Great American Insurance Group business insurance

Overview

Great American Insurance Group is the specialty property-casualty arm of American Financial Group (NYSE: AFG), headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Instead of one standard commercial book, it runs more than 30 separate specialty businesses, each with its own underwriters, claims staff and agents. AFG's NAIC group ranked No. 19 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $7.11 billion, based on NAIC market share data. It ranks third nationally in fidelity (employee theft and crime coverage), seventh in ocean marine and eighth in products liability. Other liability ($2.54 billion), workers' compensation ($1.36 billion) and commercial auto ($1.21 billion) are its largest lines.

The NAIC group gathers several brands a business owner may know separately. Great American Insurance Company leads a family of sister insurers (Great American Alliance, Assurance, E&S, Fidelity, Protection, Security, Spirit, Great American Insurance Company of New York, Great American Risk Solutions Surplus Lines and American Empire). Alongside them sit Mid-Continent Group (Mid-Continent Casualty, Mid-Continent Assurance, Mid-Continent Excess and Surplus, Oklahoma Surety), National Interstate and Vanliner in transportation, Republic Indemnity in California comp, and Summit, which manages the Bridgefield workers' comp companies.

AFG is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and the company's site names Carl H. Lindner III and S. Craig Lindner as co-CEOs.

History

Great American began as the German American Insurance Company, which issued its first policy, on a rubber comb factory, on March 19, 1872. The company says it paid every claim from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, more than $2 million and over a sixth of its assets at the time. Anti-German sentiment during World War I led to the change to Great American Insurance Company in 1918. It added Great American Life in 1961.

National General Corporation bought Great American in 1968 and moved its home office from New York to Los Angeles. Cincinnati businessman Carl H. Lindner Jr. had built majority control of National General by 1973 and merged it into his American Financial Corporation the next year, refocusing Great American on specialized commercial insurance. AFG sold its personal lines holdings in 2003 to concentrate on specialty commercial niches. The company moved into Great American Insurance Group Tower in downtown Cincinnati in 2011; Lindner Jr. died that October, and his sons took over as co-CEOs. Great American opened a Singapore branch in 2015.

Several of today's units predate their place in the group: Vanliner was founded by movers in 1978, National Interstate has specialized in transportation since 1989, and Mid-Continent has written construction and energy casualty for about 75 years.

Business insurance products

Great American sells by niche, so what a business can buy depends on which unit its agent approaches:

• Small business: PolicySweet sells a business owner's policy, general liability, property, cyber and workers' comp online to cleaning companies, contractors, food service, landscapers, offices, personal care and retail businesses. Specialty Human Services has covered nonprofit and social service agencies since 1980.
• Workers' compensation: Summit (South, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic), Republic Indemnity (California and the West) and Strategic Comp, which writes a paid-loss aggregate deductible program that accepts accounts with poor loss history and high experience mods.
• Transportation: National Interstate (bus, motorcoach, school bus, paratransit, ambulance, fleet trucking, propane and waste haulers, with captive options), the Trucking division (owner-operator programs sponsored by motor carriers and associations; it calls itself the leading writer of Class 7 and 8 independent contractors) and Vanliner (moving, storage and last-mile delivery). See trucking insurance: the coverages motor carriers need.
• Construction and energy: Mid-Continent writes general liability, auto, umbrella and inland marine for homebuilders, energy firms and contractors, plus TankOwners pollution coverage for underground storage tanks.
• Financial lines: fidelity and crime (since 1995), surety (contract and commercial bonds), executive liability, financial institution coverage and mergers and acquisitions liability. See commercial crime insurance: what it covers and what it excludes.
• Property, marine and specialty: property and inland marine, ocean marine, excess liability up to $15 million, environmental, cyber, trade credit and political risk (FCIA), equine mortality, AgriBusiness farm coverage and crop insurance.
• E&S and programs: Great American Custom (primary casualty, umbrella and capacity excess) and Great American Risk Solutions write excess and surplus lines business through wholesale brokers, and Alternative Markets supports program administrators.

Who it insures

The appetite is wide but specific: farms and agribusiness, construction, education, energy, equine, financial institutions, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, marine, nonprofits, professional services, public entities, real estate, retail and wholesale, and transportation. The company says roughly half its gross written premium comes from divisions that rank in the top 10 of their U.S. markets. Account size runs from sole proprietors buying through PolicySweet up to Fortune 1000 companies placed with Great American Custom.

Footprints differ by unit. The lead companies are authorized in all 50 states and D.C., Summit writes comp in 18 states plus D.C., Republic Indemnity writes in California and 10 other Western states, and National Interstate is licensed in all 50 states.

How to buy

Most Great American business goes through independent agents and brokers appointed with the specific division, and the E&S units deal only with wholesalers. That means your agent needs an appointment with the right unit; an agent who writes Great American crime coverage may not have access to Summit or National Interstate.

The exception is PolicySweet, where a small business can quote and buy online or call 800-625-8257. PolicySweet is available in selected states, and its policies are issued by Great American Insurance Company and its sister companies.

Claims

The central claims line is 844-424-4669 (844-GAIG NOW): option 1 for new claims, option 2 for existing claims, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. You can also report through your agent or use the division-specific contacts on the company's claims page. Claims staff are organized by specialty, so a trucking, crime or cyber loss goes to adjusters who handle only that kind of claim. Great American runs a special investigations unit, uses a vendor response team for cyber events, and steers injured workers toward providers chosen from outcome data. Strategic Comp says its field adjusters average about 60 open claims each.

Financial strength and ratings

AM Best affirmed the A+ (Superior) rating of Great American Insurance Company and its U.S. property-casualty affiliates on December 11, 2025; the A+ covers Mid-Continent, the Summit and Republic Indemnity comp companies, and National Interstate and Vanliner. S&P Global affirmed A+ on March 30, 2026, and Moody's affirmed A1 on September 17, 2026 for the lead companies. The company says Great American Insurance Company has held an AM Best rating of A or higher for more than 110 years. Great American is not ranked in J.D. Power's small commercial study.

Strengths and weaknesses

Great American suits businesses that fit one of its niches and want an underwriter and claims team that live in that niche. The decentralized model is also its main drawback for buyers who want one carrier and one contact.

• Strengths: A+ ratings from AM Best and S&P and A1 from Moody's, all affirmed between December 2025 and September 2026; No. 3 in U.S. fidelity and a long record in crime, surety, trucking and passenger transportation; comp options for hard-to-place employers through Strategic Comp; online buying for small firms through PolicySweet.
• Weaknesses: More than 30 divisions with separate appetites, agents and claims contacts, so an account can be split across units; the comp companies are regional; PolicySweet is available only in some states; most units require an appointed agent or a wholesaler.

Brokers often compare it with W. R. Berkley and Old Republic, which use similarly decentralized specialty models.

How to contact Great American Insurance Group