There are not many companies that can boast reaching their centenary. Recently, New Jersey's largest insurer, in terms of market share according to SNL, New Jersey Manufactures Insurance Company reached that milestone. NJM says today it is the largest writer of both auto insurance and workers' compensation in the state and, as a mutual insurer, it has never wavered in its mission—to serve the needs of policyholders. “That single-minded focus reflects the culture of our organization and remains as strong today as ever before,” said President and CEO Bernie Flynn.

The company says faces have changed, buildings have modernized, and computers have replaced typewriters and ledgers, but NJM's focus is still workers' compensation, auto and homeowners insurance in New Jersey, with an emphasis on safety, sound underwriting and cost controls. The benefit is a total of $5.4 billion in dividends to policyholders over 100 years.

Celebrating its June 7th anniversary, the company donated $700,000 worth of driving simulators to 55 New Jersey High Schools that participated in the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey's Champion Schools Program, a statewide investment in driver safety. The company also gave two $10,000 grants to Lenape Regional High School in Medford, and Columbia High School in Maplewood, for winning this year's “U Got Brains” event.

Click next for a peek into how NJM and insurers have changed in 100 years.

NJM's home office in the 1920s and today.

Like the Affordable Care Act today, workmen's compensation insurance in the 1910s was a controversial new government mandate on employers. New Jersey was the first state to enact it. In a desperate last-minute effort to stop the bill, a Trenton factory manager argued, “All right, Senator, go ahead and pass it. The manufacturers will organize their own insurance company if you do.”

That manager and 54 others made personal loans to incorporate New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company on June 7, 1913, with the express purpose of operating in the interest of its policyholders and paying dividends to policyholders, not stockholders.

The Falstrom Company insured by NJM since the 1910s, and Gerber Metal as it appears today.

As the name implies, “Manufacturers” were NJM's first policyholders during New Jersey's industrial heyday, but the Company's insured businesses now include research facilities, offices, hospitals, hospitality services and retail supermarkets, as well as trucking companies, high-tech metal producers, manufacturers and many others.

NJM's safety engineering services includes classes for employees and inspections.

Focused on quality service rather than profit, NJM pioneered an engineering department to inspect workplaces and require safety standards. From 1917 through 1919, NJM insurance business more than doubled while its covered accidents fell from 9,021 to 8,275. Workers avoided injuries while employers paid lower insurance premiums. Such service helped NJM to grow briskly, becoming the largest workers' compensation insurer in New Jersey in 1922, and remaining so today.

NJM clinic circa 1960 and medical treatment today.

In the early 20th Century, New Jersey was the center of the industrial Northeast. For efficiency and effectiveness in assuring medical treatment for injured workers, NJM established its own “hospitals” near factories in major cities, starting in Newark in 1919 and lasting until the 1990s. Today, with insured businesses throughout suburban areas, NJM operates a cost-effective managed care program.

Many of NJM's founders were still on the Board of Directors in this 1926 photo.

At NJM, the interest of policyholders has always meant both service and savings. The goal of paying dividends to policyholders was set by the founders themselves who loaned their personal credit to start the Company, rather than investing in it as stockholders. Those loans were repaid in four years so that, in 1918, policyholders received 20% of their premiums back for both workers' compensation insurance and for the then-new line of auto insurance. NJM has paid dividends to policyholders in each and every year since.

NJM claim adjusters ensure that covered repairs are settled promptly and fairly.

The value of an insurance policy is the company's service during a claim. NJM's own staff investigates and settles claims promptly, garnering recognition from national consumer publications. Due to its reputation, NJM has grown without significant advertising to insure more than 800,000 automobiles, 280,000 homes and more than 350,000 employees for workers' compensation. Ironically, NJM's only 1-in-100-year storm, “Sandy,” struck during NJM's 100th year. So far, NJM has closed 99% of Sandy claims and paid $265 million to covered policyholders.

NJM employees post mail with early 20^th Century technology and today's ZIP-code pre-sort machine.

Through it all, employees have adapted to the day's most efficient technology for providing superior service at a controlled cost. Founded as a direct writer, NJM has used its own staff to interact directly with policyholders for both underwriting and claims, as well as for administrative duties including printing and mailing. NJM is a major employer in New Jersey, including 2,500 people in three offices today. During NJM's history, more than 800 employees have achieved 25 years or more of service.

Special Reports /

New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Celebrates 100 Years

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