Marion’s oldest business no longer fully locally owned
Staff writer
Marion’s longest-standing business is no longer fully locally owned.
Effective Aug. 1, Case & Son Insurance has partnered with Iron Insurance Partners, bringing in outside resources to the insurance agency of 158 years.
Alex Case, a fifth-generation owner for the past 38 years, has dealt with a mix of emotions since the partnership began.
“Just the fact that my family’s owned the agency for 158 years, and now we won’t have complete ownership with it anymore,” he told the Record.
One of the reasons for the partnership, Case said, is that few people can keep his family’s legacy intact. If he were to get into an accident, it would leave the agency in “turmoil.”
“My wife knows nothing about the business,” he said. “Really, nobody. … You can probably understand if I died in a car wreck or got in a bicycle accident or something, then this place would get wiped out. It would be a bad deal.
“Lori [Freuchting] would be the closest person to be able to keep it going. But this way, we’ve got a partner in place, so I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
The idea to partner with Iron Insurance started last February while Case was at a conference with other insurance agencies.
When Case met a representative from Iron Insurance, he and a colleague in a similar position were discussing the future of their agencies. The conversation led to an exchange of business cards.
Having already thought about perpetuation plan — a plan for the future — Case thought to strike while the iron was hot.
Conversations became serious to the point at which Case thought it might actually happen.
“With everything, you’re wary at first,” he said, “thinking, ‘Oh, this is going to be a bad idea.’”
Ultimately, Case thought it was the right time for a change. “I’m not getting any younger,” he said.
“I don’t know if my ancestors ever thought this day would come, but of course, they haven’t dealt with all the stuff I have in the last 10 years. There’s been a lot of change in the insurance industry.”
Smaller, locally based insurance agencies often partner with bigger brokers because “agencies our size are under more pressure to give our carriers more business,” Case said.
“In towns like Marion, you can’t keep the big companies happy,” he said. “So, by partnering with Iron, it’s going to strengthen our position with our current carriers. It’s also going to give us access to carriers we haven’t written with before.”
The name on the front of the building won’t change, and the agency still will operate under “Case & Son.” The big difference, Case said, will be the number of resources available.
“We’re going to have a full team of people behind us at our access,” he said. “So, if I have a question about a foreign policy, I’ve got an expert to call. If I have a question about a commercial policy, I’ve got an expert to call.”
The Resources now at his disposal have led Case to cut ties with some other companies.
Iron Insurance has its own information technology team, meaning Case & Son no longer will need Great Plains Computers & Networking to trouble fix any issues. The agency still will use local banks, however.
“I do feel bad because we’ve worked with Lloyd Davies down the street for 30 years,” Case said. “But now, Iron has their own IT team that will come in and handle all that stuff. … Just about all our day-to-day operations will stay the same.”
Accounting expenses also have climbed, as have the prices for errors and omissions insurance — insurance that will cover Case should a client sue for a mistake on a policy, for example.
“There’s just a lot of overhead at a small agency,” he said. “By partnering with Iron, a lot of that will be transferred to them.”
While the agency is no longer fully locally operated, its slogan, “In the Same Business, in the Same Place Since 1868” will remain.
“We’re still going to be here,” Case said. “We’re still going to be running the office. We’re just going to have a lot more support behind us.”