Travelers Car Insurance Claims

Travelers markets a large variety of auto insurance policies for vehicle owners. These include bodily injury, collision and comprehensive coverage. Options include coverage for extended transportation expenses, repair and/or replacement of collision damage, labor and towing costs, indemnity against death and car loan and lease protection. In line with its competitors, the company offers advantages and discounts to reduce the cost of premiums for safety features fitted to policy holder’s cars, such as airbags, anti-theft devices and anti-lock brakes. Of special note is that hybrid cars owners can earn extra reductions.

When policy holders combine vehicle insurance with homeowners, umbrella and/or yacht and boat coverage additional deductions are offered. The company promises highly efficient customer service and claims processing, with availability to file claims 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via online access.

History of Travelers

The history of Travelers goes back to 1853, when the Saint Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. was established in St Paul, Minnesota by a group of 17 businessmen. By cutting down its operations, the company managed to survive the panic of 1857, and thereafter, the company was reorganized from a mutual company to a stock company. In 1864, 10 businessmen got together and founded the Travelers Property Casualty Co to insure people using the railroads and steamboats against loss of life and potential injury. This company issued its first vehicle insurance policy in 1897 and by 1907 had began issuing property coverage.

Travelers Property Casualty Co has a number of firsts to its credit. In 1903, it established the first school for training insurance agents. 1912 saw the start of the company’s drivers’ education program. Travelers began selling a combined vehicle policy that year as well. The company installed a computer in 1956 and became the first insurance company to have a weather research center. It was also the first company to write both commercial airline and a space travel policies.

The company continued to grow and in 1998 it purchased United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company (USF&G). During the ’90s, Travelers merged with several companies and also acquired others. In 1993, Primerica purchased the company, but kept the Travelers name which, in 1995, was renamed The Travelers Group. This company then acquired the casualty and property divisions of Aetna in 1996.

The Travelers Group and Citicorp merged in 1998 to become Citigroup, but this merger was unsuccessful and in 2001 Citigroup sold off Travelers Life & Annuity to Metlife. The next major merger came in 2004, when Travelers Property Casualty Co and St. Paul merged to become St. Paul Travelers which was then renamed The Travelers Companies.

This is the structure the company has today. The company has four major subsidiaries – Travelers of Florida, Premier Insurance, Mendota Insurance Company and Travelers of New Jersey.

Financial Position of Travelers

Travelers is listed at 98 in Fortune 500’s list of the largest companies in the U.S. and is the largest US insurance company in market value terms. It has 30,000 employees. It trades on the NYSE under the symbol TRV and has been listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 2009. In its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2009, the company reported total revenue as $24.7 billion, shareholders equity of $27 billion, amounting to total assets of almost $109.6 billion. The company has offices in every state in the US as well as operations in Canada, the UK, Ireland, China and Singapore.