About Us

West Elgin Mutual Insurance Company was established in August of 1880 and operated for most of its first century as Dunwich Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company. The primary focus originally was to provide fire insurance coverage for local farmers who were not able to purchase affordable protection from the insurance companies of the time.

From these very humble beginnings, the company progressed slowly and steadily in size until the post World War II boom which caused all Farm Mutuals in Ontario to begin sharing risks with each other in order to spread the risk of loss among more people. This method worked for a period of time but as the 1950's progressed, this style of reinsurance became too cumbersome and eventually led to the formation of the Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan in 1959, the first wholly Canadian owned reinsurance company.  This organization is still in existence today and provides one of the cornerstones of security for the network of Farm Mutuals in all of Canada.

During the 1960's and 1970's many of the coverages available expanded to include windstorm, liability, commercial risks and automobile insurance. In 1978, Dunwich Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Southwold Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company amalgamated to form West Elgin Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Subsequently, the word "Fire" was dropped to more closely reflect the fact that all lines of insurance were offered.

West Elgin Mutual continues to operate similar to the way it was organized, namely that it is still controlled by the policyholders through their representation by an elected board of nine directors chosen by the policyholders.

The company strives to be a good corporate citizen in the local community and supports Fire Prevention Education, Crimestoppers, Neighbourhood Watch and Community Policing. Please browse our site and call one of our representatives in your area, chances are you know them already as a member of your local community.