News & Media

May 30, 2024 - Chesapeake Employers' Insurance Company is pleased to announce that on May 24, 2024, AM Best reaffirmed the company's financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of "a". An A (Excellent) rating is assigned to insurance companies that have, in AM Best’s opinion, an excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations.

May 13, 2024 - Sharon Rowell, Chief Administration Officer with Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, is retiring after 36 years of dedicated service with the company, effective May 31, 2024. Ms. Rowell has been an integral part of Chesapeake Employers playing a crucial role in shaping the company’s formation and fostering collaborative relationships with our agent partners.

April 8, 2024 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company welcomes Tonya Butler, SVP, Chief People Officer. A skilled HR leader with over two decades of experience in spearheading innovative employee experiences, Ms. Butler provides executive-level leadership and oversees the development and implementation of the company’s people and culture strategies. She is responsible for creating a work environment that is adaptive, inclusive, and growth oriented. She will collaborate with leaders across the company to unleash the company’s purposeful force for good by shaping the end-to-end employee experience.

February 12, 2024 - Brian Furr has been named Vice President of Claims Services at Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company. In this position, Mr. Furr oversees the private claims, State of Maryland claims, Special Investigations Unit, Medical Billing, Independent Medical Evaluation, as well as the Nurse Case Management and Pre-certification departments. In this capacity, Mr. Furr provides department leaders with strategic direction to ensure the needs of the company’s stakeholders are met with the highest standards. Previously, Mr. Furr was Vice President of Legal Services for the company.

February 12, 2024 - Daniel Navarro, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, WCP, was recently promoted to Vice President of Policyholder Services at Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company. In this new position, Mr. Navarro oversees the Underwriting, Premium Audit, and Safety Services departments and provides department leaders with strategic direction to ensure the needs of the company’s stakeholders are met with the highest standards. Previously, Mr. Navarro was Director of Underwriting Operations for the company.

January 29, 2024 - Paige Beck, the President of Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, is retiring after 35 years with the company. Ms. Beck informed Chesapeake’s Board of Directors and CEO Mark Isakson that she intends to retire, effective February 29, 2024.

January 11, 2024 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company’s Board of Directors declared $50 million in dividends to qualifying policyholders based on the company’s outstanding financial performance. The company also announced it will reduce overall net rates by 4%, effective April 1, 2024.

December 11, 2023 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is again lowering its rates for businesses around the state. Effective April 1, 2024, the company will lower its overall net rates by 4%, further easing workers’ compensation insurance expenses on Maryland’s business owners. This rate decrease totals a 37% rate reduction over the past nine years. Chesapeake Employers' rates are subject to approval from the Maryland Insurance Administration.

October 26, 2023 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company celebrated the grand opening of its insurance storefront at Junior Achievement of Central Maryland BizTown with an official ribbon cutting on October 11, 2023. Located in Lansdowne, JA BizTown hosts elementary-aged children from Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and additional surrounding counties, combining in-classroom instructions with a daylong visit to JA BizTown, a simulated business community.

October 2, 2023 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s largest workers’ compensation carrier, and its Board of Directors declared $15 million in corporate dividends for calendar year 2024 to qualifying policyholders based on their safety performance. This marks the seventh consecutive year that the company is declaring dividends for its customers. In all, Chesapeake Employers will have returned a total of $85 million to Maryland employers.

July 11, 2023 - Chesapeake Employers' Insurance Company will reinstate normal premium cancellation practices, specifically canceling a current term policy due to non-payment (balance due) for a prior policy term, effective August 1, 2023. This letter explains an important update regarding our cancellation policy. This is not a cancellation letter.

May 26, 2023 - Chesapeake Employers' Insurance Company is pleased to announce that on May 11, 2023, AM Best reaffirmed the company's financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of "a". An A (Excellent) rating is assigned to insurance companies that have, in AM Best’s opinion, an excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations.

February 23, 2023 - The Board of Directors of Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s leading workers’ compensation insurer, announces that Mark Isakson has been named the new CEO, effective April 3, 2023. Mr. Isakson succeeds Thomas Phelan, who announced last fall his intention to retire this year.

September 12, 2022 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s leading workers’ compensation insurer, announces that Chesapeake’s CEO Thomas Phelan has shared with the Board of Directors his intention to retire in 2023.

August 15, 2022 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance, announced the election of Sally Jameson, Keturah Harley, and Franklin J. Hajek, Jr. to the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Each member will serve a 5-year term. The election took place on June 30, 2022, during the company’s annual policyholder meeting.

