A question recently came up as to the difference between a mutual insurance company and a stock-owned insurance company. The primary difference is that a mutual is owned entirely by its policyholders—those that pay premiums to receive insurance—and a stock-owned company is owned by a limited amount of shareholders. While a mutual earns profits for all its policyholders, a stock-owned company earns profits only for those few that own its stock.

The concept of mutual insurance companies originated in England in 1696. Less than 50 years later Ben Franklin helped introduce mutual insurance to the United States. By the 1870s, when Wisconsin was still in its early statehood, immigrants began settling the area and building homes and farms. They heated their homes with a wood fire, cooked with a wood fire, and used oil lanterns for light. Fire was a great risk for these homesteads. As a result, the state of Wisconsin allowed the formation of town mutual insurance companies.

Forward Mutual is a town mutual insurance company. It originated in the 1870s as two companies; the Town of Watertown Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Ixonia Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Today Forward is one of 64 mutual companies associated with the Wisconsin Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (WAMIC) and one of more than 1,400 companies with the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

All of this is very impressive, but what does it mean to you, the individual property owner?

As a mutual insurance company, Forward follows a “neighbor helping neighbor” policy. It’s a sharing between the company and its policyholders the responsibility of protecting property owners. As NAMIC explains, “Policyholders who work with a mutual have a shared purpose: getting the best coverage and protection available. And mutuals deliver…because we serve policyholders, not shareholders. Our decisions are always based on what’s best for you.”

If you have any questions about being part of this mutual sharing, give Forward a call at 920-261-6616. Or contact any one of our independent agencies that are proud to sell our product.