Forward Mutual
A New Company with an Old History
Forward Mutual Insurance Company was formed on December 12, 2009, with the merger of Watertown Mutual Insurance Company and Ixonia Mutual Insurance Company. However, Forward Mutual’s history actually started much earlier.
In the 1870s the State of Wisconsin was less than 25-years-old. People were starting to settle in the area and build homes and farms. They heated their homes with wood fire, they cooked with wood fire and they used oil lanterns for light. Fire was a great risk to these homesteads, yet there were no fire departments.
Back then, insurance companies from the east would not insure Wisconsin properties or, if they did, the cost was prohibitive. As a result, the state allowed the formation of town mutual insurance companies to fill this need.
On November 13, 1872, 35 charter members from the Town of Watertown, with $49,070 of property to insure, met and formed Town of Watertown Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
Exactly three years later on November 13, 1875, 31 charter members from the Town of Ixonia, with $32,250 of property to insure, met and formed Ixonia Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
Before merging, Watertown Mutual and Ixonia Mutual were close neighbors. This, along with changes in state law, resulted in their histories mirroring each other.
Each mutual started insuring property in their home and adjacent townships, and added townships as the law allowed. Both companies initially only covered perils of fire and lightning. As laws changed, they both extended their coverages to include the casualty insurance that home and farm owners appreciate today.
Originally, only company secretary and directors sold policies. However, in 1971 independent agents started to sell policies as well. Today, only independent agents sell Forward Mutual products and policies throughout Wisconsin.
During the past 137 years, only 11 secretary-managers have run Watertown Mutual and only 12 secretary-managers have run Ixonia Mutual. We are proud of our stability and our history in serving the needs of area property owners.
This is the true beginning of the Forward Mutual Insurance Company we are today. We remain committed in serving the needs of our policyholders and agents in the tradition of “neighbor helping neighbor.”
Contact us today and learn how we can help you with your home or farm insurance needs.