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Since the 1930's, the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company has expanded considerably. It now employs over 1000 staff and has branches all across Canada and in the U.S. In 1960 the executive function of the Wawanesa company was moved to Winnipeg. In 1975 Wawanesa opened its first branch in the United States. The story behind the expansion into the States is an interesting one. |
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In 1969, the New Democratic Party came to power in Manitoba and created the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation. All car owners were to receive coverage from this government body instead of from private insurance companies. There was considerable concern about this legislation amongst insurance companies and some portions of the public but there was little that could be done. |
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The Winnipeg office, shown above, is now home to the executive of the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company.
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As a new, public company was now responsible for automobile insurance, and was given a monopoly by the new government, the Mutual was forced out of the car insurance business, dropping their policy numbers by over 30%. Similar legislation in British Columbia, a very important area for the Wawanesa Mutual, caused a tremendous loss of business for the company. |
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Just as in the early days it was once again time for diversification. Instead of insuring new risks, the Mutual would have to expand southwards. The Company looked into various cities and determined that California had a promising market. By 1975 the San Diego office was opened and over one hundred policies were sold within the first month. Since this time business in the U.S. has flourished and has been an important part of the Wawanesa Mutual’s success. |
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Wawanesa has a successful office in San Diego, California. Alonzo Kempton, and the farmers that founded the Wawanesa Mutual, probably never anticipated that their small prairie insurance company would eventually have a branch office fronted with palm trees.
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The History | The Gallery | People | Mutual Insurance | The Community
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