PORTLAND, Maine, September 30, 2014 – Workers’ compensation insurer The MEMIC Group announced today (Tuesday, September 30) that policyholders of its Maine-based company, Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC), will receive dividend checks totaling more than $18 million this November, a record amount for the company.

The announcement followed a vote by the company’s Board of Directors at its meeting last week. Once the checks are mailed in early November, the company will have returned nearly $180 million to policyholders since 1998 and more than $121 million since 2006. In November 2013, the company issued a $16 million dividend.

In early November, the company will begin issuing checks to more than 17,000 qualified policyholders. This dividend payment is based upon MEMIC’s 2011 performance and represents approximately 14.4 percent of the premium policyholders paid during that year. For the first time in MEMIC’s history, the average dividend check will top $1,000 with the average of $1,040 and ranging to more than $250,000, based upon an employer’s paid premium.

“Once again, Maine employers are earning their reward for keeping workplaces safe and for insuring their workers through MEMIC,” said MEMIC President and CEO John T. Leonard. “In all the years we have been returning money to policyholders, never has the amount been more than this. This is what can happen when employers and employees work together to reduce injuries and keep costs low.”

Leonard also said that the company’s expansion down the East Coast has contributed to the record dividend.

“We’ve always worked to keep our expenses low to the benefit of our policyholders but now it’s clear that our strategy to grow along the Eastern Seaboard is literally paying dividends to the members of our mutual company in Maine.”

The MEMIC Group has offices from Maine to Florida, opening its 8th office this past year in Tysons Corner, Virginia. The company wrote more than $230 million in premium in 2013 and is on track to increase that to more than $250 million this year. About half of that premium will come from customers outside of its legacy territory in Maine.

About MEMIC

The MEMIC Group includes parent company, Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company, rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best, and MEMIC Indemnity Company, also rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best, as well as MEMIC Casualty Company, also rated "A" (Excellent). As super-regional workers' compensation specialty insurers, The MEMIC Group holds licenses to write workers' compensation in 46 states plus the District of Columbia. The group insures nearly 20,000 employers and their estimated 300,000 employees, and holds more than $1 billion in assets. The group maintains offices in Manchester, NH; Glastonbury, CT; Albany, NY; Weehawken, NJ; West Conshohocken, PA; Tysons Corner, VA; and Tampa, FL; in addition to its headquarters in Portland, ME.