North Kent Mutual Insurance will be entering 2015 unchanged from its present operating format.
Prior to this, an agreement to amalgamate had been in action and communicated by North Kent Mutual Insurance, West Elgin Mutual Insurance and Kent & Essex Mutual.
Each of these Mutual companies was required to host special general meetings with their policyholders to seek the required approval of two-thirds of the voting policyholders present.
If any one of the three meetings were to record results of less than two-thirds support, the other meetings would become unnecessary. Unfortunately, this was the outcome that caused North Kent Mutual Insurance to retract their Special General Meeting which was scheduled for September 11, 2014.
“Although the three companies were studied and shown to significantly benefit from the proposed business combination, we accept and respect the wishes of the policyholders that voted on the motion,” stated John Leeson, North Kent Mutual Insurance President.
The amalgamation concept began in the early summer of 2013 and announced in February 2014.
After satisfying the legal due diligence phase and developing a detailed business plan, the Boards of the three Companies each passed resolutions to enter into an amalgamation agreement.
The agreement, the business plan and proposed By-Laws were submitted to the companies’ regulator, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), and approval was received to present the question to the policyholders.
The amalgamated entity would have commenced business on January 1, 2015 under the name Integrity Mutual Insurance Company.”
“Despite the outcome of events, the Board, Management, Agents and Staff of North Kent Mutual Insurance want to reassure their valued policyholders that it’s business as usual for the Company,” Leeson stated. “We are a financially solid company with a reputation for excellence in service to our clients, support of our community and local investment. Amalgamation would have provided an opportunity for a quantum leap forward in the areas of technology, spread of risk, organizational development and the ability to retain more risk locally. We remain solidly committed to making advances in all of these areas as we continue on the journey that began for North Kent Mutual Insurance over 100 years ago.”
