The Co-operators acquires Bando & Brown General Insurance

Co-operators General Insurance Company announced on Thursday today that its wholly-owned subsidiary has purchased Bando & Brown General Insurance in London, Ont., whose portfolio includes personal and commercial insurance policies.

Current clients of the Bando & Brown brokerage will be notified of the change in ownership and their existing insurance coverage will remain in effect with no changes to their premiums or coverage for the current term of their policies, The Co-operators said in a press release. As current policies expire, clients will be offered comparable policies from The Co-operators.

“We’re pleased to be strengthening our presence and growing our agency distribution system in Ontario and across the country, which is part of our growth strategy,” said Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators, in the release. “Our new clients will benefit from the wide range of insurance and financial products, as well as the expertise, offered by Co-operators advisors.”

Clients will have access to a full suite of insurance products, including home, auto, life, travel, commercial and farm insurance.

In October, Co-operators General Insurance Company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary had purchased brokerage Browning Insurance Ltd., based in Chatham, Ont, although details of the purchase were not immediately disclosed. Browning Insurance’s portfolio includes personal and commercial insurance policies as well as financial services, such as retirement and investment planning. In August, The Cooperators also purchased Carleton Insurance Brokers Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.

Earlier this year, in May, The Cooperators said that it had acquired The Edge Benefits, a Newmarket, Ont.-based company that provides self-employed and small business owners with lifestyle protection and complex living benefits solutions. The Cooperators said at the time that the current management team would remain in place and The Edge Benefits would continue to operate independently. The Edge Benefits has 80 employees and more than 45,000 policyholders and has paid out over $100 million in benefit claims in the last 10 years.

The Co-operators Group Limited is a Canadian-owned co-operative with more than $40 billion in assets under administration. Through its group of companies it offers home, auto, life, group, travel, commercial and farm insurance, as well as investment products.

Founded in 2001, Bando & Brown is a family-owned and operated insurance brokerage, servicing London, Ont. and the surrounding areas, including St. Thomas, Ilderton, Ailsa Craig, Grand Bend, Exeter and as far away as Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto, the brokerage said on its website.