Erie Insurance Group

Last updated
Erie Indemnity Company
Erie Insurance
Company type Public
IndustryInsurance
FoundedApril 20, 1925;99 years ago (1925-04-20)
Founders
  • Ollie G. Crawfordin
  • Henry Orth Hirt
Headquarters Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Number of locations
13,000 licensed independent insurance agents at more than 2,200 agencies located in 12 U.S. states and the District of Columbia
Key people
Timothy G. NeCastro (CEO)
Thomas B. Hagen (chairman)
ProductsProperty, casualty and life insurance
Number of employees
5,970 (December 2022)
Website erieinsurance.com

Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a property and casualty insurance company offering auto, home, business and life insurance through a network of independent insurance agents. As of 2021, Erie Insurance Group is ranked 347th on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of largest American corporations, based on total revenue for the 2020 fiscal year. [1]

Contents

Rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best, [2] ERIE has more than 6 million policies in force and operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia, including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. [3] It also owns the naming rights to the Erie Insurance Arena in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania. [4]

History

Erie Insurance Exchange began in 1925 when two salesman for the Pennsylvania Indemnity Exchange, H.O. Hirt and O.G. Crawford, left to create their own insurance company. In three months and 20 days, the two convinced 90 stockholders to invest using a hand-written business plan, raising $31,000 to begin their own auto insurance company. [5]

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department issued a license to the Erie Insurance Exchange as an automobile insurer, beginning operations on April 20, 1925. Erie Insurance Exchange was formed as a reciprocal and Erie Indemnity Company was formed as its managing company. The annual premium charge per auto was $34. [6]

Co-founder H.O. Hirt hoped to create a company built on service, developing the mantra "The ERIE is Above all in SERvIcE," with the letters "E-R-I-E" raised out of the word service. Customers, who were encouraged to call the company collect, could even expect the cofounders to answer the phone themselves. The company's first adjuster and full-time claims manager, Sam P. Black Jr., had a phone extension installed in his room at the local YMCA, offering 24-hour service to policyholders. [5]

Erie Insurance created a type of auto policy in 1934 named the "Super Standard Auto Policy," that was used as a model for other insurance companies across the county. [7] The policy included extra coverage not seen in other policies during the 1930s such as "Drive Other Car" coverage and waiving collision deductibles between two ERIE-insured vehicles. The company later expanded into home, business and life insurance. [5]

The company had an office only in Erie until 1928 when it expanded into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its footprint continued to expand, reaching outside of Pennsylvania and opening a branch campus in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1953. [7]

Notable dates in company history: [5]

YearEvent
1925Erie Insurance opens for business
1928The company opens its first office outside Erie, Pa., in Pittsburgh
1940Fire insurance becomes available
1943Comprehensive Liability Coverage becomes available
1953The company opens its first branch outside of Pennsylvania in Silver Spring, Md.
1961Introduction of Pioneer HomeProtector program
1963Introduction of Pioneer Business Protector Policy
1967The Erie Family Life Insurance Company is founded
1995Erie Insurance is listed on NASDAQ as "ERIE"
2003The company is listed on the Fortune 500 list [8]
2015Erie Insurance opens Technical Learning Center
2021Erie Insurance opens the Thomas B. Hagen Building

Companies

Company Subsidiaries

Source: [9]

Erie Insurance corporate mark includes the company's name with a graphic of the cupola from the H.O. Hirt Building located in Erie, Pennsylvania. This design was introduced in the '90s, and updated in 2005. [11]

Sales

Erie Insurance sells its products exclusively through a network of more than 2,200 independent agencies with more than 13,000 licensed agents. [12] In a February 2013 interview with the Erie Times-News, CEO Terry Cavanaugh reaffirmed the company's commitment to this distribution channel while acknowledging the importance of also enabling customers to pay bills and file claims online. [13]

CEOs

CEOYears Served
H.O. Hirt1925 – 1976
F.W. Hirt1976 – 1990
Thomas B. Hagen 1990 – 1993
John M. Petersen1993 – 1996
Stephen A. Milne1996 – 2002
Jeffrey A. Ludrof2002 – 2007
John J. Brinling Jr. (interim)2007 – 2008
Terrence W. Cavanaugh2008 – 2016
Timothy G. NeCastro2016 – Present

