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ARAG SE

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ARAG SE is a European insurance group. ARAG stands for Allgemeine Rechtsschutzversicherungs Aktiengesellschaft. "SE" stands for "Societas Europaea". Its headquarters are located in the ARAG-Tower in Düsseldorf. The ARAG Group employs over 6,100 people worldwide and reported total gross premium income of €2.843 billion in 2024.[3] ARAG is the largest family-owned German insurance group[4] and considered to be the largest legal expenses insurer in the world.[5] At the end of 2024, ARAG managed 13.8 million policies, 9.6 million of which were outside of Germany.[2]

ARAG SE
TypeSocietas Europaea (SE)
Founded1935
HeadquartersDüsseldorf, Germany,
Key people
  • Renko Dirksen[1]
  • Matthias Maslaton
  • Wolfgang Mathmann
  • Shiva Meyer
  • Hanno Petersen
  • Joerg Schwarze
ProductsInsurance
Revenue€2.84 billion (2024)[2]
Number of employees
6,148 (2024)[2]
ARAG Group Headquarters in Düsseldorf

History

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The ARAG Group was founded in 1935 as a legal expenses insurance company under the name of Deutsche Auto-Rechtsschutz-AG (DARAG) by the Düsseldorf entrepreneur and attorney Heinrich Fassbender.[6] With this venture, Faßbender opened the door to a lucrative field of business. His stated founding principle was to make access to justice easier for people: "All citizens should be able to assert their rights, not only those who can afford to do so".[7] Following the expansion of legal expenses insurance beyond the boundaries of straight automotive legal expenses insurance (1948),[8] the company branched out into other segments of the insurance industry in 1962 and began marketing the business concept of legal expenses insurance also outside of Germany.[9]

From 1965 onward, the ARAG Group entered the life insurance business[8] and, from 1985, the health insurance sector,[9] acquiring other insurers for this purpose. The ARAG Krankenversicherungs-AG conducts its insurance business from Munich, the group’s second German location. The life insurance division was sold in 2017, retroactive to January 1, to the Frankfurter Leben Group.[10][11]

In 2001, the Group occupied new corporate headquarters in the ARAG Tower in Düsseldorf, a building designed by Lord Norman Foster and the Düsseldorf firm of RKW Rhode Kellermann Wawrowsky [de] Architektur + Städtebau.[12][13]

Over the years, further acquisitions and the establishment of international legal expenses insurance companies followed. In response to ongoing internationalization, ARAG was converted into a European Company (SE) in December 2011.[14]

At the end of 2019, ARAG launched business operations in Australia. ARAG Services Australia Pty Ltd acted as an underwriting agency providing legal expense insurance to brokers and intermediaries, including commercial, private, landlord, and online legal policies. In 2025, ARAG withdrew from the Australian market after the business had not developed as expected.[15]

As part of the acquisition of D.A.S. UK from Ergo in 2023, ARAG also took over its law firm in the United Kingdom, further expanding its international business involving in-house lawyers. ARAG had already been present on the UK market since 2006 through its subsidiary, ARAG plc.[16][17]

Structure of the ARAG Group

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The majority shareholder and thus principal owner of the ARAG Group is Paul-Otto Faßbender, grandson of the company's founder. Between 2000 and July 2020, he was Chairman of the Management Board and responsible for central Group functions. In 2020, Renko Dirksen became Speaker of the Board of Management of ARAG SE, and in 2025 he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management. He is also responsible for the Group’s central corporate functions.[1] In July 2020, Paul-Otto Faßbender was elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ARAG SE by the company’s supervisory board.[18]

Business areas and companies

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The asset and investment management company ARAG Holding SE serves as the parent company and forms the legal head of the group. Its Chairman of the Board is Paul-Otto Faßbender.[19]

ARAG SE (known as ARAG Allgemeine Rechtsschutz-Versicherungs-AG until early December 2011) is the operative holding company of the group and manages the national and international legal protection business. Legal protection insurance has traditionally been ARAG's core business; in addition to insurance, the company also offers other legal services in some countries other than Germany.[20]

ARAG Krankenversicherungs-AG represents the private health insurance segment for Germany.[21] In 2024, the number of fully insured individuals in the health insurance segment was over 107,000.[22]

