Philadelphia Insurance Companies business insurance

Overview

Philadelphia Insurance Companies, which everyone in the trade calls PHLY, is the niche-market commercial carrier of Japan's Tokio Marine group. "Philadelphia Insurance Companies" is a marketing name for the insurance subsidiaries of Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. The policies are written by two pooled insurers: Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, the flagship admitted carrier licensed in all 50 states, and Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Company, its surplus lines affiliate. PHLY says it underwrites property and casualty products for more than 120 niche markets and has more than 2,000 employees, with headquarters in Bala Cynwyd, just outside Philadelphia, and field offices across the country.

PHLY is not ranked separately here. Its premiums are counted in Tokio Marine's U.S. group, the 11th-largest business insurer in the country by 2025 commercial premiums. On its own, PHLY reported $5.0 billion of 2025 statutory gross written premium, $588 million of net income and a 92.6% combined ratio. It sells through independent agents and brokers that hold a PHLY appointment.

John W. Glomb, Jr. has been CEO since January 2021.

History

PHLY's roots are in the Maguire Insurance Agency, which James J. Maguire, Sr. started in 1962 to insure auto dealers. A 1969 national program for Chevrolet dealers became the WHEELWAYS program and took the agency to 15 offices by the mid-1970s. Maguire formed the holding company in 1980, and the business began operating as Philadelphia Insurance Companies in 1987. Two years later it started insuring nonprofit social service agencies and health clubs, still two of its core niches.

The company went public in 1993. Tokio Marine agreed in July 2008 to buy Philadelphia Consolidated for $61.50 a share in cash, about $4.7 billion, and completed the deal in December 2008. It was the Japanese group's first major U.S. acquisition, years before it bought Delphi Financial (Safety National) and HCC.

Under Tokio Marine, PHLY has kept its own brand and management and has grown by adding products and buying niche books:

• January 2021: agreed to buy the staffing insurance business of World Wide Specialty Programs, a Melville, New York, MGA that designs EPL, hired and non-owned auto and workers' comp products for staffing firms.
• October 31, 2025: acquired Ignyte Insurance's collector vehicle division for $615 million, bringing in American Collectors Insurance, J.C. Taylor, Condon Skelly and Heacock Classic, all based in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. The deal sits alongside PHLY's long partnership with the Grundy agency in collector cars.
• August 2026: launched PHLY TankEAS, a self-service portal for agents to quote and bind admitted storage tank environmental policies.

Leadership has been stable. Bob O'Leary, who joined the Maguire agency in 1982, was CEO from 2013 through 2020. Glomb joined in 2007, became chief underwriting officer in 2011 and was promoted to CEO effective January 1, 2021, and he was also named an executive officer of Tokio Marine Holdings in April 2023.

Business insurance products

Industry packages. PHLY's main product is a commercial package policy (property, general liability, crime and inland marine) written for a defined niche. It does not build one generic form and bolt on endorsements. The niche families on its product pages include nonprofit and human services (group homes, shelters, community centers, hospice, substance abuse treatment, thrift stores), habitational (apartments, affordable housing, condo and homeowners associations), health and fitness, entertainment and recreation (camps, museums, bowling centers, performing arts, film production), outdoor (lodges, campgrounds, outfitters, shooting ranges), sports, schools, agriculture, and industry services such as pest control, pool contractors, temporary staffing and security guard firms. For buyers of package policies in these classes, that tailoring is the point: coverage for things like abuse and molestation claims or participant injuries is built into the program, not something you ask for later.

Small business. The PHLYBOP is a business owner's policy for contractors, offices, restaurants, retail and service shops, wholesalers, lessors' risk and one- to four-family dwellings, with more than 150 eligible classes. It is not offered in Alaska, California, Louisiana, New York, Texas or Washington. A separate Small Business Unit quotes package accounts up to $20,000 of premium ($30,000 for human services and driving schools), with an underwriter response within 48 to 72 hours.

Management and professional liability. D&O for nonprofits (Flexi Plus Five) and private companies, EPL, crime, cyber, employed lawyers, fiduciary and excess, plus professional liability for professions such as accountants, counselors and life coaches. PHLY is a common market for D&O insurance for nonprofit boards.

