事業股份有� ...

The Military Mutual ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

Scottish Friendly Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited (Scottish Friendly) is a leading UK mutual life and investments organisation. It provides a range of investment and protection products and provides life and investment products and services to other fi ...

UIA Mutual UIA (Insurance) Limited is a mutual insurance company in the United Kingdom, providing general insurance products to members of the trade union movement and other not-for-profit organisations. It is a member of the Association of British Insurers ...

* Liverpool Victoria

United States

References

External links

NAMIC
– National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
ICMIF
– International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation
AFM
– Association of Financial Mutuals (UK)

(USA)
University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives: Research on the Economic Impact of Cooperatives. Economic Impacts of Cooperatives › Financial Services > Mutual Insurance
{{Authority control Cooperatives Mutualism (movement) Types of insurance