Head of Personal Insurance
Melinda Thompson is head of Personal Insurance at The Hartford. Responsible for the overall strategic direction and financial results of the business, she leads all aspects of product, underwriting, data and analytics, sales, marketing and invest delivery.
Personal Insurance provides automobile, homeowners and personal umbrella coverages to individuals across the United States on both a direct and retail agency basis. In 2024, the company celebrated 40 years as the endorsed provider of the AARP® Auto and Home Insurance Program from The Hartford. As a recognized leader in the 50-plus market with long-standing mature market expertise, The Hartford leverages in-house gerontologists who apply knowledge on aging to the company’s products and services, as well as influence public education programs about safety, mobility and independence.
An industry veteran, Thompson has more than 25 years of commercial and personal insurance experience, with field underwriting and P&L leadership, informing a deep understanding of both agency and direct distribution. She joined The Hartford in 1998 as a business insurance underwriter and held positions of increasing responsibility before being named head of Enterprise Sales and Distribution in 2016. She was promoted to chief operating officer of Personal Insurance in 2018 and in this role oversaw the countrywide rollout of the company’s new Prevail personal auto and homeowner’s products, which feature market-leading digital capabilities and a cloud-based policy administration system.
Thompson currently serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Connecticut Science Center.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and managerial economics from the University of California Davis, where she also minored in environmental horticulture.