PEMCO


PEMCO Insurance is a personal-lines mutual insurance company based in Seattle, Washington that serves only Washington and Oregon residents. Its name is an acronym for Public Employees Mutual Insurance Company.

History

In 1936, Seattle school teacher Robert J. Handy took advantage of the newly legalized “credit union” concept to found Seattle Teachers Credit Union. Handy is reputed to have started the credit union with $5 in capital. Out of that enterprise grew a group of seven different but related companies, the largest of which is now PEMCO Insurance.
PEMCO has grown from premiums of $8,500 in 1949 to $458.4 million in 2017.
Today, PEMCO is the Northwest’s largest local personal-lines insurer, providing auto, home, boat and umbrella coverage to the general public.
The current president and CEO of PEMCO Insurance is Stan W. McNaughton. He is the son of Stanley O. McNaughton, who was president from 1970 until his death in 1998.
PEMCO’s stated niche market is in what some in the insurance industry refer to as “preferred risk”– that is, policyholders who are least likely to have traffic tickets or car accidents, and who take proactive steps to protect their own property with safeguards like car alarms, smoke detectors, and deadbolt locks.
PEMCO serves customers from its Seattle headquarters in the South Lake Union tech district, and from regional offices in Lynnwood and Spokane.

Awards

PEMCO has earned several service and marketing-campaign awards in recent years, including: