A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating to A+ (Superior) from A- (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings to “aa-” from “a-” of NorGUARD Insurance Company, AmGUARD Insurance Company, EastGUARD Insurance Company and WestGUARD Insurance Company, which operate under an intercompany pooling agreement. All ratings have been removed from under review with positive implications and assigned a stable outlook.…
Read MoreInvestor Warren Buffet’s company has completed its acquisition of Guard Insurance Group Inc., the Wilkes-Barre-based insurer announced Thursday. Carl Witkowski, Guard’s chief operating officer, said the deal will provide Guard with additional capital to expand its national business and potentially increase hiring locally. Witkowski said Guard, which specializes in small- to medium-sized commercial property and casualty accounts, has doubled the…
Read MoreThe list of Ward's 50® top performing insurance companies was released by Ward Group, an operational consulting firm and leading provider of benchmarking and best practices services to the insurance industry. Annually, Ward Group analyzes the financial performance of over 3,000 property-casualty insurance companies and nearly 800 life-health insurance companies domiciled in the United States and identifies the top performers…
Read MoreA locally based insurance company demonstrated its willingness to give to others by raising nearly $30,000 to help victims of January's earthquake in Haiti. As a local corporate donor, Guard Insurance Group gave $27,678 to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund about two weeks ago to help Haitians recover from the disaster. The donation was the largest from any…
Read MoreCarl Witkowski believes in human capital – in the workplace and the community. It’s why his company, Guard Insurance, lets employees perform volunteer work on company time. Guard is one of several employers in Luzerne County that encourage their workers to dedicate time to a local charity. Last week, Luzerne County Community College joined the ranks of volunteer-friendly employers. The…
Read More“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot,” Joni Mitchell famously noted in 1969’s “Big Yellow Taxi.” That’s usually the way it works: Take some land, however nice, and cover it with black top and forget about it, creating just another urban desert. This makes what GUARD Insurance Group has done with its parking lot on Market Street in…
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