Peace of mind.

• Author: Kaelble, Steve
• Position: Indiana's leading property and insurance carriers

Indiana's top property/casualty insurance carriers

Whatever your property/casualty insurance needs, there's little reason to cross state lines to find your coverage.

Indiana is home to a wide variety of solid carriers, many with intriguing histories and unusual specialties. In addition to full-line carriers, the Hoosier state has insurers that specialize in covering truck fleets, doctors, dentists and churches.

Following are profiles of the state's largest property/casualty carriers, ranked by assets.

AMERICAN STATES

Fort Wayne-based Lincoln National Corp. tops the list of Indiana property/casualty carriers, just as it heads the state's life/health list. But its property/casualty operations are centered in Indianapolis, home of American States Insurance.

Actually, you'll find several distinct property/casualty carriers in the building just north of the Circle in downtown Indianapolis. The biggest, by assets, is American Economy Insurance Co.; others include American States Preferred Insurance Co., Lincoln National Specialty Insurance Co., Amstats Insurance Co., Lincoln National Reinsurance Co. and even the Insurance Co. of Illinois.

You can trace the American States roots to the American Automobile Indemnity Co., which got its start protecting Indiana drivers in 1929. Then came American States Fire Insurance in 1941, and in 1962 the companies became part of the Lincoln National organization. Today, American States is involved in most types of property/casualty coverage, including auto liability and damage, commercial multiperil insurance, worker compensation and homeowner policies.

Licensed to operate in nearly all of the states, the Lincoln National/American States property/casualty companies have assets totaling about $2 billion. F. Cedric McCurley is the CEO.

THE MEDICAL PROTECTIVE CO.

This Fort Wayne property/casualty company likes to keep a low profile because of the type of coverage in which it specializes. Its customers are doctors, dentists and hospitals, who sign up with The Medical Protective Co. for protection against malpractice claims.

While medical liability is an issue that's made a lot of headlines recently, physicians and other practitioners have had a need for protection for many years. The Medical Protective Co.'s history dates back as far as 1899, when a predecessor organization called Physicians Guaranty Co. was organized. Physicians Defense Co. was formed two years later, and in 1909 The Medical Protective Co. was incorporated to succeed those two firms.

The company has property/casualty assets of about $1.1 billion. Robert W. Gibson is CEO.

INDIANA INSURANCE

Started in 1851, Indiana Insurance Co. writes a variety of property/casualty insurance, both personal and commercial. It has carried its present title since...