Eastern Alliance Enters Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Market

Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc. has established a satellite office in Nashville, Tennessee in support of its subsidiary Eastern Alliance Insurance Group (EAIG), which specializes in workers’ compensation insurance.

EAIG said it received regulatory approval to write casualty insurance products in Tennessee in June 2009, through subsidiaries Eastern Alliance Insurance Co., Allied Eastern Indemnity Co., and Eastern Advantage Assurance Co. EAIG provides workers’ compensation, as well as a “pay-as-you-go” premium payment option.

EAIG expanded into several Southeastern states in June 2007, opening a regional office in Charlotte, North Carolina in February 2008. The Nashville site is a satellite location of the Charlotte regional office, and is being staffed with marketing, underwriting, claims and risk management professionals.

The company said it has appointed seven Tennessee agencies to date in support of this expansion initiative.

Bruce Eckert, chief executive officer of EIHI, said that one of EIHI’s strategic initiatives is to “actively pursue opportunities to allocate our excess capital through strategic acquisitions and organic geographic expansion.”

Since its founding in 1997, EAIG has become one of the top 10 providers of workers’ compensation insurance in Pennsylvania, later expanding into Delaware and Maryland. In addition to its Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regional offices, EAIG opened a Midwest regional office in Indianapolis, Indiana, with EIHI’s acquisition of Employers Security Holding Co. in September 2008. EAIG distributes its products and services through independent insurance agencies.

EIHI operates through its subsidiaries a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation, a domestic accident and life insurance company, a third-party claims administration company and a specialty reinsurance company.

Topics Workers' Compensation Talent New Markets Tennessee