This year ING Insurance, the largest provider of home, car and business insurance in Quebec, is celebrating its first hundred years serving Quebec policyholders.
One of the most significant events scheduled for the anniversary is tonight’s Centenary Gala at the Centre des arts Juliette-Lassonde in Saint-Hyacinthe, which will be attended by hundreds of employees, retirees and partners who have contributed to making ING Insurance in Quebec the leader it is today. Tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, May 16, the arts centre will also host the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of ING Canada, being held for the first time in Saint-Hyacinthe.
A century of excellence and innovation
ING Insurance’s roots in Quebec go back to 1907, when Théophile-Alexis St-Germain established the Commerce Mutual Fire Insurance Company. The organization started out with six employees. Through decades of growth, mergers and acquisitions, it became the Commerce Group, which joined ING Group in 1989. Today, ING Insurance employs approximately 1200 people and has more than 820,000 insurance policies in force in Quebec.
“The secret of our longevity is unquestionably our constant focus on excellence and our desire to continue serving insurance brokers and their customers better and better,” said Louis Gagnon, Senior Vice President, Quebec. “But part of our success is our constant concern for innovation, especially in the area of claims, which is essentially what people are buying when they purchase insurance. We are proud that a number of our initiatives to better serve customers have been adopted by other insurance companies as well.”
In just the past few years, ING Insurance has launched 24/7 Claims Service, the Claims Service Guarantee and the 2-Year Policy, and developed business partnerships with CAA-Quebec and Aeroplan. ING has also introduced “We'll take your word for it”claims settlement* and obtained ISO 9001:2000 certification for its claims service, becoming the first insurance operation in the world to do so.
Regional roots, international reach
One of the many ways ING Insurance is unique is the fact that it was established in a regional economic centre, where it has remained while developing its business throughout Quebec. Last year, the company reaffirmed its commitment to Saint-Hyacinthe by completing a $15 million expansion of its Quebec headquarters there. This past March the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Regional Municipality of Les Maskoutains underlined the company’s economic and social importance to the region at its Business Gala, awarding ING Insurance a special prize for Contribution to Economic and Regional Development.
The company’s presence is also felt beyond Quebec through the contributions of many Quebeckers who have made a career with ING, both in Canada and around the world.
Springboard to the future
While the hundredth anniversary of the Commerce Mutual’s founding is an opportunity for ING Insurance to celebrate past successes, it is also an occasion for the company to renew its drive to be the best in the future. “At ING, we want to remain the industry leader by continuing to provide our policyholders with the best possible service, working closely with our brokers and, of course, our employees,” Ginette Paquin, Vice President – Marketing and Communications
ING Insurance
ING Insurance, the largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Quebec and in Canada, is a subsidiary of ING Canada Inc. (TSX: IIC). ING Insurance’s main products are automobile, property and liability insurance, which it provides to individuals and businesses.
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* ING accepts the client’s version of events when establishing liability for a collision automobile, rather than waiting for the police report or the joint report to start the claims process.
Source:
Louis-Paul Lazure
Director of Communications
ING Insurance
1 800 363 5401, ext. 2620
Information:
Diane Jeannotte
514 284 2860, ext. 2
514 772 8019 (cell)
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