Ansur America Insurance Company is a member of Frankenmuth Financial Group, and a wholly-owned stock subsidiary of Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Company. Ansur America was formed as the vehicle for Frankenmuth Financial Group to geographically expand, utilizing advanced technological efficiencies created by the Group's internet-based, iBIS systems. These state of the art efficiencies are used by our independent agency partners in the placement of all commercial lines of business.
Ansur America operates under the same traditions and principles guiding its parent company, Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Company. Following is a history of Frankenmuth Mutual from conception of a German Aid Association to eventual expansion and diversification of the company, including creation of the A+ rated Ansur America Insurance Company.
The company has its roots in the Deutschen Frankenmuther Unterstützungs Verein (German Frankenmuth Aid Association), founded by a group of Bavarian pioneer settlers in 1868 . The Deutschen Frankenmuther Unterstützungs Verein was a true mutual insurance society. Each member listed the buildings and goods he wished to insure and their value. When any member incurred a loss or damage by fire or other covered peril, every member was called on to contribute toward coverage of the loss - with the contribution proportionate to the member's insured values. The Association began with 200 charter members.
Shortly after the formation of the Association, the requirement that members be residents of Frankenmuth was eased so that members could be enrolled from the nearby communities of Frankenlust, Frankentrost, Frankenhilf and Amelith, but it was still required that both husband and wife were able to speak German and be Lutherans in good standing.
The Association's office consisted of available space in the back room of the Nuechterlein Mortuary at 516 South Main Street.
An era had ended. What began in 1868 as a largely informal standing-together of neighbors in an arrangement governed mostly by ties of shared nationality, religion, and language, had changed dramatically.
The
Frankenmuth Mutual Auto Insurance Company
By 1920, automobiles were no longer a
rarity. As the number of automobiles increased, so did the number of accidents
- and the need for auto insurance. On September 15, 1921
, 23 stockholders of the Frankenmuth Garage Company signed The Charter of the
Frankenmuth Mutual Auto Insurance Company.
To begin operations, the company needed 200 subscribers. The premium rate was a flat $7.50 per car, plus a $1.00 policy fee. By March of 1922, the required 200 subscribers had been enrolled allowing the Frankenmuth Mutual Auto Insurance Company to officially issue its first policy.
 |
The first policy covered a 1921 Dodge owned by John A. Geyer. The company has
since purchased and restored the automobile (shown at left).
In 1949, a new home office building was built at 140 West Tuscola Street (next to the Frankenmuth Mutual Fire Insurance Company). |
By 1958 , Frankenmuth Mutual Fire Insurance Company was the second-largest such company in Michigan. There were over 16,000 policyholders and a staff of some fifty agents to serve them. The Frankenmuth Mutual Auto Insurance Company was providing automobile and casualty insurance to more than 40,000 policyholders through 110 company agents.
The two Frankenmuth companies were more than just neighbors in their Tuscola Street office locations. Each was rooted in the same heritage. Each had been started to meet a home-town need. To a large extent, the two operated in the same counties of Michigan and had the same independent agents as representatives. Within each company, it became apparent that continued independence and separate operations would limit rather than strengthen their growth. After a series of meetings, it was agreed to merge the two companies effective December 31, 1958 . The merged company, with combined assets of over $6,000,000, became Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Company.
Within a year after the merger, plans were made to build a new, larger headquarters building. In 1960, the company moved into its new 12,000 square foot home office at One Mutual Avenue. There have been three major building expansion projects since then, the most recent in 1994 expanding office space to 65,000 square feet. The company has now moved its claim operations to a 27,000 square foot off-site building to alleviate crowded conditions at its home office. Looking ahead to future growth, the company has purchased a 190 acre parcel just outside the city limits for a future campus site.
During the 1970s, Frankenmuth Mutual expanded geographically to offer a broader base of operations. Coverage area grew to include Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, giving the company a four-state field of operation. In 1998, the company became licensed in seven additional midwestern states.
The 1980s marked continued emphasis on automation and efficiency which bolstered the company's growth and financial base. In 1980, the company was given an A+ (Superior) rating by A. M. Best Company, which the company has maintained ever since.
At the close of the 1990s, geographic expansion became an important factor for
the overall growth of the Company. Frankenmuth Mutual formed three wholly-owned
stock subsidiaries to pursue this expansion. In 2001 the first of these
subsidiaries, Ansur America Insurance Company, began operations in Georgia
& Tennessee marketing niche monoline Workers' Compensation Insurance using
Acord applications submitted through an electronic underwriting decision
support system (UDS). As our technological advancements continued, Ansur
America expanded its product lines to include all commercial lines of business.
Ansur America's parent company, Frankenmuth Insurance, has been recognized by Ward Group as one of its Benchmark 50 Group of Property and Casualty Insurance Companies thirteen of the last fifteen years and been rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and Weiss Ratings, Inc. As our policyholder, you have the security of knowing you have chosen a financially sound, well-managed company with the resources to cover your losses.