Casco Indemnity Company: New England’s Auto Insurance Specialists
At a time when many multiple line insurance companies in New England were asking their agents for a "balanced book of business" (i.e. increased property business), it became increasingly evident that those companies offering primarily fire and homeowners coverage would be pressured to provide auto coverage as well, and that it would become more and more difficult for them to maintain, let alone grow, their position in the marketplace, without this line of business.
With that in mind, in 1985 the Presidents of seven New England Mutual companies - Attleboro Mutual, Dorchester Mutual Insurance Company, Grange Mutual Insurance Company, Hingham Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Manufacturers & Merchants Insurance Company/Phoenix Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Saco, Maine, and The Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company - met to plan a long term strategy to preserve and enhance their property writings throughout New England.
As a result of that meeting (as well as many more), this group formed the NE Corporation, a holding company. The holding company, in turn, formed Casco Indemnity Company, with each of the participants at that original meeting buying a varying number of shares that were made available to them, ultimately representing a 100% ownership of the company. Casco's "mission", as stated in the minutes of an early Board of Directors meeting, was (and remains to this day) "to support the Mutual company agents, the Mutual company policyholders and the general buying public."
On June 27, 1985, Casco Indemnity Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Maine. And on July 8th of that year they commenced business with a Certificate of Authority being granted by the State of Maine. Later, certificates of authority were issued in the remaining New England states.
At the end of their first full year of operation - 1986 - Casco was represented by a dozen independent agents, employed six full time people and had total writings of $93,000 of personal automobile business. They've come a long way since those early days: At the end of 2003 - eighteen years after their incorporation - they now enjoy representation by over 140 independent agents throughout New England; employ 24 people; have introduced two additional product lines, and; their premium volume has grown to nearly $22,000,000!
In 1994, they received their initial AM Best rating of B+ (Very Good) and have been able to enhance that rating to a B++(Very Good) since 1997. They are extremely proud of this measure of stability in a time when many companies have either been declared insolvent or had their ratings downgraded.