Insurance Organization

Providers of insurance may organize themselves in several different ways. In some societies, people informally group together and pool their funds to help each other in times of need. Some much larger, formal insurance organizations work in much the same way. Others operate for profit.


A. Stock Insurance Companies

Some insurance providers, such as Allstate Insurance Company, operate as corporations, the form of organization common to many large businesses that operate for profit. These kinds of insurance organizations, called stock insurance companies, sell stock to shareholders whose investment provides the capital for company operations. Stock insurance companies represent the largest number of insurance companies in operation, and nearly all newly formed insurance companies.


B. Mutual Insurance Companies

Historically, individuals seeking to share risk joined together without the motivation of earning profits. This principle carries on today in mutual insurance companies. Everyone who purchases insurance from a mutual company owns a small piece of that company. In contrast to the first small mutual insurance associations, however, today’s large mutual companies, such as State Farm insurance companies and Northwestern Mutual Life, compete against stock companies for business and generally operate much like those companies. Mutuals have boards of directors elected by policyholders, and excess income goes back to policyholders as dividends.


C. Reciprocals, Lloyd’s Associations, and Cooperatives

Other forms of insurance organizations include reciprocals, Lloyd’s associations, and cooperatives. These organizations serve an important role in making insurance available to specialized businesses. Most reciprocals and Lloyd’s associations do not sell insurance to individuals.

In reciprocal insurance organizations, also known as reciprocal exchanges or interinsurance exchanges, each policyholder is directly insured by all the others. Attorneys-in-fact (contractually bound agents) manage the affairs of reciprocals for the members, and members commonly know how much liability each member of the group assumes.

Lloyd’s associations, modeled after the longstanding British insurance association Lloyd's of London, are groups of businesses and individuals who come together to underwrite (assume a portion of risk for) specific types of insurance risks. Lloyd’s associations employ independent underwriters—agents who establish insurance rules, assess the qualifications of customers to purchase insurance, and set policy rates—to make insurance contracts on their behalf. Lloyd’s associations insure a wide variety of risks faced by international businesses and, in some cases, individuals.

Cooperative organizations are nonprofit membership groups maintained and operated for the benefit of their members and subscribers. Cooperatives are prohibited by law from paying dividends or distributing profits and are exempt from most forms of taxation. Many fraternal orders also provide insurance in the same manner as cooperatives.