Old American County Mutual (Orpheus Group) auto insurance

Overview

Orpheus Group is the name the NAIC uses for two U.S. insurers that most drivers know, if at all, as "Old American": Old American County Mutual Fire Insurance Company (OACM) and Old American Indemnity Company (OAIC). Neither company markets car insurance to the public. They act as fronting carriers for independent managing general agents (MGAs) that design, sell, price and service nonstandard auto programs, and the Old American company appears on the policy as the insurer.

The group ranked #38 among U.S. private passenger auto insurers by 2025 direct premiums written according to NAIC market share data, with $928.5 million in premiums and a 0.25% share. Its parent company reported $986.3 million of U.S. personal auto premium and policy fees in 2025, up 7.8% from 2024, of which $810.8 million came through OACM in Texas and $175.5 million through OAIC in other states. The parent describes OACM as a top-12 personal auto underwriter in Texas.

Both insurers are managed exclusively by subsidiaries of American Overseas Group Limited (AOG), a Bermuda company whose shares are listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. Its only business is these U.S. nonstandard auto operations.

History

AOG was incorporated in Bermuda in 1998 to run a financial guaranty reinsurer. It went public on the NASDAQ in 2006, delisted in 2009 and moved its primary listing to the Bermuda Stock Exchange, and its old reinsurance business went into run-off in 2009. Orpheus Group Ltd., a specialty writer of U.S. nonstandard auto business that had owned about 48% of AOG, came under common control with AOG in 2013, and AOG acquired all of Orpheus in October 2014. The deal turned AOG into a property and casualty holding company.

Since 2020 AOG has narrowed its focus to the Old American companies, dissolved its legacy financial guaranty reinsurer in 2023 and moved OAIC's domicile to Texas in December 2023. Premium has grown at about 24% a year since 2021, from $420.5 million to $986.3 million in 2025, as existing MGA partners expanded and new programs were added in Texas, Arizona and South Carolina. Debra J. Roberts is president and CEO of AOG, and Andrew J. Kirkpatrick is president of OACM and OAIC.

Auto insurance coverage

Coverage, limits and prices are set in each MGA's filed program, not by Old American. OACM holds a Texas-only county mutual license, which lets it appoint many MGAs and file a separate rate plan for each. County mutuals also have more freedom to surcharge for driving violations and other risk factors, and AOG says some insurers' MGAs come to OACM specifically to use that surcharge authority and Texas licensing. OAIC is an ordinary admitted insurer licensed in 16 states, and generally carries one MGA program per state.

AOG says its partners serve monoline personal auto customers in urban and rural Texas who might not qualify with larger standard and preferred carriers. Examples of MGAs that have used Old American paper include:

• Bluefire Insurance, whose Texas personal auto policy forms name Old American County Mutual Fire Insurance Company as the insurer.
• Loop, a Texas nonstandard auto insurer that Old American appointed in January 2025.
• United Group Underwriters and Connect MGA, the two largest OACM producers in 2021, according to a Texas Department of Insurance examination.

OACM wrote through 21 MGAs during that 2021 review. Your declarations page names the MGA that services your policy.

Discounts and programs

Old American does not run its own discounts or telematics programs. Any discounts, payment plans or down-payment options come from the MGA's program, so ask the selling agent or MGA. The guide to nonstandard auto insurers explains what to compare.

Claims

Claims are handled by the MGA or its claims administrator, up to limits set in the MGA contract. Bluefire's Texas policy forms, for example, direct policyholders to Bluefire at its Irving, Texas, mailing address. Start with the contact information in your policy documents; if you cannot resolve a problem, the Texas Department of Insurance takes complaints at 800-252-3439.

Old American keeps only a small share of the risk. AOG says it cedes more than 95% of OACM's business to third-party reinsurers and retains about 10% of OAIC's risk, part of which it passes to its Barbados reinsurer, Orpheus Re. It audits MGAs regularly and holds collateral against reinsurance recoverables.

Ratings and reputation

Old American's insurers operate without a financial strength rating; AOG lists "our ability to continue to compete without a financial strength rating" among its business risks. Policyholders rely instead on Old American's own capital and on the reinsurers and collateral behind each program.

In November 2024 the Texas Department of Insurance entered a consent order (No. 2024-8934) after a market conduct exam of OACM's 2021 private passenger auto business through UGA and Connect. Examiners found policies issued or serviced by agents who were not appointed or licensed, policies missing the Texas auto consumer bill of rights and required privacy and complaint notices, a small number of claims accepted or confirmed in writing later than Texas law allows, and two complaints in which a claim with reasonably clear liability was not settled promptly and fairly. Old American paid a $65,000 administrative penalty, and Connect added system controls to block unlicensed users.

Who it suits

Old American is not a company you choose directly. It matters if you are a Texas driver with a nonstandard policy that names OACM, or a driver in one of OAIC's states, because it tells you who stands behind the policy and where to escalate a complaint. The service you get depends mostly on the MGA.

• Strengths: Gives MGAs the capacity to offer coverage to drivers that standard carriers decline; long-standing Texas county mutual license; heavy use of reinsurance and collateral to back claims.
• Weaknesses: No AM Best or other financial strength rating; no direct customer service line; 2024 Texas penalty over agent licensing, notices and claim handling by an MGA; experience varies widely by MGA.

How to contact Old American County Mutual (Orpheus Group)