Historical Background of The Finger Lakes

Finger Lakes Fire & Casualty Company was originally organized on July 5, 1876 as the Tompkins County Patrons Fire Relief Association. Insurance was written for grange members in Tompkins County and some of the adjoining counties. The company was reorganized in June 1887 as the Tompkins, Schuyler and Tioga Counties Patron Fire Relief Association. The annual report as of May 31, 1887 reflected 973 policies in force; written premium of $4,133.76; disbursements of $4,123.33; and cash on hand of $10.43.

Seneca Cooperative Insurance Company was also organized in 1876. It was founded in the Town of Ovid as the Seneca County Patrons Fire Relief Association by a group of grange members who held their first meeting at the Ovid Grange Hall — one of the first grange halls to be built in the United States. As with Tompkins, Schuyler and Tioga, you had to be a grange member to be a member of the Fire Relief Association.

In 1963 the two companies re-chartered as the Finger Lakes Cooperative Insurance Company and the Seneca Cooperative Insurance Company respectively. They coexisted seven miles apart for many years with Finger Lakes headquartered in Trumansburg and Seneca in Interlaken. In January 1986 the companies merged into the Finger Lakes-Seneca Cooperative Insurance Company. The combined written premium for 1985 was approximately $1,000,000. Today, in the year 2010, the written premium for the Finger Lakes is closing in on $10,000,000( ten million) and growing.

The home office was constructed in 1988 and occupied on January 15,1989. The building has 5,500 square feet and sits on ten acres of land. The offices and work areas have been designed to promote efficiency in a pleasant work atmosphere. We invite you to visit our facility to meet our capable staff.

In June 1994 the conversion to an Advance Premium Cooperative from an Assessable Cooperative was completed, enabling the company to add additional lines of business such as the Umbrella Liability programs. We anticipate that the future expansion of the lines of business will serve the needs of both our policyholders and our agents.

The name of Finger Lakes Fire & Casualty was adopted in 1995 to reflect the heritage of the company as well as our position and stability in the regional insurance marketplace. We are proud to be “Insurers since 1876”.