The Preferred Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Chenango County, as it was first known, was founded in 1896 by Frank E. Holmes. Holmes modeled the company after the first insurance company in the United States, “The Philadelphia Contributionship for Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire,” founded by Ben Franklin in 1752.

As a mutual fire insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders, the company offered broader coverage at a considerably lower cost than was charged by stock insurance companies of the time, which operated for the profit of stockholders. With only a skeleton management team of just three employees, including Holmes himself, his wife, Cora, and an office clerk, Holmes introduced a new operational format by selling policies through a network of agencies.

Today, Preferred Mutual Insurance Company employs 250 people in their corporate offices located in New Berlin and Norwich, New York. Preferred Mutual operates in association with nearly 400 agents located in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

Preferred Mutual has seen numerous changes in the insurance industry since their inception in 1896. They have gone from handwritten ledgers through a maze of office technologies to highly sophisticated computer systems of today’s business world. Through it all, Preferred Mutual Insurance Company has been a driving force in the competitive business of insurance and will continue to be in the future. Our goal is to provide the highest quality service and products to our policyholders and strategic business partners.