Independent minded: Maine’s insurance companies take on growth, challenges

Insurers in Maine are growing their teams through acquisitions and training opportunities, while addressing needs for updated coverage to address climate change and cybersecurity challenges.

Mainebiz checked in with three of the state’s larger insurers — Cross Insurance, United Insurance and MMG Insurance — to learn how they’re supporting their clients and teams in a changing business environment.

United Insurance adds offices, team members

Headquartered in Portland, United Insurance provides personal, business and employee benefits solutions, auto and health insurance, risk management and financial services to over 35,000 clients in 18 locations throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where the company in February opened its first office, in Newburyport.

Photo / Courtesy of United Insurance

Zack Frechette is president and CEO of Portland-based United Insurance.

“This location aligns well with United Insurance’s strengths in personal and commercial insurance,” says Zack Frechette, president and CEO.

“For years, we’ve insured hundreds of Massachusetts residents’ summer homes, camps and ski condos in Maine,” he adds. “Our expansion into Massachusetts helps us fulfill our mission of protecting our clients and extending our organizational reach to deliver trustworthy advice throughout New England. We’re eager to continue our growth in the region.”

In northern Maine, United acquired Gallagher Insurance.

“For the past 40 years, Gallagher has been a respected competitor to our offices in Caribou, Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle,” Frechette says. “It made sense to bring their collective expertise and client base into our family, which will allow us to provide additional coverage options and development opportunities for our team.”

United also folded six offices from Maine’s Kimball Korp Agency into the company in March and in April added a financial services division as well, with the acquisition of Presque Isle- and Bangor-based Barresi Financial.

“The Barresi Financial team has been United Insurance’s 401(k) plan administrator for decades, so we’ve personally experienced their vast knowledge and exceptional service.

“Their 10 associates are a great fit for our organization, our values and our commitment to deliver a full spectrum of advisory services to our clients — personal insurance, business insurance, employee benefits, surety and now wealth management.”

United now has over 200 employees, but Frechette notes, “Our vision isn’t to become the largest insurance agency. It’s to become the most trusted insurance partner in the Northeast.”

Cybersecurity risks increasing

“For many years, cyber liability coverage was a ‘nice-to-have’ for some businesses and now it’s a ‘must-have’ for all businesses,” says Jonathan Cross, president and CEO of Bangor-based Cross Insurance.

Photo / Courtesy of Cross Insurance

Jonathan Cross leads Bangor-based Cross Insurance.

“We’re seeing hackers attack businesses of all sizes,” Cross notes. “Owners need to understand the technology that supports their business and how it can be impacted by hackers.”

Cross is a third-generation family-owned business, which has grown to include 43 offices from Maine to Florida with over 1,100 employees; 300 in Maine alone in 14 offices. The company has 13 offices in Massachusetts.

Cross offers policies covering personal and commercial auto, workers’ compensation, general and professional liability, employee benefits, home insurance, surety and bonding, from more than 100 carriers.

Tackling climate change

“The change in climate is definitely impacting the industry,” Cross says. “The insurance industry is very resilient and I’m confident it will adjust accordingly.”

Kayla Dill, vice president for marketing and business development at Presque Isle-based MMG Insurance, says two of the biggest weather-related challenges the carrier is seeing are more frequent wind storms and increasing incidences of severe temperature variations, particularly readings below freezing for extended periods of time.

Photo / Courtesy of MMG Insurance

Kayla Dill is vice president for marketing and business development at Presque Isle-based MMG Insurance.

“We’re investing heavily in sensor technology so that clients can keep track of temperature changes or the presence of water; the sensor will trigger an alert. We’ve partnered with Hartford Steam Boiler, which is a reinsurer, to begin providing devices to our policy holders at no charge,” she says.

“They’re the size of a credit card and you can place them in areas of concern — under a washing machine or near your sump pump. It doesn’t plug in, it connects with Amazon Sidewalk network and other technology, similar to Blink or Ring security systems.”

