Co-operative Insurance Companies homeowners insurance

Overview

Co-operative Insurance Companies, known locally as Co-op, is a member-owned property and casualty insurer in Middlebury, Vermont. Its legal name is Patrons Co-operative Fire Insurance Company, and it writes homeowners, condo, renters, mobile home, dwelling, farm, auto, umbrella and small business coverage in two states only: Vermont and New Hampshire. It sells through local agents, and it is blunt about its footprint: its claims page reminds visitors that it does not operate anywhere else and is not connected with other insurers that use the word "co-op."

Co-op wrote $29.6 million of homeowners premiums in Vermont in 2025, 9.08% of the state market, making it the 4th-largest homeowners insurer in Vermont behind Vermont Mutual Insurance Group, Liberty Mutual and State Farm, according to NAIC market share data. It is too small to rank in the national top 100. Across all lines it wrote $136.6 million of direct premium in 2025, up 7%, and it had 80,772 policies in force at the end of 2023, according to its own reports. AM Best calls it a market leader in Vermont for farmowners and residential property.

History

Abram W. Foote of Cornwall, a businessman who later served as Vermont's lieutenant governor, organized the Patrons Co-operative Fire Insurance Company on June 14, 1915. At first only Grange members in Addison County could buy from it; by 1917 it was writing statewide. A sister company, the Farmers Co-operative Fire Insurance Company, followed in 1924 to insure non-Grangers, and Foote's son Charles organized the Rural Co-operative Fire Insurance Company in Wallingford in 1933. By 1938 the three insured roughly half of all farms in Vermont.

That concentration nearly broke them. A hurricane in November 1950 produced more than 4,000 wind claims, and in December 1951 the three companies pooled their resources in the Co-operative Fire Insurance Association of Vermont, which wrote its first policy on February 15, 1952. The association took the name Co-operative Insurance Companies on December 31, 1997. In October 2014 members voted to merge the association and its three co-ops into one corporation, completed at the end of that year with no financial effect on members; the surviving company is Patrons Co-operative Fire Insurance Company, doing business as Co-operative Insurance Companies. Lee T. Dowgiewicz is president and CEO.

Homeowners coverage

Co-op does not post its policy forms or coverage limits online, so your agent is the source for specifics. What it does publish is a set of extras built into its homeowners policies at no added premium: identity theft resolution services from CyberScout, including a personal advocate, notifications to credit bureaus and creditors, and a year of follow-up (see identity theft coverage), plus personal risk protection, a package of digital legal services covering wills, powers of attorney and healthcare directives. Homeowners policies can be extended to jewelry, antiques and other valuables, an incidental home business, and recreational and utility vehicles and watercraft. Renters and condo owners can buy coverage too.

Two products set Co-op apart from national carriers in northern New England. Its mobile home policy offers replacement cost coverage on most mobile homes 25 years old and newer, which Co-op notes few insurers do (see mobile and manufactured home insurance). Its dwelling property program covers camps and seasonal homes, with liability, and year-round rentals of up to four units, including rental income (see Dwelling fire policies: DP-1, DP-2 and DP-3). Mini-farm and full farm policies serve the small-acreage and agricultural owners the company was founded to insure (see farm and ranch homes: when you need a farmowners policy).

Expect an inspection. Co-op employs safety inspectors across both states who inspect properties for new and existing members and recommend fixes for hazards they find, at no extra charge. In a region of woodstoves, ice dams and long winters, those recommendations are worth acting on before renewal (see ice dams and roof damage).

Discounts and savings

Co-op says "a variety of discounts and credits" are available but does not list them by name on its site; ask your agent which apply. It is piloting Ting electrical-fire sensors and LeakBot water-leak monitors, which it pays for in full, to help members find electrical faults and pressure-line leaks before they become claims. The company does not say these devices reduce the premium.

Where it sells and recent market moves

Co-op writes only in Vermont and New Hampshire. Its recent story is a return to underwriting profit after a rough stretch. AM Best reported in March 2025 that Co-op had underwriting and pre-tax operating losses in four of the previous five years, driven mainly by personal auto but also by fire and weather losses in homeowners and commercial lines, and noted that it had made significant rate increases in all major lines with more planned for 2025.

The results turned in 2025. Co-op reports that it reversed an underwriting loss of almost $14 million in 2024 into a small underwriting profit in 2025, its first since 2020, earned $6.8 million of net income and lifted policyholder surplus more than 10% to $105.1 million. Its president's letter points to higher rebuilding costs, more frequent New England storms and rising reinsurance prices as the pressures behind pricing and underwriting changes. In June 2026 Co-op moved members to a new online portal, CI Connect, which requires re-registration.

Claims

Co-op takes claims 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 800-388-6638, or through your agent. If you can wait, you can report online and an adjuster aims to contact you by 10 a.m. the next business day; response can take longer during disasters. Auto glass claims go to 877-210-8573 and roadside assistance to 855-238-3167. Its claims section also has a page on what to do after a loss.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best rates Co-op A (Excellent). On March 27, 2025, AM Best affirmed that Financial Strength Rating and the "a" Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating but revised the outlooks to negative from stable, citing weaker underwriting and operating results, a five-year combined ratio moderately above its peers', and an expense ratio inflated by the higher agent commissions typical of New England writers. AM Best still assesses the balance sheet as very strong, with risk-adjusted capital at the strongest level, low underwriting leverage and favorable reserve development, and said failure to execute its plans would likely lead to a downgrade. Co-op's site still shows the A rating (see financial strength rating).

Co-op's homeowners loss ratio in Vermont was about 29% in 2025, based on NAIC data, well below the national homeowners direct loss ratio of 55.1% in the same NAIC report. It has been named a Best Place to Work in Vermont nine years running, in the small business category.

Who it suits

Co-op suits Vermont and New Hampshire homeowners who want a local, member-owned insurer that understands rural property: mobile homes, seasonal camps, small rentals and hobby farms, all of which it writes. The built-in identity theft and legal services are a modest bonus. It suits less well anyone who wants to buy online, compare published coverage details before calling an agent, or insure property outside those two states.

• Strengths: member-owned since 1915 with deep roots in Vermont farm country; 4th-largest homeowners insurer in Vermont; replacement cost available on most mobile homes 25 years old and newer; camp and small-rental dwelling coverage; A (Excellent) rating with a very strong balance sheet.
• Weaknesses: Vermont and New Hampshire only; AM Best outlook negative since March 2025 after losses in four of five years; recent rate increases across lines; discounts and policy details are not published online.

How to contact Co-operative Insurance Companies