Safety pays off: MEMIC issuing record $21M dividend to employers

Photo / Tim Greenway Michael Bourque, president and CEO of The MEMIC Group, announced Tuesday that the Portland-based workers' compensation insurance company will issue a record policyholder dividend this November of $21 million to approximately 18,000 Maine employers.

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By Staff

Michael Bourque, president and CEO of The MEMIC Group, announced Tuesday that the Portland-based workers’ compensation insurance company will issue a record policyholder dividend this November of $21 million to approximately 18,000 Maine employers.

The board of directors authorized the policyholder dividend at its Sept. 29 meeting.

The dividend will be paid to employers who buy their workers’ compensation insurance coverage from MEMIC’s mutual company, Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co., based in Portland. Checks as large as $200,000 will be delivered in November depending on the amount of premium an employer paid in 2014.

“The total authorized return to Maine employers since 1998 now exceeds $241 million,” Bourque said in a news release. “This money will go back into the Maine economy right where it belongs. That money will be put to use for expansion and safety enhancements, debt reduction, new hires, wages, benefits and every other aspect of running a safe and successful enterprise. What’s especially nice is that this dividend will end up in the private, public and nonprofit sectors in all 16 counties.”

As a mutual insurance company, MEMIC policyholders can share in the financial success whenever possible through lower premiums and dividends. The dividend is not guaranteed as it is contingent upon safety results, efficient management of the company, as well as investment and bond market performance.

“Maine employers who insure with MEMIC have truly earned this dividend,” said Bourque. “We work together with our policyholders to reduce injuries through safety training, engineering and education, and to help injured workers get well and back to work as soon as possible. But they have to do the hard work to make it happen. It takes dedication and commitment but, as we like to say, workplace safety really does pay dividends.

The $21 million represents nearly 15% of premiums paid for policies issued in 2014, the qualifying year for this year’s dividend declaration.