Two mutual insurers who generate their business from the Catholic Church and other religious organizations are forming a strategic alliance that will expand each other’s reach.

Catholic Mutual Group, the largest coverage provider for the Catholic Church in North America, and Church Mutual Insurance Company (CMIC), the nation’s largest insurer of religious organizations, are forming the team-up.

How it will work: CMIS will underwrite auto and workers compensation insurance for all Catholic Mutual-served Catholic dioceses and other Catholic organizations in the United States. With the deal, CMIC also becomes the preferred auto and workers compensation underwriter for Catholic dioceses and archdioceses, religious orders and other Catholic institutions in the United States that have Catholic Mutual coverage.

The alliance is complementary. Catholic Mutual provides property, liability and employee benefit coverage; CMIS markets most lines of commercial property and liability insurance, including multi-peril, workers compensation and commercial auto insurance.

Both insurers date back to the 1880s. Catholic Mutual Group launched as the Catholic Mutual Relief Society in 1889 by a group of Midwest Catholic bishops who could not get viable insurance for their churches. CMIS debuted in 1897, with a focus on providing insurance for religious institutions, schools, camps, offices and senior living facilities of all denominations.

Sources; Church Mutual Insurance Company, Catholic Mutual Group