Encova Insurance business insurance

Overview

Encova Insurance is a policyholder-owned regional group based in Columbus, Ohio, and workers' compensation is the center of its business. Its NAIC group, Encova Mutual Insurance Group, ranked No. 74 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $1.04 billion, based on NAIC market share data. That is about 0.21% of the national commercial market and roughly three-quarters of its $1.38 billion all-lines total. It is not among the 10 largest writers of any commercial line nationally. More than half of its commercial premium is workers' compensation ($568.1 million), followed by commercial multiple peril, the package line ($271.0 million), commercial auto ($170.4 million) and inland marine ($21.3 million).

The group is two older companies under one brand. Motorists Mutual Insurance Company of Columbus brought property and casualty package business, personal auto and home. BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company of Charleston, West Virginia, brought a workers' comp operation. The NAIC group lists 13 insurers: Motorists Mutual and Motorists Commercial Mutual, BrickStreet Mutual and its subsidiaries AlleghenyPoint, NorthStone, PinnaclePoint and SummitPoint, Iowa Mutual and Iowa American, MICO, Consumers Insurance USA, Wilson Mutual and Phenix Mutual Fire. Encova sells only through independent agents, more than 2,000 agencies by its count, and has offices in Columbus, Charleston, Charlotte and Naperville, Illinois. TJ Obrokta Jr. is president and CEO.

History

• 1928: Motorists Mutual Insurance Company was incorporated in Ohio on November 8, 1928 and began business later that month, according to its statutory filings.
• 2003: Iowa Mutual Group of DeWitt, Iowa, then rated B (Fair) by A.M. Best, agreed to join Motorists' intercompany pool, with Motorists taking a majority of its board seats.
• 2006: BrickStreet Mutual opened on January 1, 2006 as the privatized successor to West Virginia's monopolistic state workers' compensation fund. It was the only source of comp in the state until the market opened to competition on July 1, 2008. See Monopolistic state funds: workers' comp in ND, OH, WA and WY.
• 2014: Motorists Mutual agreed in May to buy Consumers Insurance USA of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a writer of garage, used-car dealer, small-truck commercial auto and nonstandard personal auto business.
• 2017: Motorists and BrickStreet affiliated, each staying policyholder-owned. The plan was for Motorists to sell more commercial lines using BrickStreet's comp model, and for BrickStreet's comp book to grow into more states.
• 2019: The two groups took the Encova Mutual Insurance Group name in July. CEO Dave Kaufman retired on December 31, and TJ Obrokta Jr., then president and chief operating officer, succeeded him.
• 2021: On January 1, the six affiliated mutuals and their stock subsidiaries were reorganized under a mutual insurance holding company. A holding company gives a mutual more ways to raise capital or do deals while members keep control; see mutual vs stock insurance companies: what the difference means for you.
• 2023–2024: Commercial lines went live in Georgia, Maryland and North Carolina on April 1, 2023, matching the comp footprint there. The life company, renamed Encova Life in 2021, was sold to Pan-American Life Insurance Company; the deal closed on January 3, 2024.
• 2025: Encova removed its last mainframe in May after a 10-year move to new policy, billing and claims systems, and opened a Small Business Service Center.

Business insurance products

Workers' compensation. This is the core product, from the smallest employer to accounts that need a large self-insured retention:

• guaranteed cost, small deductible and intermediate deductible plans;
• large deductible programs with per-occurrence deductibles up to multimillion-dollar levels and custom aggregate stops;
• retrospective rating, dividend plans, broad form coverage and employers liability.

Encova says it actively writes comp in 26 states and D.C. and can cover operations in any state through a fronting facility, which matters to a multistate employer. Its "Encova 360 Impact" model assigns each comp account a dedicated team for underwriting, claims, loss control, return to work, medical and legal support.

Commercial package. The package combines liability, property and commercial auto, with cyber liability and employment practices liability available. Encova lists more than 300 eligible package classes for small business. Its specialty programs add trade-specific coverage:

• auto service garages and dealers, with mechanics' professional liability for faulty work on a customer's car, tow truck coverage and, for dealers, errors and omissions for truth-in-lending and odometer statutes, forged-title coverage and new-auto sales defense against lemon law claims;
• contractors, with tool and equipment coverage, pollution and professional liability, and additional insured status when a contract requires it;
• restaurants, with spoilage, customers' property, accidental discharge of the hood suppression system and wine market value;
• wholesalers, with dependent-property business income, brands and labels, a 10% peak-season increase and limited product withdrawal expense.

