One of the strengths of Desjardins Insurance is its cooperativebusiness model that has human values at its core. The company is well known for its engagement in the community, in the health of a family-work balance and in promoting formation and professional development. In 2017, they estimated at about 200 million per year the money invested in the different communities of Quebec. In 2016, Desjardins Insurance also proved proactive in the crisis that touched Fort McMurray; they directly contacted all their members to get an insight of what needed to be done, and promised that this incident wouldn't affect the premiums. Their strategy based on the cooperative puts forward a client focused synergy, and consider all their subscribers as members. The digital turn recently initiated goes along with this train of thought: according to M. Dubois, the energy has now to be put into innovation and prevention to better help their members. It's in this context that Ajusto, which evaluates the driving habits to provide discounts on premiums, and Alert, a program to prevent water damages, were launched on their mobile app. Desjardins Insurance was the first one to widely offer UBI savings program in Ontario and Quebec, and is now a leading provider of this kind of product.
History
The first subsidiary of Desjardins Group was created in 1944 under the name of "Société d'assurance des caisses populaires". SACP is today known under the name of DGI, Desjardins General Insurance. In 1948, Desjardins Life Insurance was also created. Both companies saw their activities flourish quickly in a post-war and prosperity environment, and regrouped under the common name of Desjardins Insurance. In 2015, Desjardins Insurance acquired the Canadian operations of U.S.-based insurer State Farm, which helped Desjardins become the second biggest property and casualty insurer in Canada, and first in Ontario. This acquisition almost doubled the premiums, going from 2 billion to 4 billion. 50% of their volume now comes from State Farm, but other parts also come from Desjardin's group insurance, from white labels activities with Scotia Bank, from brokerage with Western Financial and finally from activities related to the exclusive agents of Quebec. In 2018, State Farm Canada was officially rebranded to Desjardins Insurance through Desjardins Insurance Agents. The whole transition is to be completed by December 31, 2019.