“It’s a benefit to both the policy holder and the insurance company to be preventing losses in the first place,” Dill adds.

Additionally, severe convective storms — hail, wind, tornadoes — are a growing issue.

“We’re seeing a significant increase of these weather events across the U.S. and in our coverage area. With windstorms there can be a lot of trees coming down and power outages,” Dill says.

“We’ve worked really closely with property owners across the state and with our customers in New Hampshire and Vermont to understand where trees can be a concern on their property and have been doing inspections to avoid that risk.”

Rooted in Maine, growing in the mid-Atlantic

MMG has been a Maine-based company for 128 years and is still headquartered in Aroostook County.

“We do business with 45 agents in Maine, at over 175 locations. We insure about 5% of the premiums in Maine for both personal lines and commercial businesses,” Dill says.

“Our approach has traditionally been one of organic growth, versus one of mergers and acquisitions. We grow by writing one policy at a time.

“Personal lines have always been a strong customer base for us. Over the years we’ve been adding to our commercial and small business focus. We reached a milestone last year, where now commercial lines premiums exceed personal line premiums, in terms of dollar value.

“We expect that MMG will be over $315 million in premiums at the end of 2025.”

MMG has regional offices in Portsmouth, N.H.; Lancaster, Pa.; and Richmond, Va. It provides a variety of property and casualty insurances to protect personal and business assets to over 100,000 customers through 220 independent agencies.

MMG has 300 employees, with 180 principally working in the Presque Isle office.

“Maine continues to be an important part of our growth strategy,” Dill says. “It’s our largest state and accounts for 30% of our growth.

“We are also seeing strong growth in our newer states of Virginia and Pennsylvania and this territory serves to help us diversify against New England weather events.”

Focus on employee development and internships

Recruiting and developing talent has been a strategic initiative for Cross, United and MMG as the insurance industry is under pressure from an aging workforce.

“We began a journey of recruiting and developing talent many years ago,” Dill says. “It included programs like our internship and apprenticeship as well as career pathing for new employees. Today over 55% of our workforce is millennial or gen z.”

The company takes on an average of four interns each summer. Eleven current employees began as interns and now work full-time at MMG.

Four apprentices to date have enrolled in a two-year program designed for recent high school graduates. MMG provides on-the-job training and financial support for their school work while they work part-time.

Cross has been developing the next generation of leaders, too.

“We partnered with an amazing leadership development consultant based in Bangor to develop Cross Insurance-specific content to develop our future leaders.” Cross says.

At United, Frechette says the company launched a career path program that offers more growth opportunities.

“We’re dedicated to supporting the development of our people,” says Frechette. “Our focus has been on enhancing our team structure and providing additional resources to our frontline teams to better meet our clients’ needs.”

Improving rate environment ahead

The rising cost of insurance claims is applying pressure on the industry.

“It continues to be a challenge to find affordable insurance policies for property near the coast,” Cross says.

“In today’s evolving insurance landscape, we are all facing rising premiums, stricter underwriting standards, and emerging risks such as cyberattacks and climate-related disruptions,” Cross adds. “These changes can significantly affect availability and cost.”

A July 2024 report from the Maine Bureau of Insurance found that while Maine’s personal automobile and homeowners’ coverage continued to be among the most affordable in the nation overall, rates are climbing in both due, in part, to more severe and frequent storms and natural disasters, as MMG’s Dill tells us.

For homeowners’ insurance, rates are rising along with increases in labor and materials costs. The report states that building material costs have increased 38% since 2020 and labor costs have risen more than 20%.

The cost of auto insurance is on the rise, as more expensive cars and trucks that are heavily computerized are more costly to repair and replace.

Cross notes, “We are starting to hear several insurance companies talk about adjusting their rates so they can be more competitive. Unfortunately, I don’t see rates reducing as quickly as the consumer would like to see, but at least there are signs of an improving rate environment ahead.”

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