Three Northbridge subsidiaries to operate under one brand, Northbridge Insurance

Three of Northbridge Financial Corporation’s subsidiaries – Lombard Insurance, Commonwealth Insurance and Markel Insurance – will operate under one brand, Northbridge Insurance, effective Jan. 1, 2012. In a FAQ posted on its Web site, Northbridge said it is an operational integration and not a corporate merger. The goal is to pool resources to allow the insurer to better compete in the marketplace. “We are not legally merging all of the companies into one company, but revitalizing Northbridge through the creation of a new broker brand,” it says. To do this, it has built a shared services platform to support all of Northbridge’s operations – including claims, human resources, finance, actuarial services, legal, marketing, communications, customer development and innovation and information technology. These operations will be formally integrated starting on Jan. 1, 2012. Until that point, it’s “business as usual” for brokers and customers dealing with the insurer or its subsidiaries.”This is an exciting time for us,” said Silvy Wright, president and CEO of Northbridge. “By combining the strength of our talent, the diversity of our products and leveraging the scale of our operations as one company, we will be better positioned for long-term growth.”Northbridge will be sending detailed information packages to its broker partners over the next couple of days, its Web site said.