# Connect (insurance company)

Connect (stylized as CONNECT, powered by American Family Insurance) is an insurance company located in Madison, Wisconsin. Connect provides auto, home, condo, renters, umbrella (personal liability) and specialty products (through an in-house agency). Insurance is underwritten by American Family Connect Property and Casualty Insurance Company (formerly IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company) and American Family Connect Insurance Company (formerly Ameriprise Insurance Company), each a wholly owned subsidiary of American Family Insurance Mutual Holding Company. They also partner with various specialty insurance providers to offer coverage for items such as watercraft, ATVs, recreational vehicles and motorcycles. Connect is an affinity marketer, relying almost entirely on strategic partnerships to reach customers. Partners include Costco Wholesale, and Ameriprise Financial. In 2018, Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance generated more than $1.1 billion in annual written premium.

## History

In 1979, the Wisconsin Employers Group established the Wisconsin Employers Casualty Company as the successor to Wisconsin No-Fault Insurance, a Milwaukee-based insurer incorporated in 1972. American Express acquired Wisconsin Employers and placed it under its Fireman's Fund subsidiary. After Fireman's Fund sold off its health insurance operation in 1987 to the Lincoln National Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the casualty insurer became IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company, associated with Investors Diversified Services. It cut all ties with its existing independent agents and began selling policies direct to IDS clients. IDS Property Casualty rapidly grew, even as it remained a low-profile company in Green Bay. In 1986, it had 206 policies in force, $155,000 in premium revenue, and 22 employees; six years later, that had grown to 71,801 policies, $55 million in premium revenue, and 235 employees. American Express consolidated AmEx Assurance into IDS in 1995 as part of a move to begin business in all 50 states; that year, it was only operating in 25 states.
By 1998, AmEx Property Casualty had 150,000 policyholders in 37 states, though it was authorized to do business nationwide. The company built a new headquarters in the Ashwaubenon Business Centre in 2000.
The former American Express Financial Advisors became an independent, publicly owned company as Ameriprise Financial in August 2005 as part of a spinoff; American Express Property Casualty began doing business as Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance. By that time, the company had 970 employees. That same year, the company also opened its second office in Phoenix, Arizona.
On October 1, 2019, American Family Insurance closed on the $1.1 billion purchase of Ameriprise Auto & Home. By this time, it employed some 1,800 people and offered insurance in 43 states and the District of Columbia, with its primary business concentrated in the western U.S. and most of its premium generated from auto insurance. The transaction provided for a renaming of the business, which was announced as "Connect, Powered by American Family Insurance" in August 2020. As a result of increased remote work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Connect vacated the Ashwaubenon headquarters building and ended its lease on the site.

## Awards and certifications

   * "A" (Excellent) Rating for Financial Strength, Stability and Soundness of Operating Performance - A.M. Best (the leading independent rater of insurers in the country)
   * Consistently on the Ward Group's Ward's Top 50 list (top performing property and casualty companies)