Gjensidige
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gjensidige Forsikring | |
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| Type | Savings bank |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1689 |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
| Key people | Helge L Baastad (CEO) |
| Area served | Norway |
| Industry | Insurance |
| Revenue |  NOK 16.3 billion (2005) |
| Operating income | NOK 4.0 million (2005) |
| Employees | 2,460 (2006) |
| Website | www.gjensidige.no |
Gjensidige is a Norwegian insurance company organised as a mutual insurance company. Though the company has roots back to 1689 when the fire treasury at Nes was founded. Gjensidige in its present form was founded in 2003 when the insurance division of Gjensidige NOR was not made part of the merger with Den norske Bank. Gjensidige is a self-owning institution with a marked share of 32,1% of the Norwegian insurance marked and has its headquarter in Oslo, Norway. The company has 176 branches and 1.5 million customers.
The company offers all kinds of insurance and is divided into three main sectors: private, agriculture and business. As a savings bank it also offers donations to charity.
[edit] History
The brand name Gjensidige was first taken into use in 1976 when Norsk Bilforsikring Gjensidige, originally Christiania almindelige gjensidige forsørgelsesanstalt was merged with Samtrygd. Samtrygd was created in 1920 as a unmbrella organisation for the 260 fire treasuries in Norway to create a stable liquidity in case of large fires. The first fire treasury was founded in 1689 in Nes.
In 1993 Gjensidge merged with Forenede Forsikring and in 1996 Gjensidige Bank was created with banking services. In 1999 Gjensidge and the savings bank Sparebanken NOR merged to form Gjenside NOR. When Gjensidige NOR merged with Den norske Bank in 2003 to form DnB NOR, Gjensidige was demerged and became a separate company again, though it many places retains co-location with DnB NOR.
