The Cumberland Insurance Group Recognized As a Super Regional Insurance Company

BRIDGETON, NEW JERSEY: The Cumberland Insurance Group has been recognized as a Super Regional Insurance Company by the prestigious industry magazine, Insurance Journal. The complete inaugural listing of 138 companies appears in the February 12 national edition of the magazine.

A number of property/casualty insurers call themselves “Super Regionals” as a way to differentiate their company in the marketplace. Until now, there has been no industry-wide, objective definition of a “Super Regional.” To open an industry discussion on the subject and to give definition to this important group of insurers, Insurance Journal called upon their official research partner, Demotech Inc., to conduct the necessary research and develop an objective list.

According to Demotech President Joseph Petrelli, “Insurance Journal came to us with the idea of establishing objective financial standards for stratifying property/casualty carriers. We saw this as an opportunity to bring definition to the ‘Super Regional’ term and to recognize these insurers for their achievements.”

In outlining the reasons for selecting Cumberland Insurance, Demotech found that “The Cumberland Insurance Group has successfully competed against national and international insurance companies and forged a significant and well-respected presence in the marketplace they serve.”

Criteria used by Demotech included the following:

• Active, individual companies not in regulatory supervision as of December 31, 2005.
• Companies reporting data to the NAIC using the property/casualty annual and quarterly
  statement format.
• Companies with more than $1 million of direct written premium in each of two to 34 states as of December 31, 2005.
• Companies with less than 90% of their direct written premium in any one state as of
  December 31, 2005.
• Companies with less than 90% of their direct written premium in any one line of business as of December 31, 2005.
• Companies with at least $100 million of surplus as of December 31, 2005 and September 30, 2006.
• Companies with net written premium of at least $50 million as of December 31, 2005.
• Companies with direct written premium of at least $25 million as of December 31, 2005 and greater than $0 at September 30, 2006.  “The ‘Super Regional’ list compiled by Demotech and the Insurance Journal is an impressive group of companies who we are proud to be associated with,” said Leo T. Hogan, Cumberland Insurance Group Chairman and CEO. “The management team, employees, and agents who represent Cumberland are to be commended for staying true to the Company’s core principles of providing quality products and quality customer service.”

“Understanding and responding to the needs of our customers has been the hallmark of The Cumberland Insurance Group’s long and distinguished history,” said Robert P. Brady, Cumberland Insurance Group President. “As we look forward to additional growth opportunities in the years to come, we will develop our employees and systems to outperform the competition in order to be recognized as the preferred ‘Super Regional’ carrier by the top independent agents.”

The Cumberland Insurance Group currently serves over 134,000 policyholders in the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, In 2006, the Company had Total Admitted Assets of $313,885,235 and a Policyholders’ Surplus of $140,421,618.

For more information about this press release, please contact Lee Tofanelli at 856-691-3113.