How Safeco Got Its Name, Before It Was Acquired
Safeco was initially called the General Insurance Company of America until the late 1960s. Today, it is part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.
Written by Serena Aburahma
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Safeco
is one of the oldest insurance providers in the U.S. For nearly a century, it has been a preferred car insurance provider in the country for several types of automobile coverages
. As of 2022, it offered insurance policies to all 50 states and the District of Columbia.How did it get its name? Learn several interesting facts about the history of this
insurance
provider.Safeco's interesting history
According to
Safeco
, the company was established in Boston in 1923. It was founded by Hawthorne K. Dent, an insurance executive with a vision to change the way insurance was done. He went against the conventional wisdom in the industry and created a company called the General Insurance Company of America.
This company was headquartered in Seattle, Washington. In those days, the company was called The General. It offered its services on the platform of competitive prices and quality service, which led to its fast growth.
For the next 30 years, the company used the name and spread the business as far as Connecticut and Southern California. It continued to offer cheap insurance coverage and added new products to its portfolio.
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The change from General to Safeco
Car and Driver
states that General created a subsidiary to handle fire and auto insurance in 1953. The new company was called Selective Auto and Fire Insurance Company of America, or Safeco. General started the subsidiary as a strategy to beat several fast-growing national insurance providers that were mushrooming across the country.Soon after joining fire insurance, it introduced life insurance. It continued to offer different insurance products until 1966 when it introduced commercial lines of credit and mutual funds. The General then officially adopted the name Safeco Corporation.
On acquiring the name, Safeco effectively absorbed the subsidiary and offered its products in the main business. In 1997, the company acquired the American States Financial Corporation, primarily concerned with underwriting for small businesses.
Fast forward to 2008, Safeco was acquired by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and now uses the name of its new parent company.
MORE: How Liberty Mutual Got Its Name
What are some of the automobile coverage options offered by Safeco?
Safeco dropped investments and life insurance and now focuses on casualty and property insurance. It also sells surety bonds.
There are several
car insurance
options for automobile owners. A medical payment for the owner who gets hurt in a car accident is standard with car insurance. Similarly, property damage in the case where the car owner has hit stationary structures is standard.However,
collision coverage
is optional and limited to specific amounts. In addition, customers can also purchase comprehensive coverage to take care of risks like fire and theft.Car owners can also purchase a new car replacement coverage if they are the original car owners and the vehicle is less than one year old or had covered less than 15,000 miles when it was totaled in an accident.
Besides, they can also buy rental car disbursement coverage to take care of the cost of renting a new car if they lose their current vehicle.
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