A mutual insurance company is an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

company owned entirely by its policyholders. It is a form of consumers' co-operative. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...

distributions or reduced future premiums. In contrast, a stock insurance company is owned by investors who have purchased company stock; any profits generated by a stock insurance company are distributed to the investors without necessarily benefiting the policyholders.

History

The concept of mutual insurance originated in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the late 17th century to cover losses due to fire. The mutual/casualty insurance industry began in the United States in 1752 when

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

established the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses From Loss by Fire. Mutual property/casualty insurance companies exist now in nearly every country around the globe. The global

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

for the industry, the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, claims 216 members in 74 countries, in turn representing over 400 insurers. In North America the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), founded in 1895, is the sole representative of U.S. and Canadian mutual insurance companies in the areas of advocacy and education.

Recent developments in the United States

The "mutual holding company" structure was first introduced in Iowa in 1995, and has spread since then. There have been concerns that the mutual holding company conversion is disadvantageous for the owners of the company, the policyholders. The major disadvantage of mutual insurance companies is the difficulty of raising capital.What demutualization means for policyholders
Insure.com. January 28, 2003 In the 111th Congress, Carolyn Maloney sponsored a bill that she claimed would have protected mutual holding company owners. The measure, , died in committee. Mutual holding companies are one way to undergo privatization, also called demutualization.

List of mutual insurance companies

Multinational

* Association Internationale de la Mutualité

Bermuda

* Oil Insurance Limited

Canada

Denmark

* Tryg (owned 60% by the mutual company Tryghedsgruppen) * Lærerstandens Brandforsikring

Faroe Islands

* The Faroe Insurance Company (''Tryggingarfelagið Føroyar'')

Finland

* Pohjantähti Mutual Insurance www.pohjantahti.fi * Mutual Insurance Company Turva www.turva.fi

France

General Mutual insurance companies * Groupama * MACIF * * Matmut * MAAF * MMA * SMACL * Thélem Assurances * Mocf * Mutlog Health insurance companies * ACORIS Mutuelles * Almutra * Avenir Santé Mutuelle * Choralis Mutuelle le libre choix * Complévie * CMIP * EMOA Mutuelle du Var * Groupe Victor HUGO * La Maison du Fonctionnaire * La Mutuelle Catalane * La Mutuelle des Remparts * MBA Mutuelle * MCEN * M Comme Mutuelle * MFCF * Mutuelle Entrain * Mutuelle Générale d'Avignon * Mutuelle Générale des Cheminots * MIPSS Auvergne * MOAT * Mutuelle Matra Hachette * Mutuelle du Pays Martégal * Mutuelle du Pays de Vaucluse * Mutuelle du Rempart * Mutuelle SEPR * Mutuelle SERAMM * Mutuelles du Soleil * Precocia * Sereina Mutuelle * * Mutualia * Mutuelle Générale * Harmonie Mutuelle* * MNT

Germany

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Versicherungsvereine auf Gegenseitigkeit e.V.VERBAND DER VERSICHERUNGSVEREINE

Japan

* Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Company * Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company *

Nippon Life Insurance Company , also known as or is the largest Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea ...

* Sumitomo Life Insurance Company *