Specialty and E&S. Commercial auto (including rental, chauffeured transportation and school bus contractors), environmental, commercial flood and the federal flood program, accident and health (participant accident, student accident, group travel), special events, surety bonds through PHLY Bond Express and larger contract and commercial accounts, and collector vehicles. Its E&S division writes excess casualty, environmental and small business on an excess and surplus lines basis. PHLY's own fact sheet warns that surplus lines policies are not protected by state guaranty funds.

PHLY does not write workers' compensation itself; its online quoting menu routes comp to a partner page.

Who it insures

PHLY's appetite is organizations that fit one of its programs: Nonprofit insurance, associations, gyms and studios, Child care center insurance, private and charter schools, camps, event organizers, sports leagues and outdoor recreation businesses. Many of these are hard to place with a standard small business carrier because of abuse exposure, volunteer drivers, participant injury or high-value habitational property. It also insures larger accounts in the same niches; nothing in its materials limits it to small accounts.

A general small business outside those niches has fewer options here. The BOP covers mainstream classes, but most PHLY products are built for specific trades. The company's materials say not all coverages are available in all states.

How to buy

You buy through an agent or broker who is appointed with PHLY. Agents submit new business, get quotes and bind most products online through MyPHLY, and the PHLYBOP portal can approve straightforward submissions automatically. Agents that are not appointed can contact PHLY's marketing department at 800-873-4552 or [email protected] to start the appointment process.

The exception is the Fitness and Wellness program, where individual personal trainers, yoga and martial arts instructors, and small studios can apply and renew online themselves.

For policyholders, PHLY offers online bill pay, pay-by-phone at 877-438-7459 (option 2, 24 hours a day), and an online request form for adding an additional insured to a policy. Loss runs go through your agent of record, who can pull them in MyPHLY.

Claims

Report a claim at 800-765-9749 (weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET), online through the PHLY claims center or by email to [email protected]. The same number runs a 24/7 catastrophe call center for catastrophic losses after hours, and the claims fax is 800-685-9238. PHLY says your claim gets a file number right away and a servicing representative contacts you within one business day.

Claims are handled by niche-specific units, so a nonprofit's abuse claim or a fitness club's injury claim goes to adjusters who work that class. Auto glass claims go to 877-443-9893 and fuel spill or pollution releases to the Spill Center at 877-683-2159. Management and professional liability policyholders get free consultations with employment attorneys through The McCalmon Group's best-practices help line, part of the PHLYGateway resource. PHLY's 2026 fact sheet cites a 96.7% claims satisfaction rating, which is the company's own figure.

Financial strength and ratings

AM Best affirmed the A++ (Superior) financial strength rating of Philadelphia Indemnity and Tokio Marine Specialty on October 23, 2025, with a stable outlook and Financial Size Category XV. PHLY says it was the 14th straight year at A++. AM Best's releases credit balance sheet strength it assesses as the strongest, consistent profitability and support from Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire. S&P assigned an A+ rating on February 24, 2026.

PHLY's fact sheet reports $4.47 billion of policyholder surplus at the end of 2025 and a combined ratio of 92.6%. Its combined ratio has been at or below 100% in almost every year since 2005.

In J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study, Philadelphia Insurance tied for second with 714 points. It was not among the top five in the 2026 study released August 18, 2026, which Erie led.

On June 9, 2025, PHLY detected unauthorized access to its network and shut its systems down. Phone, email and online service were disrupted for about three weeks, and the company announced on July 1, 2025 that regular operations had resumed. PHLY said no systems were encrypted and that it was not a ransomware event.

Strengths and weaknesses

PHLY combines a top-rated balance sheet with real industry specialization, and brokers who place nonprofits, associations, fitness and recreation accounts know its forms well. The trade-offs are access through an appointed agent and a product set that is narrow outside its niches.

• Strengths: A++ (Superior) from AM Best for 14 straight years, affirmed October 2025, and a 92.6% combined ratio in 2025. Industry-built package forms and dedicated claim units for more than 120 niches, including abuse coverage and participant accident. A small-account unit and an online BOP for agents. Tied for second in J.D. Power's 2025 small commercial study.
• Weaknesses: Sold only through appointed agents, so a business cannot buy most products direct. No workers' compensation of its own, so a buyer needs a separate comp carrier. The PHLYBOP is not available in six states, including California, New York and Texas. The June 2025 network shutdown disrupted service for weeks.

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