ARAG Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG functions as the group's composite insurer.[23] It offers several lines of insurance, including liability, household contents, accident, accident annuity, pet health, building, and business insurance. With more than 20 million insured amateur and professional athletes, ARAG Allgemeine is one of Germany's largest sports insurers.[2][24]

International markets

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As of 2026, the ARAG group operates in 18 countries (including Germany):[25]

International subsidiaries of ARAG SE[26]
Austria
  • ARAG SE – Branch Austria, Vienna
    Founded: 1976
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Belgium
  • ARAG SE – Branch Belgium, Brussels
    Founded: 1965
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Canada
  • ARAG Legal Solutions Inc., Toronto
    Founded: 2015[27]
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Denmark
  • HELP Forsikring Danmark, branch of HELP Norway, Copenhagen
    Founded: 2015
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Finland
  • HELP Vakuutus, Helsinki
    Founded: 2024
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Greece
  • ARAG SE – Branch Greece, Athens
    Founded: 1972
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Ireland
  • ARAG Legal Protection Ltd., Dublin
    Founded: 2019
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Italy
  • ARAG SE – Branch Italy, Verona
    Founded: 1965
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Netherlands
  • ARAG SE – Branch Netherlands, Leusden
    Founded: 1962
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Norway
  • HELP Forsikring AS, Oslo
    Founded: 2005[28]
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Portugal
  • ARAG SE – Branch Portugal, Lisbon
    Founded: 2002
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Slovenia
  • ARAG SE – Branch Slovenia, Ljubljana
    Founded: 2003
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Spain
  • ARAG SE – Branch Spain, Barcelona
    Founded: 1977
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Sweden
  • HELP Försäkring Sverige, Stockholm
    Founded: 2012
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
Switzerland
  • AXA-ARAG Rechtsschutz AG, Zurich
    Founded: 1972[29]
    Business area: legal expenses insurance
United Kingdom
  • ARAG Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited, Bristol
    Founded: 2006 as ARAG plc (renamed following the acquisition of D.A.S. UK from Ergo)[17]
    Business area: legal expenses insurance, in-house law firm (ARAG Law)
United States
  • ARAG North America, Inc., Des Moines (Iowa)
    Founded: 1973
    Business area: legal expenses insurance

United States

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In the United States, ARAG USA was originally founded in 1973 as a division of Midwest Mutual Insurance Company and began creating, marketing and administering a new group legal product. In 1989, ARAG purchased the organization and created ARAG Insurance Company (today ARAG USA).[30]

Canada

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In 2016, ARAG entered the Canadian market as an insurance intermediary. Since then, ARAG Canada has grown, not least through the purchase of DAS's Canadian operations in 2021.[31][32][33]

United Kingdom

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Since the acquisition of the legal insurer D.A.S. UK from Ergo Group in 2023, the British business operates under the name ARAG Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited and is based in Bristol.[17] This company provides a range of before-the-event and after-the-event legal expenses insurance products and services.[34]

The British branch of ARAG was originally founded in 2006 as ARAG plc, an intermediary covering the entire value chain from product development and sales to marketing and underwriting. On the day of its launch, ARAG announced that it had secured the business portfolio of ULR Knebworth.[35] In early 2009, ARAG acquired the legal expenses portfolio of Capita shortly after acquiring ATE Ltd, a specialist after-the-event provider. By 2024, the British branch of ARAG had reached a revenue of over £77 million.[36]

Ireland

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ARAG entered the Irish market in 2019 through the acquisition of the Irish operations of D.A.S. Legal Expenses Insurance Company Ltd., establishing its subsidiary ARAG Legal Protection Ltd. in Dublin.[37]

Further subsidiaries

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ARAG subsidiaries are also active in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia and Spain.[38]

