Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company

"Mutual Benefit" redirects here. For the band, see Mutual Benefit (band). For other uses, see Mutual aid.
Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company
Industryinsurance
Founded1845[1]
DefunctJune 14, 2001
Fatedissolved
HeadquartersNewark, New Jersey, U.S.
Key people
Frederick Frelinghuysen
Mutual Benefit Life Building
General information
TypeOffice
Location520 Broad Street
Newark, New Jersey
Completed1957
Height
Roof75 m (246 ft)
Technical details
Floor count20
Design and construction
Structural engineerGeorge A. Fuller Company
References
[2]

The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company was a life insurance company that was chartered in 1845 and based in Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The company was headed by Frederick Frelinghuysen (1848–1924).[3][4] The company was known as the "Tiffany" of insurance companies, a reference to its reputation as the life insurance company to the upper classes.

Mutual Benefit Life was taken into receivership for rehabilitation by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance on July 16, 1991, after losses in an overheated real estate market led to a run by policyholders, who ultimately lost the purported "cash value" that had been said to have accrued in their policies. At the time, the collapse was the largest ever of an American insurer. AMEV acquired the group life, accident and health insurance Mutual Benefit in 1991.[5] SunAmerica acquired the remaining divisions in 1998.[6] Effective June 14, 2001, Mutual Benefit was liquidated and dissolved.[7]

  1. ^ http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/86/THE-MUTUAL-BENEFIT-LIFE-INSURANCE-COMPANY.html History of Mutual Benefit Life
  2. ^ Emporis.com[usurped]|520 Broad
  3. ^ "Frederick Frelinghuysen. Ex-President of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company Dies". New York Times. January 2, 1924. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
  4. ^ International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 3. St. James Press, 1991
  5. ^ ZONANA, VICTOR F. (1991-08-01). "Ailing Mutual Benefit Sells Off Units to AMEV". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  6. ^ "New Acquisitions By SunAmerica". The New York Times. 1998-07-16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  7. ^ Re: Inquiry to Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, Updated December 8, 2005. Accessed May 31, 2007.