Page 8 - Frankenmuth Insurance 150 Years Anniversary Booklet
P. 8
From association to corporation
The year 1941 brought a major milestone for the association.
The Frankenmuth Fire Aid Association became the Frankenmuth
Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a corporation operating in three
counties with 12 agents in the field. To make it even more official,
the company moved its offices out of the mortuary and into
the Fechter Hardware building at 112 South Main Street
(now Gill-Roy’s Hardware).
Though the association was now a licensed corporation,
its conservative practices, cautious willingness to try new
ventures, and strong sense of community remained.
These principles served the new corporation well. In just seven
years, the company more than doubled its total in-force insurance,
going from $29 million in 1941 to $59 million in 1948, with 10,700
policies in 12 counties. With business prospering, the company
relocated again, this time to its own office building at 130 West
Tuscola Street.
New innovations kept the business growing. The company issued
the first non-assessable policies in 1952, which meant that
policyholders did not pay when others had a loss, but rather paid
premiums up front and relied on the company to pay loss claims.
The company was one of the first in Michigan to begin writing fire
and related insurance lines on farm, commercial and dwelling risks,
and introduced a combination fire and windstorm policy.
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