First Benefits Insurance Mutual

First Benefits Insurance Mutual writes workers’ compensation coverage for employers, from an office on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. It grew out of a company the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association set up 30 years ago, when the coverage was available only to association members.

The focus is narrow and the work is practical: underwriting policies, managing claims, and getting injured workers back on the job as quickly as they can be. Agents handle the advising side, walking clients through coverage, policies, and what happens once a claim is filed.

What to know

• Coverage is written in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Kentucky.
• The organization converted from a self-insured fund to a mutual insurer in 2008.
• The reinsurance behind the policies carries an A+ rating.
• The company says it has outperformed industry loss ratios for 30 years.
• One policyholder switched after 30 years with a previous carrier and saved money.