June 24, 2022 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company announces the promotion of Lyndsey Meninger to Vice President of Legal Services and hires three Directors to lead IT Infrastructure and Systems, Underwriting Services, and Compliance departments.

May 25, 2022 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is pleased to announce that on May 12, 2022, AM Best affirmed the company’s financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of “a”.

March 10, 2022 - The Board of Directors of Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is pleased to declare $15 million in corporate dividends for calendar year 2023 to qualifying policyholders based on their safety performance. This is in addition to the $15 million corporate dividend the company declared for 2022 and the $10 million dividend for each calendar year 2018 through 2021. In total, Chesapeake Employers will have issued $70 million in corporate dividends through 2023. The dividends are possible due to Chesapeake Employers’ financial performance.

March 1, 2022 - The Board of Directors of the Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is pleased to declare another $15 million in corporate dividends for calendar year 2023 to qualifying policyholders based on their safety performance. This is in addition to the $15 million corporate dividend the company declared for 2022 and the $10 million dividend for each calendar year 2018 through 2021. In total, Chesapeake Employers will have issued $70 million in corporate dividends through 2023. The dividends are possible due to Chesapeake Employers’ financial performance.

October 15, 2021 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company recently formed a wholly-owned subsidiary named Chesapeake Risk Solutions, a full-service third-party administrator (TPA) specializing in managing all aspects of workers’ compensation claims management for Maryland-based employers. 

August 27, 2021 - iCubed Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, announced today the members of the 2021 Board of Directors. Sharon Rowell has been appointed Board Chair of the corporate venture capital subsidiary. Spencer P. Cavalier has been named Vice Chair and Theodore (Tedd) Martin Alexander III has been appointed as a Board Member.

July 22, 2021 - We at Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company hope that your business is operational as Maryland lifts many of its restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 2020 to June 2020, Chesapeake Employers deferred premium billing and payments to assist you (our policyholder) as you navigated the unprecedented economic crisis of the pandemic. We hope this emergency relief measure helped you during this difficult time. As we begin resuming our lives and getting businesses up and running again, we wish to inform you that Chesapeake Employers’ normal (pre-COVID) premium billing and payment practices for non-payment for a prior policy term will resume September 1, 2021.

June 29, 2021 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company today announced the election of Theodore (Tedd) Martin Alexander III and Spencer P. Cavalier to the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. The election took place on June 23, 2021 during the company’s annual policyholder meeting.

May 14, 2021 - AM Best, a global credit rating agency specializing in the insurance industry, has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating of Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a” from “a-”. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) has been revised to stable from positive.

April 20, 2021 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) announced that they have entered into a 15-year, strategic partnership that includes naming rights to the UMBC events center, which will be renamed Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.

June 29, 2020 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company announces the election of Suzanne Carter Thompson and John J. Scott, Jr. as Board Members of the organization, effective immediately. The results of the election were announced during the company’s first-ever annual meeting on Thursday, June 24, 2020. 

March 18, 2020 - We know you, like all of us, have been impacted by the ever-growing coronavirus (COVID-19) issue. This has been an extremely difficult time for all of us. We are faced with an issue that is very unique to us as a country and more so on the world level. While this issue has caused great panic at many levels, please let us assure you of a few things.

November 18, 2019 - The Board of Directors of the Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is pleased to declare $20 million in corporate dividends for 2020 and 2021 to qualifying policyholders based on their safety performance. This is in addition to the $20 million dividend the company declared in October 2017. In all, the company will issue $40 million in dividends by 2022.

September 17, 2019 - Legislation enacted in 2015 has resulted in several changes to Chesapeake Employers, which have and will continue to occur over the next several years. When all steps, as outlined in the legislation are completed, Chesapeake Employers will continue as a mono-line carrier, serving as the workers’ compensation guaranteed market writer in Maryland, and with two of its nine Board members appointed by the Governor.

August 13, 2019 - Martin G. Madden, a former senior advisor to Governor Larry Hogan (2015-2017), was appointed to the Board of Directors of Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, effective June 1, 2019. Mr. Madden will serve a five-year term on the board.

July 19, 2019 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance, is warning the public about a fake check scam that could result in recipients losing funds from their bank accounts.

April 29, 2019 - Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is pleased to announce that A.M. Best has revised the company’s financial outlooks to positive from stable. A.M. Best also affirmed Chesapeake Employers’ financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of “a-” for the company.