A relatively calm 2010 allowed Church Mutual Insurance Company to post some record numbers in three important categories.
That was the message from President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Ravn at the property and casualty company’s annual meeting at Lincoln Lanes on Wednesday. “The company’s surplus (its net worth) grew $21.1 million during the year,” Ravn revealed. “It has surpassed $400 million for the first time in our 114-year history at $413.7 million.”
That 5.4 percent surplus increase was bolstered by a $31.5 million jump in assets,
bringing that figure to a record-high $1.224 billion.
Church Mutual’s sales force generated a record $584.3 million in direct written premium, marking the eighth consecutive year it has topped the $500 million mark.
“The company now insures more than 100,000 houses of worship and related institutions in all 50 states,” Ravn said. “We wrote more than 6,900 new institutional accounts and retained approximately 92% of our existing customers with the company.”
The company had 36,850 claims that accounted for more than $345 million. “Although there was no adverse hurricane activity, our customers had significant damages caused by hail and wind, tornadoes, winter freezes and snowstorms,” Ravn pointed out.
Emphasizing the importance of customer service, Ravn noted that the company’s National Customer Service Center in Merrill was recently recertified a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal and The Center for Customer-Driven Quality™ founded at Purdue University.
Former CEO Dieter H. Nickel and Wilburn J. Weber ended their combined more than 80 years of service on the Board of Directors. Nickel served 42 years, including as Chairman 26 years, and Weber served 39 years. Both were awarded the designation “Director Emeritus – Retired.”
Church Mutual, which now employs 917 people, including 642 in Merrill, is rated A (Excellent) by industry rating analyst A.M. Best. It insures more than twice as many religious organizations as its nearest competitor.