Commercial umbrella sits over the auto, general liability and employers liability layers. Encova's small-business segment was about $300 million of premium in 2024, according to the company.

Who it insures

Encova's small-business appetite centers on retail stores, offices (accounting, law, medical, real estate and title), artisan contractors (electrical, drywall, fence, flooring), Restaurant insurance and lessor's risk. It says it writes all lines for Auto repair shop insurance, dealers of autos, equipment, implements and power equipment, manufacturing, retail and service businesses, wholesalers and distributors, physicians' and dental offices and specialty trade contractors. For monoline comp, it names manufacturing, contractors, hospitality, social services, healthcare and schools.

Geography differs by line:

• Workers' compensation: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and D.C.
• Commercial package lines: 22 states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, the Carolinas, Georgia and northern New England.

Ohio employers buy comp from the state fund, so an Ohio account gets its package and auto from Encova and its comp from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. In 2025 Encova published a small-business appetite guide for agents, a sign that it is steering new small accounts toward the classes it wants.

How to buy

Through an independent agent only. Encova does not quote online, and its site sends buyers to a find-an-agent tool. In 2025 it began giving agents one underwriter for both package and comp small-business accounts in its small-business regions, and its Small Business Service Center handles routine policy changes for agents. Expect the usual comp submission: payroll by class code, experience modification rate worksheets and five years of loss runs.

After binding, the policyholder portal handles bills and policy documents, and a separate online audit portal lets payroll-rated policyholders complete their premium audit without a login. Commercial policyholders also get the Employment Matters Resource Center, which offers confidential advice from employment law attorneys, harassment-prevention training and a state-specific handbook builder, plus free safety training videos for auto and comp policyholders.

Claims

Claims are reported by phone to the Encova Claim Center at 844-362-6821, the same number as customer service, or through the agent. Agents have their own line, 866-542-9405. Customer service hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. ET on Friday.

On comp claims, adjusters work with nurse case managers and return-to-work specialists, and Encova uses a selected physician network and an opioid-management program. The company says its comp pharmacy and opioid costs run 45% below the industry average and that it closes 90% of comp claims within nine months; those are Encova's own figures. Its safety and loss control team offers on-site hazard assessments, fleet and driver programs, product liability reviews, ergonomics and fire sprinkler impairment planning.

Financial strength and ratings

AM Best affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "a" for Encova's members on October 17, 2025, with a stable outlook. AM Best had upgraded the group from A- in September 2022, citing sustained improvement after outsized underwriting losses in 2017. In its 2025 review, AM Best called Encova's balance sheet strongest and its operating performance adequate. It said modest underwriting losses in recent years had been more than offset by investment income, and that catastrophe losses hurt results in 2023 and the first half of 2025.

Encova's 2025 annual report shows net earned premium of $1.42 billion, a combined ratio of 98.5% (99.8% in 2024), net income of $166.7 million and policyholder surplus of $2.38 billion on $5.6 billion of assets. Encova has no S&P, Moody's or Fitch ratings.

Strengths and weaknesses

Encova is a well-capitalized, comp-led mutual that also handles the package and auto on the same account. Its underwriting margins are thin, and its package and personal lines footprint is smaller than its comp footprint.

• Strengths: Deep workers' comp capability, from guaranteed cost to large-deductible and retro plans, backed by nurse case management and return-to-work staff. Comp available in 26 states and D.C., with fronting for other states. Specialty package programs for garages, dealers, contractors, restaurants and wholesalers. An A (Excellent) AM Best rating with capital AM Best calls strongest.
• Weaknesses: Combined ratios close to 100% (98.5% in 2025, 99.8% in 2024), so profit leans on investment income. Package lines are offered in 22 states, fewer than comp. No online quoting or online claim reporting. Several brand changes since 2017 mean older policies and documents may carry the Motorists or BrickStreet name.

How to contact Encova Insurance