Phil Riddle

editor@weatherforddemocrat.com

Craig Harbuck is quick to say there are any number of agencies to get a quote for insurance.

It’s the follow-up that makes the difference for Higginbotham and Associates.

“Anybody can place the coverage,” said Harbuck, managing director of the Weatherford office. “Will they be able to service it? What happens when somebody needs a certificate of insurance, a change in their auto, somebody’s got to change an employee? Whatever it is. That’s where to rubber meets the road for us.”

Harbuck says the importance of follow-up, what he calls “Day 2” can’t be overstated.

“We always talk about Day 2,” he said. “If I’ve got 35,000 different agencies competing against me, I’ve got to figure out what’s the Higginbotham difference. We’ve got to distinguish ourselves.”

He said the company works hard at servicing its clientele.

”That’s the value we bring,” Harbuck said. “If someone wants to quote them a policy, anybody can do that. But Day 2 is where we get the shine.”

Higginbotham and Associates, formerly Bergman, Grogan and Rothrock, has been in Weatherford since 2001. But most of the team has been in town for much longer.

Elizabeth Bozzell, whose grandfather W.D. Newberry started the original insurance agency in 1917, began working in the business when she was 14.

David Rothrock started in 1960 at the age of 17.

The local agency has gone through various partnerships and ownerships since that time, finally merging with Higginbotham in 2001.

Higginbotham and Associates began in Fort Worth in 1948. The last decade has seen expansion of the coompany into Austin, Dallas, Houston, Denton, McKinney, Granbury, Wichita Falls and Weatherford.

“We wanted a presence out here, looking west,” Harbuck said. “With the growth that’s happening out here, it’s been a good opportunity.”

He added the company is not expanding for expansion’s sake.

“We don’t buy agencies to get bigger,” Harbuck said. “We buy them to get better.”

He reported Higginbotham and Associates is ranked No. 52 of about 35,000 independent insurance agencies in premium volume.

“All that says is it’s incumbent on us not to go out and beat our chest and say, ‘We’re Higginbotham. We’re No. 52. We give great service,” Harbuck said. “Everybody says’ ‘we’re big, we’re bad, we give great service. But, when you’re driving a billion dollars of premium into the market place, you develop market clout. Can I go to a carrier and maybe get a little better deal? Probably so.”

Harbuck explained a current “soft market” in the insurance industry is good for consumers.

“We retain 97 percent of our clients and 87 percent of our revenue,” he said. “That difference is what the soft market does. It’s better for our clients. We’ve been in a soft market for six years. Insurance rates go down and companies are eager to write more insurance, because they’re making money in the stock market and there haven’t been any catastrophes. This last year we’ve stayed in a soft market, even though the stock market has taken a tumble.”

Bozzell and Rothrock both said the economic climate has made both individual and business customers stop and reconsider insurance needs, creating an opportunity for keeping expenses and necessary coverage in line.

“I think it might, because we have the expertise to help people find the coverage they need, not just give them a boiler plate,” she said. “A lot of times, people are looking for ways to cut their expenses and need to know what they can cut and what they should not cut.”

Harbuck agreed, adding Higginbotham and Associates has a team of professionals, including risk control, safety, claims experts and adjusters to help customers keep costs manageable.

He said commercial clients can keep their costs low by letting the company help keep claims down.

“If you are making sure claims are under control and driving the cost down, then you’re saving them money,” Harbuck said. “Safety and loss control plans are in place to reduce the cost of claims because if their claims are going up, so are their premiums.

“That’s one way to mitigate this economy,” he said. “To make sure they are doing everything they can from a safety and loss control standpoint to reduce those claims.”

Insurance is only one aspect of Higginbotham’s business.

Also offered is financial planning, which includes group medical, employee benfits and ancillary lines like group dental, long term disability, short term disability and retirement planning.