PORTLAND, Maine, September 13, 1999 – John Leonard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC) announced today that the company will deliver checks totaling nearly $16 million to 21,840 employers across Maine beginning in mid-October.

The money is the second distribution of funds to employers who helped capitalize the mutual insurance company during its early years of doing business. For policy years 1993 through 1995, the company collected approximately $47 million. In 1998, having been certified as adequately capitalized by Maine's Bureau of Insurance, the company made its first distribution to employers of $5.4 million in capital.

According to Leonard, the largest check to be issued will be more than $81,000 to a Maine-based employer. More than 2,700 employers will receive more than $1,000. In 1998, more than 11,000 employers received all the capital they originally contributed. In the 1999 distribution, an additional 14,000 will receive their full balance bringing the total number of employers receiving a complete refund of their original capital investment to 25,000. Leonard hopes the company will be able to return the remaining $25.6 million to eligible employers by the end of 2001.

"The financial strength of MEMIC is testament to the reduction in work-related injuries brought about by the safer work practices of both employers and employees. We have not had to pay the benefits originally projected because fewer people have been injured on the job." said Leonard.

"In addition," said Leonard, "the cost of workers' compensation insurance has been reduced by more than 50% for thousands of employers in Maine due to well-deserved rate reductions and a truly competitive market. That means that thousands of Maine's working people are going home safe at the end of the work day and money that once was paid to insurance companies is being put to better use in the Maine economy."

According to data collected by the Maine Bureau of Insurance, total workers' compensation premiums in the commercial market have fallen from $243 million in 1993 to approximately $140 million in 1998.

About MEMIC

MEMIC, the state's largest and leading workers' compensation insurance carrier, covers approximately 19,000 of the state's 27,000 insured employers.