Awards and recognitions

In 2003, Erie Insurance made its debut on the Fortune 500 list. It currently ranks at number 368. [14]

In 2017, Erie Insurance earned the ACE (Achievement in Customer Excellence) Award in the Voice of the Customer category for claims service for the second consecutive year. [15]

In 2018, Erie Insurance became Erie County, Pennsylvania's largest employer with more than 2,800 employees locally. [16]

Since 2013, Black EOE Journal [17] and Hispanic Network Magazine [18] have awarded Erie Insurance the top insurance company.

Erie Insurance received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2017 Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmark on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT workplace equality. [15]

In the year 2018, Erie Insurance Group was named to Ward's 50 top-performing property-casualty insurers. Erie Insurance has made the Ward's 50 list since 1991. [19] Ward's 50 ranks property-casualty insurance companies based on their financial safety, consistency, and performance over a five-year period. The analysis is done on nearly 3,000 property-casualty insurers and 1,407 life-health insurers, out of which, Ward's 50 picks the top 50 U.S. based carriers. [20] Erie Insurance Group has also earned A.M. Best's rating of A+ (Superior). Erie Family Life Insurance Company has earned A.M. Best's rating of A (Excellent). A.M. Best is a respected provider of financial ratings for insurance organizations. [21]

In February 2020, Forbes recognized Erie Insurance as one of the best employers for diversity. [22]

Sponsorships

In May 2012, it was announced that Erie Insurance had purchased the naming rights to Tullio Arena in downtown Erie, Pa. The arena was subsequently renamed Erie Insurance Arena. [4]

In 2018, Erie Insurance became the title sponsor of Roar on the Shore motorcycle rally, [23] which is no longer running. [24]

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References

  1. ↑ "Erie Insurance Group". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  2. ↑ "Awards and Rankings | Erie Insurance". erieinsurance.com. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  3. ↑ "Fact Sheet". Erie Insurance.
  4. 1 2 Flowers, Kevin; Martin, Jim (2012-05-10). "Tullio Arena to Become Erie Insurance Arena". Erie Times-News. Archived from the original on 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Erie Insurance Historic Timeline" (PDF). Erie Insurance. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-13. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  6. ↑ "One Thin Dime". Erie Insurance. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
  7. 1 2 "ERIE History | Erie Insurance". erieinsurance.com. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  8. ↑ "A database of 50 years of FORTUNE's list of America's largest corporations". Fortune.
  9. ↑ "Corporate Profile". Erie Insurance.
  10. ↑ "States Of Operation". Erie Insurance.
  11. ↑ "Erie Logo". Erie Insurance. Erie Insurance . Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  12. ↑ "Erie Insurance Agents". Erie Insurance. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
  13. ↑ "Erie Insurance Positions for Growth". Erie Times-News . Retrieved 2013-03-14.
  14. ↑ "Fortune 500". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  15. 1 2 "Awards". Erie Insurance.
  16. ↑ Martin, J (2018-05-29). "GE Transportation no longer Erie's top employer". Erie Times-News. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  17. ↑ "Recognition List". Black EOE Journal. April 2024.
  18. ↑ "Hispanic Network Magazine". Hispanic Network Magazine.
  19. ↑ "Awards and Rankings | Erie Insurance". erieinsurance.com. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  20. ↑ Greenwald, Judy (August 3, 1999). "Ward's 50 set the mark for best insurer practices". Business Insurance. 33: 3 – via EBSCOhost.
  21. ↑ "Erie Insurance Group - Company Profile - Best's Credit Rating Center". ratings.ambest.com. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  22. ↑ Smith, Ryan. "Erie Insurance named top diversity employer". Insurance Business. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  23. ↑ "Roar on the Shore". Roar on the Shore. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28.
  24. ↑ "Roar on the Shore 'will not continue'". TalkErie.com. 2021-04-01. Retrieved 2022-07-18.

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