Contributors

Goodville Mutual Casualty Company
It is not hard to figure out where Goodville Mutual Casualty Company’s name came from, if you know Pennsylvania geography. 

Although the insurer is no longer located in the village of Goodville, the headquarters haven’t moved far. Goodville Mutual has been based just five miles down the road in New Holland since 1973.

The area, known as Pennsylvania Dutch Country, boasts rich farmland, keeping agriculture as the main economy, followed closely by tourism due to the large Amish population. Goodville Mutual got its start 75 years ago by Mennonites who wanted liability coverage for the growing use of automobiles.

The company now operates in nine states, including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma. Primary lines of business include personal auto, homeowners, farm, business and tradesmen, and church coverages.

Although Goodville Mutual’s roots are rural, the company does some business in urban areas. President and CEO Herman Bontrager points out, “Some of the smaller towns and cities we’re in have many of the same issues as larger metro areas.”

The company has over 60,000 policyholders and writes approximately $31 million in annual premium volume. 

Goodville Mutual thought it was important to support the Urban Insurance Partners Institute’s efforts to promote the availability of insurance, “because the ethics we try to operate by have a high value on justice and integrity,” Bontrager says. “I feel it’s important for us, even though our history and clientele have been rural, to be interested in the whole market.”

Bontrager has been chairman of the Pennsylvania Association of Mutual Insurance Companies’ Urban Insurance Task Force. 

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Lititz Mutual Insurance Company
What began as a couple dozen policyholders has burgeoned into a hundred thousand for Lititz Mutual Insurance Company and its affiliates.

The need to insure farm outbuildings without having to pay premiums until crops were harvested spurred formation of the company in 1888. The Lititz, Pennsylvania, insurer still writes some post assessment business today, but in very small quantities.

The company is primarily a personal lines property insurer with a large bulk of business in homeowners insurance. Additional lines include commercial multi-peril and supporting policies. Some of the insurer’s business is in urban areas. 

“Our lines of insurance have basically been the same over the years,” comments Henry R. Gibbel, senior vice president of insurance operations for Lititz Mutual. “As a mutual company we are managed for the benefit of our policyholders.”

The company operates in nine states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas and Missouri.

Lititz Mutual and its affiliated companies write approximately $40 million in premiums annually. Companies affiliated through common management with Lititz Mutual include Penn Charter Mutual Insurance Company, Livingston Mutual Insurance Company, and Farmers and Mechanics Mutual Insurance Company. Each of the four companies were founded in the mid to late 1800s.

Lititz Mutual decided to contribute to the Urban Insurance Partners Institute “since we have a concern for urban areas,” Gibbel relates. “The institute is promoting education on the purpose of insurance in those areas, which we think is important.”


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Penn National Insurance
Necessity is often the mother of invention. For Penn National Insurance that saying is true in more ways than one.

The advent of threshing machines to separate grain from husks led to the need for workers’ compensation insurance, which was required by state law. Farmers who thought the state set premium rates were too high joined forces through a trade association to form Pennsylvania Threshermen & Farmers Mutual Casualty Insurance Company in 1919.

By the 1950s, the company was writing very little farm insurance, due to the state’s changing economy, and the name was changed to Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company. The insurer now operates under the trade name Penn National Insurance. Other companies under the same banner include Penn National Security Insurance Company, Founders Insurance Company, Penn National Holding Corporation, ESL and Inservco.
 
Penn National Insurance is licensed in 48 states, but actively markets business in nine states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama.

“We’re really a broad all lines property casualty insurer,” says Christopher Markley, vice president of corporate communications. Penn National’s largest lines of business are personal auto, workers’ compensation and commercial auto.

The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, company has been following the progress of the Urban Insurance Partners Institute, which spurred the insurer’s contribution. “Penn National Insurance has been very pleased with the good work that’s being done by the institute,” Markley notes. “We thought this would be an opportunity to contribute to the further success of the organization.”

Penn National Insurance markets its products through 1,000 independent agencies. 

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Merchants & Business Men’s Mutual Insurance Company
The Internet has become a big part of the way Merchants & Business Men’s Mutual Insurance Company sells its policies. The 105-year-old insurer offers commercial products to independent agents via the World Wide Web. 

“We do not offer products to the general public through the Internet,” comments Don Waardenburg, president and CEO of Merchants & Business Men’s. “It is really a business to business application.”

The Web site has claims, billing and agency management features, along with quoting and binding capabilities. “It reduces the costs for quoting insurance and provides faster service for agents and consumers,” Waardenburg says. Applications previously were faxed or mailed, with a three to five day approval period. 

The company chose to contribute to the Urban Insurance Partners Institute “to be a good partner,” Waardenburg recounts. “We feel communication and education is good for all customers.”

Merchants & Business Men’s has 30,000 policyholders and $50 million in annual premium volume. The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, company writes business in eight states along the eastern seaboard. 

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