Maine businesses will get $22M in dividends from Portland insurer

Courtesy / MEMIC MEMIC President and CEO Michael Bourque said Wednesday that the workers' comp insurer will pay a total of $22 million in policy dividends to 18,000 Maine employers.

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By Staff

Roughly 18,000 employers throughout Maine will receive a record-tying total of $22 million in dividends next month from the MEMIC Group, a workers’ compensation insurer based in Portland.

The amount represents 14% of policy premiums the businesses paid in 2016, the qualifying year for the dividend declaration, according to a MEMIC news release. The company has only returned such a large dividend total once before, in 2018.

Since MEMIC is a mutual insurance company, policyholders may receive dividends based on the insurer’s financial success. The amount of each dividend depends on the policyholder’s premiums. Checks as large as $200,000 will be delivered in November, MEMIC said.

The 2019 dividend brings the total returned since 1998 to MEMIC policyholders to $285 million.

“This is our favorite time of year at MEMIC. In workers’ compensation insurance, it takes several years to know if policies produced a profit,” said MEMIC President and CEO Michael P. Bourque. “Gratefully, 2016 was another favorable year that we’re celebrating by declaring a dividend.”

Bourque credited Maine’s businesspeople with a dramatic turnaround in the state’s workers’ compensation costs.

“In 1992, Maine was the most expensive state in the nation for workers’ compensation and one that had far too many workplace injuries. We are proud of Maine’s employers and employees who have reduced injuries by 50%, which has helped reduce workers’ compensation rates by 60%,” he said.

“Maine’s reputation as a high-cost state is a distant memory and one that should remain so.”

About the MEMIC Group

With more than $1.4 billion in assets, MEMIC is licensed to write workers’ comp insurance across the U.S. The group covers more than 20,000 employers and their estimated 300,000 employees. In addition to its Portland headquarters, MEMIC operates offices in Connecticut, Florida, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.