It's Official: CGU Insurance Doing Business

While June 2, 1998 marked the official birth of CGU Insurance, the new company, created by the merger of Commercial Union Insurance Companies and General Accident Insurance Company, proclaimed July 6 as its "Launch Day". This is the day the "New 300-Year-Old Company" began to conduct business as CGU Insurance.

CGU Insurance, which sells its personal, commercial, specialty and life products through over 6,800 independent agents in 50 states, is now ranked as the country's 16th largest insurance company with written premiums in excess of $4 billion. According to Bob Gowdy, CGU's president and CEO, the goal of the new organization is, "to become the premier independent agency and broker property-casualty company in the US."

CGU's parent company is located in Great Britain. Its history dates back to the 1800s in the United States, and through centuries of mergers and acquisitions, back to 1696 and the origin of the Hand in Hand Fire Insurance Office, the oldest, continuously operating insurance company in the world.

Walt Farnam, formerly chairman and CEO of General Accident, has been appointed the new company's chairman. The new company is headquartered in Boston, licensed in all 50 states and operates through a network of 13 regional offices and 31 branch offices.