Sponsoring

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Since 2001, ARAG has been the main sponsor of the table tennis club Borussia Düsseldorf and, since 2006, of the German Table Tennis Association.[39][40]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Renko Dirksen wird Unternehmenslenker der Arag SE". Versicherungsmagazin.de (in German). 20 September 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Geschäftsbericht 2024. ARAG Holding SE, Konzernabschluss" (PDF). ARAG SE. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "Key Financial Figures for the ARAG Group". ARAG SE. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  4. ↑ Josh Recamara (23 May 2025). "ARAG Group sees premiums skyrocket by more than 17%". Insurance Business Magazine. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "About us". Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Mirko Wenig (31 May 2019). "Die ARAG vorständelt fremd". Versicherungsbote.de (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  7. ↑ "History ARAG Group". ARAG SE. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  8. 1 2 Thorsten Breitkopf (12 December 2024). "Düsseldorfer Arag: "Soziale Inflation" – Versicherungsbranche hat mehr Arbeit durch Krise". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  9. 1 2 "90 Jahre ARAG". Finanzwelt.de (in German). 25 August 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  10. ↑ Lutz Reiche (22 June 2017). "ARAG Lebensversicherung: "Kein Verkauf aus der Not heraus"". Manager Magazin (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  11. ↑ Panagiotis Koutoumanos (7 November 2018). "Lebensversicherer machen sich davon". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "Hoch gestapelt: "Arag-Tower" in Düsseldorf eingeweiht". BauNetz (in German). 30 April 2001. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  13. ↑ Guido M. Hartmann (16 June 2013). "Marktplatz: ARAG wächst und verkündet Gewinnrekord". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  14. ↑ Herbert von Fromme (25 January 2011). "Arag ändert Struktur zur Kapitalstärkung". Versicherungsmonitor (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  15. ↑ "ARAG zieht sich aus Australien zurück". Handelszeitung. 18 July 2025. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  16. ↑ James Cowen (30 January 2025). "Arag UK chief executive set to retire following acquisition". Insurance Times. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  17. 1 2 3 Marcus Jung (12 October 2025). "Debatte um Monopol: Sind Versicherer die Anwälte von morgen?". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "Faßbender nun Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender der Arag SE". Versicherungsmagazin (in German). 10 July 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  19. ↑ Antje Kullrich (27 June 2020). "Zäsur im Hause Arag". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  20. ↑ Antje Kullrich (13 May 2021). "Arag sieht viel Potenzial mit Legaltechs". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  21. ↑ Dirk Wohleb (18 May 2022). "Die besten privaten Krankenversicherungen". Handelsblatt. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  22. ↑ "Geschäftsbericht ARAG Krankenversicherung 2024" (PDF). ARAG. 2025. p. 41. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  23. ↑ ""Wir sind genau dort, wo uns die Menschen heute brauchen"". AssCompact (in German). 24 July 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  24. ↑ Heinz Leo Müller; Lutz (2005). Beiträge zur Geschichte des deutschen Versicherungswesens, Teil II. Karlsruhe: Verlag Versicherungswirtschaft. p. 120. ISBN 3-89952-193-5.; Quotation: “ARAG Allgemeine holds a leading position in sports insurance. Through collective contracts, it insures members organized in state sports associations for amateur sports and elite athletes supported by the German Sports Aid Foundation.”
  25. ↑ "International Locations". ARAG. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "Locations". ARAG SE. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  27. ↑ Mika Pangilinan (26 April 2023). "ARAG Legal Solutions taps new CEO". Insurance Business Magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  28. ↑ "ARAG will Rechtsschutzversicherung in Dänemark etablieren". Versicherungsbote.de (in German). 18 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  29. ↑ "ARAG Schweiz". ARAG SE (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  30. ↑ "ARAG in the USA". ARAG SE. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  31. ↑ "ARAG in Canada". ARAG SE. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  32. ↑ Mika Pangilinan (26 April 2023). "ARAG Legal Solutions taps new CEO". Insurance Business Magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  33. ↑ "ARAG appoints Peter Dempster as CEO in Canada". Canadian Underwriter. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  34. ↑ "ARAG in UK". ARAG SE. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  35. ↑ Katy Dowell (19 October 2006). "Arag buys ULR to boost UK LEI". Insurance Times. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  36. ↑ Edward Murray (12 June 2025). "ARAG posts final results prior to DAS integration". InsuranceToday. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  37. ↑ "ARAG acquires DAS' operations in the Republic of Ireland and continues to pursue its international expansion course". Legal Futures. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  38. ↑ "International Locations". ARAG SE. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  39. ↑ "ARAG verlängert Sponsoring mit Borussia Düsseldorf und Timo Boll bis 2028". sportsbusiness.at (in German). 12 June 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  40. ↑ "Tischtennis: Arag steht zum Rekordmeister". Westdeutsche Zeitung (in German). 29 August 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
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