The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc announced that it is beginning a year-long celebration of its 160th anniversary.

As one of the oldest companies listed on the NYSE and one of the fastest growing insurers in the country, its CEO Fred Eppinger said: “The Hanover has a fascinating history. For 160 years, our company and our people have delivered on our promises to our agent partners and their customers. “We are honoured to have established one of the longest and proudest records in the industry.”

A long and distinguished history
Founded in 1852 in New York City, The Hanover has remained committed to selling insurance products and services through a select group of agents and brokers as it did from the beginning. Now headquartered in Worcester, Mass., The Hanover offers a wide range of property and casualty products and services to businesses, individuals, and families. The company is ranked among the top 25 property and casualty insurers in the US and has a global reach, providing insurance protection around the world.

Some milestones in The Hanover’s history include:
• Began doing business in Hanover Square, New York, and appointed its first independent agent, shortly after its founding. By the end of the year, the company had underwritten US$2.5 million in risk and its board had declared a 10% dividend

• Met the challenges of The Great Chicago (1871) and Boston (1872) fires, which put nearly 70 other insurers out of business. (In today’s dollars, those fires represent the third and sixth most costly catastrophe losses in US history.)

• Opened an office in London, England to begin writing internationally in the late 1880s

• Emerged from the Great Depression better capitalised and financially stronger than before the economic collapse. The company accomplished this without any salary decreases and without laying off any employees

• Among the first American companies to provide insurance in Asia during the 1930s, with policies written in both Chinese and English

• When airplane technology was still developing in the 1930s, developed an aviation insurance product

• The only major insurer to be upgraded by A.M. Best, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s in spite of severe recessionary pressures in 2008 and 2009

• During that same challenging economic time period, the company grew its top line at a double-digit rate and added several hundred employees to its work force

• Named among “Best Places to Work” by Business Insurance

• Named one of America’s 100 Most Trusted Companies in a study commissioned by Forbes Magazine

Turning point
In 2003, The Hanover made the strategic decision to divest from its life insurance and annuity business to focus on the profitable growth of its property and casualty business, beginning by investing to create a world class property and casualty company and since then, it has never
look back.