Personal lines (auto, home, boat, personal items) policyholders can register to view and print policy documents, including auto ID cards. Directly billed policyholders can also view and print billing statements.
Directly billed policyholders can make a one-time premium payment online from your bank account or credit card using this feature.
Personal lines (auto, home, boat, personal items) policyholders can register to view and print policy documents, including auto ID cards. Directly billed policyholders can also view and print billing statements.
Directly billed policyholders can make a one-time premium payment online from your bank account or credit card using this feature.
We think about insurance differently. For us, the insurance business—our business—is about people. It’s about bringing your best when others may be experiencing their worst. It’s that clarity of purpose that helped turn the $200,000 our agent-founders raised in 1950 to start a new insurance company into $10 billion in total revenues in 2023 and a future looking ever-brighter. As we celebrate 75 years of unwavering commitment to people—to our associates, to independent agents, to policyholders—we remember who got us here and who we show up to work for every day.
When John J. Schiff, Sr. (Jack) was in the Navy Supply School early in World War II, the young officer would often confide in a friend who’d also worked for an insurance agency before the war about a dream for his future. The conversations were heady, but they were still just that—conversations. Then in 1946, having served his country honorably, Jack returned to civilian life and reentered the insurance business—this time as an independent agent. After protecting the nation, Jack wanted the opportunity to protect what mattered to everyday Ohioans.
When Jack’s younger brother Robert (Bob) graduated from The Ohio State University that spring, he jumped at the opportunity to join the John J. Schiff Agency, as something special was beginning to grow in Cincinnati. It wasn’t until three years later that Jack would really put his dream on paper in the form of a four-page prospectus for a venture called The Cincinnati Insurance Company.
Jack recruited two highly experienced insurance professionals, Chester T. Field and Harry M. Turner, to join the Schiff brothers as founders, which was crucial to Cincinnati’s launch. The seasoned insurance men drew from their well of industry expertise to contribute to the prospectus. In it, a vision and a promise: “A Company sponsored by excellent agents and one that would build the relationship of partnership with the agents.” And an unbreakable bond was forged. We received our charter August 2, 1950, and with the issuance of the Certificate of Authority on January 23, 1951, The Cincinnati Insurance Company was officially in business.
Our founders believed that independent agents, living and working in the communities they serve, would be best positioned to know the needs of the insured and market our business. Burglary insurance for the clothing store owner, a homeowner’s policy for their new neighbor, a commercial all-risk policy for the diner down the street—our insurance products protect the most valuable thing that independent agents own—their relationships. These independent agents, trusted pillars in their communities, were, are, and always will be motivated to find the best solutions for their clients. It’s why we’ve never strayed from this distribution model and the American Agency System.
As agents themselves, our founders could see a two-sided market and how to fuel growth for both sides. They combined competitively priced products with reasonable commissions, all facilitated by our innovative policy forms that simplified the process for the company, the customer and the agent. That mix of experience, innovation and relationship focus was potent, helping power remarkable growth through the 1950s. Today, we strive to be the best company serving independent agents—it’s a vision we all rally behind, inspired by four agents, a prospectus, and a belief in a better way of doing business.
As The Cincinnati Insurance Companies celebrates 75 years of being A Bridge to Better, we honor our legacy of putting agents first, our noble industry, and our commitment to meeting the ever-evolving needs of policyholders.
