Portland, ME, September 26, 2007—Workers’ compensation insurer MEMIC will send checks totaling $14,000,000 to employers across Maine in November, the company has announced.

The record payout amounts to a 17 percent increase over MEMIC’s largest ever dividend ($12M) which was paid last year. Including this year’s payment, MEMIC will have sent approximately $84M back to policyholders since 1998.

“This is good news for both employers and employees in Maine,” said MEMIC president and CEO John T. Leonard. “The reason we are able to make these payments is because there are fewer workplace injuries in Maine. Fewer people getting hurt means lower costs for all of us. As a mutual company which doesn’t have stockholders to pay, we share success directly with our policyholders.”

The company will mail more than 20,000 checks in November, for an average of $700 and ranging up to more than $160,000.

The payments in November are attributed to success in preventing injuries in 2004. At its September board meeting, the MEMIC Board of Directors affirmed company management’s recommendation that the dividend increase due to the reduction in injuries. The payment will be approximately 9.5 percent of the amount of premium an employer paid to MEMIC in 2004.

“We’ve worked to help our customers reduce expenses while also keeping our administrative costs down,” Leonard said. “We certainly plan to continue these efforts which should help us to generate a dividend for loyal customers long into the future.”

Since MEMIC was formed in the early 1990s, workers’ compensation insurance rates in Maine have decreased by about 30 percent while lost-time injuries have fallen by more than 30 percent. The company is rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best. It is the parent company of MEMIC Indemnity Company, a Manchester, NH-based insurer which is authorized to write workers’ compensation in more than 40 states across the U.S.

Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC), based in Portland, Maine, is Maine's largest and leading workers' compensation insurer, providing coverage to more than 21,000 Maine employers and their estimated 170,000 employees. The company is rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best. More information can be found at memic.com. MEMIC Indemnity Company, based in Manchester, NH, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MEMIC. It is licensed to write workers' compensation policies in more than 40 states. It is rated “A-” (Excellent) by A.M. Best.