Overview
“Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies” is the trade name for WestGUARD® Insurance Company and its wholly owned insurance company subsidiaries: AmGUARD Insurance Company®, AZGUARD® Insurance Company, EastGUARD Insurance Company®, and NorGUARD Insurance Company®. WestGUARD Insurance Company is also 100% owner of GUARDCo®, Inc., a licensed and accredited medical management company.
WestGUARD Insurance Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Indemnity Company a provider of specialized insurance and reinsurance coverages and a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies provide Commercial and Personal insurance and Excess & Surplus Insurance (through AZGUARD Insurance Company). The product suite includes: Businessowner’s, Commercial Auto, Commercial Package, Commercial Property, Commercial Umbrella, Disability, EPLI, General Liability, Homeowners, Personal Umbrella, Professional Liability and Workers’ Compensation insurance. Not all insurance products are available in all states or through all subsidiary companies. See our operating area for product availability.
AmGUARD Insurance Company
AZGUARD Insurance Company
EastGUARD Insurance Company
NorGUARD Insurance Company
WestGUARD Insurance Company
GUARDCo, Inc.
Our History
Formed in 1982, the original GUARD companies, AmGUARD Insurance Company, and InterGUARD, Ltd. (a service organization), traded as AmGUARD Enterprises. By the mid-1980’s, the group was renamed The GUARD Network (to encompass eventual activities outside the insurance industry) and began trading under that name.
Our second insurance company, NorGUARD Insurance Company, was added in 1987. Then, we acquired Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Saco, Maine, which was demutualized and renamed EastGUARD Insurance Company on July 1st, 1995.
The “GUARD Network”, trading name for our companies, became “GUARD Insurance Group” at the turn of the millennium. At that time, GUARD Financial Group, Inc., was introduced as our ultimate holding company, which – in turn – owned GUARD Insurance Group, Inc., and subsidiaries. Our fourth insurance company, WestGUARD Insurance Company, was formed in February of 2003.
GUARD Insurance Group, Inc. was purchased by Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings, Ltd. In May of 2007. The name GUARD Financial Group was assumed by a Clal subsidiary involved in the transaction (which was owned by Clal U.S. Holdings, Inc.). The companies continued to trade under the name GUARD Insurance Group until the group was purchased by National Indemnity Company (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.) in October of 2012.
The organization was rebranded Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies in 2013. After a corporate restructure in 2014 aimed at simplification, GUARD Financial Group, Inc., was merged into GUARD Insurance Group, Inc., which – in turn – was merged into WestGUARD Insurance Company – the entity that currently serves as the holding company.
In 2019, AZGUARD Insurance Company, a non-admitted excess and surplus lines carrier, was added to Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies.
AmGUARD Insurance Company, AZGUARD Insurance Company, EastGUARD Insurance Company, NorGUARD Insurance Company, and WestGUARD Insurance Company are members of Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies with its principal place of business at 39 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701. WestGUARD Insurance Company retains the rights to the names GUARD Insurance Group and GUARD Financial Group.