News
Vanliner's Parent Company, National Interstate, Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary
Richfield, Ohio – February 4, 2014 – National Interstate Corporation (NASDAQ: NATL), proudly celebrates its 25th year of serving the insurance industry. Established in 1989, National Interstate provides a broad array of commercial insurance products including traditional insurance and innovative alternative risk transfer options primarily targeting companies in the transportation industry as well as personal lines products predominantly for recreational vehicle owners. National Interstate offers its products and services through several operating subsidiaries including National Interstate Insurance Company, Vanliner Insurance Company, American Highways Insurance Agency, Explorer Insurance Agency, TransProtection Service Company, and Safety, Claims and Litigation Services.
“It is with great pleasure that I reflect on the road our company has traveled over the past 25 years,” said Dave Michelson, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Interstate. “Back in 1989, National Interstate was a start-up company with just a dozen employees marketing only passenger transportation insurance. Through the years, we have reached many significant milestones including becoming a market leader of transportation insurance, as well as alternative risk transfer, or captive, insurance programs. The 1990s were times of growth for National Interstate as we opened an office in the state of Hawaii to market transportation and general commercial insurance, launched our first group captive program, and began offering specialty insurance to recreational vehicle owners. We entered the trucking insurance market in 2000, and became a publicly-traded company in 2005. In 2010, we acquired Vanliner Insurance Company, giving us a leading market share in the moving and storage insurance industry. Today, we offer dozens of specialty products, continuously exploring and entering new insurance niches.”
In describing National Interstate, Tony Mercurio, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer stated, “We are an entrepreneurial company that embraces opportunities in the marketplace that other insurance carriers might shy away from. Our ability to design specialized products and enter new markets has resulted in significant and continuous growth over the last 25 years. While we now have almost 600 employees, National Interstate still operates with the flexibility of a small company.” Mr. Mercurio further stated, “We have a corporate culture that fosters hard work, but also promotes a great sense of camaraderie, and that contributes significantly to our ability to provide creative insurance solutions and superior service for our customers. The success we enjoy today would not be possible without the efforts of our talented and dedicated team who truly built National Interstate as well as the many customers who have trusted us over the years. We are excited to celebrate our 25th anniversary, not only because of our pride in our past, but also because we believe the next 25 years will be even better.”
Please visit www.natl.com to learn more about what a great company National Interstate has become over the past 25 years and to obtain more information about its products, services and career opportunities.
About National Interstate
An Insurance Experience Built Around You.
National Interstate Corporation (Nasdaq:NATL), founded in 1989, is a specialty property and casualty insurance holding company with a niche orientation and focus on the transportation industry. We differentiate ourselves by offering insurance products and services designed to meet the unique needs of targeted insurance buyers. Our products include insurance for transportation companies, alternative risk transfer, or captive insurance programs for commercial risks, specialty personal lines consisting of insurance products focused primarily on recreational vehicle owners, and transportation and general commercial insurance in Hawaii and Alaska. We offer our insurance products through multiple distribution channels including independent agents and brokers, affiliated agencies and agent Internet initiatives. Our insurance subsidiaries are rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. Headquartered in Richfield, Ohio, National Interstate is an independently operated subsidiary of Great American Insurance Company, a property-casualty subsidiary of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) (Nasdaq:AFG).