On April 1, 1897 a group of six local farmers in Ohio County got together and decided to start an insurance company for the farming community. After the needed capital was raised, the WV Department of Insurance issued a charter dated February 10, 1898 and Panhandle Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of West Virginia became a company. For many years, the writing territory was confined to the northern panhandle of West Virginia which, is how the company got its name. The product line was Fire and Lightning Coverage only on Standard Fire policies. The original location of the home office was Clinton, WV in Ohio County.

For the next 50 years the company showed modest growth and restricted writings to the northern panhandle of West Virginia. After that period, the directors, looking into the future, decided to expand the writing territory to other counties and make Extended Coverage available. This practice continued for another 20 years.Moving into the seventies, the company's writing was expanded to include Homeowners, Mobile Homeowners, Farms and small Commercial type risks. Today, our writing territory has been increased to include all of West Virginia.