While recently going through my Rolodex (yeah, I'm that old) and getting depressed over the many agencies long gone or absorbed by bigger fish, I came across a card for Don Eve, president of Eve Insurance Agency Inc. in Flint, Mich.
When I first spoke with Don years ago, I was writing for Business Insurance, and Flint was in the news with Michael Moore's controversial documentary, Roger & Me. With images of boarded-up houses and a mouldering downtown fresh in my mind, my first question to Don was something like, ”How are you surviving in such a tough market?” Given today's economy, that question is equally valid today.
So I was pleasantly surprised when a little Googling and e-mailing showed that not only is Eve Insurance still alive and kicking, but so is Don.
“It was good to hear from you,” Don e-mailed back. “I'm semi-retired, but my son, Greg Eve, who is now running the agency, is familiar with 'this economy.' So I'm going to have him respond to your question.”
Turns out Eve's longstanding formula for success is personal lines. Eve Insurance has had a strong relationship with the local teachers' credit union for almost 40 years, and today is almost completely personal lines, with only 4 percent of business coming from commercial p/c. Annual written premium stands at $3 million-plus and has remained stable for the past 10 years.
Greg explained that the transition to personal lines had been initially one of sheer survival. ”Personal lines had always been more than 50 percent of our book of business since my dad and mother started the agency in 1973, but by the mid-1990s, we pretty much went all personal because the better commercial carriers just weren't looking for Michigan agency appointments in the early 1990s.”
While insurers' appetites may have changed since then, Eve's focus has not. They've found they like the stability of the personal lines market, where premiums have not been as soft as commercial renewals, which are down as much as 40 percent in the region, Greg said.
The agency's entire book of business is cross sold — “home, auto and the toys,” Greg said. While the national average for cross-selling policies is 1.25 policies per client, Eve's is almost at 1.8, including home, auto, umbrella and life. They're also exploring life products and baby boomer stuff like long-term care coverage.
But isn't this market cornered by the direct writers? Not according to Greg. “Access to multiple markets gives us an advantage,” he said. “We share a driveway with an Allstate agent, and we're good friends, but there is a decided difference in the market. A few years ago (Allstate) took a 40 percent rate increase, and the agent didn't have any alternative markets to go to.” Eve's primary carrier is Auto Owners, which controls 62 percent of their book of business, followed by Citizens, Safeco, Progressive and Great Lakes Casualty.
Although he concedes there are many challenges – including a regional talent drain and the ongoing economic problems of the Rust Belt — Greg is confident that Eve will do better than just survive the current tough economy. “In mid-Michigan, there are basically two styles of people: those involved in the medical profession, and educators. School systems still have to have employees, so that's a stable market. You find your market niche, figure where your carriers are strong, and that's what you market to.”
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