An international success story
The publisher and attorney Heinrich Faßbender founded ARAG Rechtsschutzversicherung in 1935. His business idea was simple but revolutionary: “Every individual should be able to assert his or her rights, not just those who can afford it.” Today, ARAG is the leading legal insurer worldwide. And ARAG is also the largest family-managed enterprise in the German insurance industry.
Year |
Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1935 | Founded as “Deutsche Auto-Rechtsschutz-AG” (DARAG) with headquarters in Düsseldorf; renamed “ARAG, Auto-Rechtsschutz-Aktien-Gesellschaft shortly thereafter. |
| 1936-1945 | Nazi regime denies founder and opposition politician Heinrich Faßbender official license as legal protection insurer – business operations only tolerated; Faßbender family retreats to the Black Forest |
| 1948 | Obtaining of an insurance license from the British occupation authorities |
| 1949 | Legal insurance expanded to include private and occupational coverage; company renamed “ARAG Allgemeine Rechtsschutz-Versicherungs-Aktien-Gesellschaft. |
| 1962 | Insurance program expanded into other insurance segments: ARAG acquires the composite insurer Terra AG, which is reincorporated as ARAG Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG in 1979 (headquarters in Düsseldorf). |
| 1962 | First step in international marketing of the successful legal insurance concept. The first international ARAG company is founded in the Netherlands. ARAG Rechtsschutz expands its insurance program in Germany. |
| 1965 | Acquisition of interest in Gisela Allgemeine Lebensversicherungs-und Aussteuer-Versicherungs-AG, which is renamed ARAG Lebensversicherungs-AG in 1981 (headquarters in Munich). |
| 1984 | Further expansion of the insurance program in Germany: acquisition of Bavaria Krankenversicherungs-AG, which is reincorporated as ARAG Krankenversicherung in 1990 (headquarters in Munich). |
| 1989 | ARAG Rechtsschutz enters the American legal insurance market with a subsidiary. ARAG is already operating in seven countries besides Germany at this point. |
| 1990 | Following the reincorporation of Bavaria as ARAG Krankenversicherungs-AG, four companies are now united under the strong ARAG brand name: Legal Insurance, Composite, Life and Health. |
| 1997 | Brokerage specialist Interlloyd-Versicherungs-AG is founded as a fully-owned subsidiary of ARAG Allgemeine. |
| 2003 | ARAG Slovenia is founded with headquarters in Ljubljana. |
| 2006 | ARAG plc launches business operations in Great Britain from headquarters in Bristol. |
| 2007 | Following the acquisition of shares in HELP Forsikring in Norway, the ARAG Group is now active in 14 countries. |
| 2011 | In December 2011 the ARAG Group has chosen an European legal form - a so-called Societas Europaea (SE). ARAG AG was converted into ARAG Holding SE and ARAG Allgemeine Rechtsschutz-Versicherungs-AG was converted into ARAG SE. |
| 2012 | In collaboration with its Norwegian associated company HELP Forsikring AS the ARAG Group enters the Swedish insurance market in May 2012. |
| 2013 | ARAG Group acquired all shares in Oslo based HELP Forsikring AS by the end of 2013. |
| 2015 | Market entry in Denmark: ARAG SE is expanding its business in Scandinavia. HELP Forsikring, ARAG's Norwegian subsidiary, starts business in Denmark through its branch based in Copenhagen. |
| 2016 |
ARAG starts business operations in Canada: As intermediary the Toronto-based ARAG Services Corporation develops legal insurance products and manages underwriting, sales and marketing activities for the Canadian market. ARAG is active in 17 countries now. |
| 2017 | Sale of the life insurance business and strategic focus on the property and health insurance segments. |
| 2019 | Start of business in Australia and the Republic of Ireland: ARAG Services Australia Pty Ltd is headquartered in Sydney and ARAG Legal Protection Limited is headquartered in Dublin. The ARAG Group is now active in 19 countries. |
| 2020 | Change at the top: Dr. Renko Dirksen becomes Speaker of the Management Board of the operating management company ARAG SE; ARAG majority shareholder Dr. Dr. h. c. Paul-Otto Faßbender, former CEO, becomes Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ARAG SE |
| 2021 | Expansion of the Canadian legal protection business through acquisition of DAS Legal Protection Inc.; Gross premium income of the ARAG Group exceeds EUR 2 billion |
| 2022 | Determination of the new development program ARAG 5>30 („ARAG Five to Thirty“) |