RLI is a U.S.-based specialty insurer that offers a diverse portfolio of property and casualty insurance coverages and surety bonds. Since 1965, we’ve been making a difference, shouldering risks in niche insurance markets that give our customers the security to create, explore, grow and prosper. In 2015, we celebrated 50 years of innovation and helping customers safeguard their assets and livelihoods. RLI’s history of innovation dates to the early 1960s, when Founder Gerald D. Stephens, recognized the expense of replacing contact lenses, and founded RLI — Replacement Lens, Inc. — a contact lens insurance agency. In 1965, he acquired the holding company that would later become RLI Corp. RLI was one of the first insurers of contact lenses. In time, it emerged as the largest insurer of its kind in the world.