The Definity Insurance Company, operating as Economical Insurance, is a Canadian insurance company that has existed since 1871. Its executive offices are located in
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto, but it is n ...
, with regional offices across Canada.
The company has a 4.02% market share, measured by direct written premium in the Canadian Property & Casualty Insurance market as of December 2012.
As of 2014, it had about 1.6 billion in mutual policyholder's equity. It is the 9th largest property and casualty insurance company in Canada, by direct written premium and the 20th largest insurance company in Canada, by total assets.
The firm owns several operating subsidiaries, the largest of which is Economical Mutual Insurance Company. Other member companies are Perth Insurance Company, Waterloo Insurance Company, The Missisquoi Insurance Company, and Federation Insurance Company of Canada.
In May 2021, policy holders voted in favour of
demutualisation. Upon the completion of this process, all shares of the company would be transferred to a new parent called the Definity Financial Corporation. Definity Financial launched its
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
on 9 November 2021 and closed it on 23 November. That day, Economical completed its demutualisation. On 18 December 2021, Economical changed its name to the Definity Insurance Company.
History
The company was established when a group of people in Berlin (now
Kitchener), Ontario created a plan to protect themselves and their neighbours from the hardships caused by fire and lightning in 1871.
On November 25, Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Berlin issued its first policy on a house and barn.
In 1887 the company opened its headquarters on the main street of the Berlin.
One of the early directors of the company was
Moses Springer, a Member of Parliament.
During World War I, the company became involved in controversy when its general manager, ex-mayor W. H. Schmaltz, opposed the renaming of the town of Berlin to Kitchener.
The company expanded over the years, both in terms of geography and type of products offered. In 1937, Economical expanded into
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
by purchasing Merchant's Casualty Company of Waterloo. Ten years later, Economical expanded into the
Maritimes
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...
through acquiring the Canadian operation of Northwestern Mutual Fire Insurance Association. Meanwhile, the company started to offer automobile, accident, and illness insurance in addition to property insurance.
In 1947, the company began plans for a new head office building to be constructed at the corner of Duke and Queen in Kitchener. At the annual meeting in February 1948, it was announced that construction would begin as soon as materials became available. However, the following year, president Euler announced that preliminary estimates had been so high that the board had to revise its initial plans. On 24 September 1949, Economical awarded the building contract to Horton Bros. Limited, and the sod was turned that month. The accounting and fire departments moved into the second floor on 12 July 1951, and the remaining departments moved in September and October of that year. On 22 February 1952, the company held an official opening and tour of the new headquarters.
Economical acquired The Missisquoi and Rouville Insurance Company of Quebec, The Perth Mutual of Stratford, Waterloo County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the insurance-related assets of the Family Group of Companies of British Columbia, Federation Insurance, Hartford Insurance Company of Canada in 1956, 1968, 1980, 1999, 2000, and 2001 respectively. In 2006, The Mattei Companies of Seattle, Washington joined Economical Insurance, becoming the company's first subsidiary outside Canada.
Throughout these changes and additions, the company's headquarters remained in the same municipality, now the city of Kitchener-Waterloo.
By 2001, Economic Insurance Group was writing over one billion dollars in premiums annually.
By 2014, this had increased to $2 billion.
In December 2010, the board of Economical Mutual Insurance Company announced its intention to pursue
demutualization
Demutualization is the process by which a customer-owned mutual organization (''mutual'') or co-operative changes legal form to a joint stock company. It is sometimes called stocking or privatization. As part of the demutualization process, member ...
, which would mean that some of its policy holders would become shareholders.
["CFO leaves Economical Insurance"]
Tara Perkins, ''The Globe and Mail'', Jan. 31 2011. It is the first Property & Casualty Insurance company in Canada to do this.
However, as of 2014, the demutualization was temporarily on hold, pending finalization of new federal regulations governing this process. According to the ''Globe and Mail'', the upcoming demutualization has made the company a potential target for takeover bids from other Canadian and international insurance companies.
In 2012 and 2013, Economical reduced its staff by laying off more than 280 of its employees.
The final vote to approve demutualization is slated for Spring 2021.
Join in Our Future - Economical Insurance - We’re Transforming to Become a Public Company
Retrieved 3 March 2021
Awards and recognition
Economical Insurance has been ranked in a Top 125 companies list in Training magazine for excellence in workforce learning and development in the year 2013.
Leadership
President
# Henry Fletcher Joseph Jackson, 1871–1876
# William Oelschlager, 1876–1880
# Hugo Kranz, 1880–1893
# John Fennell, 1893 – 30 August 1922
# George Charles Henry Lang, 1 September 1922 – 15 July 1936
# Henry Knell, 1936 – 11 February 1948
# William Daum Euler
William Daum Euler, (July 10, 1875 – July 15, 1961) was a Canadian parliamentarian.
Euler was born in Conestogo, Ontario, the son of Henry Euler and Catherine Daum. He attended Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, Berlin ...
, 11 February 1948 – 15 July 1961
# Henry Carl Krug, 15 August 1961 – 14 November 1965
# Wilfred Walter Foot, 14 November 1965 – 1 July 1971
# John Augustine Vila, 1 July 1971 – 9 March 1978
# James Thomas "Sam" Hill, 9 March 1978 – 3 January 1995
# Noel Gavin Walpole, 3 January 1995 – 15 November 2010
# Katherine A. Mabe, 15 November 2010 – 21 June 2011
# Karen Lynn Gavan, 21 June 2011 – 31 October 2016
# Rowan Saunders, 1 November 2016 – 23 November 2021
Chairman of the Board
# Henry Knell, 11 February 1948 – 10 April 1950
# Henry Carl Krug, 14 November 1965 – 17 November 1965
# James Kenneth Davidson Sims, December 1965 – 29 July 1970
# Wilfred Walter Foot, 1 July 1971 – 15 March 1974
# Walter Alexander Bean, 15 March 1974 – 11 March 1982
# Peter Harvey Sims, 11 March 1982 – March 2005
# Gerald Allen Hooper, March 2005 – 4 January 2016
# John Harry Bowey, 4 January 2016 – 23 November 2021
References
External links
*{{cite web, title=History of Economical, url=http://www.economicalinsurance.com/en/abouteconomical/history.asp, accessdate=31 May 2014, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310232123/http://www.economicalinsurance.com/en/abouteconomical/history.asp, archive-date=10 March 2014, url-status=dead
Financial services companies established in 1871
Insurance companies of Canada
Mutual insurance companies
Companies based in Waterloo, Ontario
1871 establishments in Ontario