PORTLAND, Maine, October 8, 2013 – Workers’ compensation insurer The MEMIC Group announced today that policyholders of its Maine-based company, Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC), will receive dividend checks totaling more than $16 million this November, a record amount for the company.

The announcement followed a vote by the company’s Board of Directors at its meeting in late September. Once the checks are mailed next month, the company will have returned more than $161 million to policyholders since 1998 and more than $103 million since 2006. In November 2012, the company issued a $13 million dividend.

In early November, the company will begin issuing checks to its nearly 18,000 qualified policyholders. This dividend payment is based upon MEMIC’s 2010 performance and represents approximately 13 percent of the premium policyholders paid during that year.

“This has to be tremendous news for employers who get their workers’ comp insurance from MEMIC,” said MEMIC President and CEO John T. Leonard. “This record return is made possible in part by employers and employees working together to reduce injuries at work.”

Leonard said MEMIC’s commitment to keep its expenses lower than the average for property casualty insurance companies as well as the growth of its subsidiaries outside of Maine have contributed to the record return. 

“We are proud to say that our strategy to grow outside of Maine is succeeding,” he said. “As we grow, we are gaining the scale that helps us to generate more income, thereby helping to increase the size of the annual dividend.”

Checks will average more than $700 and will range as high as $250,000, according to the company. More than 200 checks will be for more than $10,000 each.

MEMIC is Maine’s leading workers’ compensation insurer, providing insurance to more than 18,000 employers and their estimated 180,000 employees. Since the company’s creation a little more than 20 years ago, rates for workers’ compensation in Maine have decreased by more than 50 percent. During that same period, lost-time workplace injuries are down by nearly 40 percent. 

In addition to the dividend, earlier in 2013, MEMIC declined a rate increase which had been filed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. MEMIC estimates that its policyholders will save several million dollars as a result of the company’s decision to forego the rate increase. 

About MEMIC

Specializing in workers' compensation insurance, The MEMIC Group includes Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC), MEMIC Indemnity Company and MEMIC Casualty Company. MEMIC and MEMIC Indemnity are rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best. The MEMIC Group insures nearly 20,000 employers across the Eastern seaboard. The Group’s home office is in Portland, Maine with additional offices in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida. The company maintains a dominant market share in Maine and has executed a careful growth strategy across the Northeast in recent years. Today, The MEMIC Group is the fifth largest underwriter of workers’ compensation business in New England and is among the fastest growing workers' comp insurers in New York.