Suffolk Insurance And Main Street America: Providing Exceptional Service To Virginia Insureds

Outside the Suffolk, Va., Center for the Cultural Arts are (left to right): Dave Randle and Donna Wysong, The Main Street America Group; and Kent Spain, Hunter Odom Jr. and Rob House, Suffolk Insurance Corporation.

Suffolk Insurance Corporation and The Main Street America Group both have a rich history that dates back nearly a century.

The independent agency, located in Suffolk, Va., in the Southeast region of the commonwealth, was established in 1923 (coincidently the same year Main Street America was founded) by a group of local businessmen, including Amedeo Obici, the founder of Planters Peanuts. Original partner Taylor Darden, father of longtime Suffolk Insurance president Austin Darden, managed the agency in the early years.

“Relationships are very important to us and that’s a key driver of why we rely on Main Street America.”

“As a result of numerous mergers over the years, Suffolk Insurance is now a conglomeration of virtually all of the independent agencies in Suffolk,” said executive vice president Kent Spain, one of the agency’s three partners, and 2017 chair pro tem of Main Street America’s National Agency Council. “There are a few others, but all of us here are second-generation agents who take great pride in getting to know our customers and serving our community.”

The 94-year-old agency, which forged its partnership with Main Street America nearly 20 years ago, is committed to providing high quality, affordable insurance to meet the needs of their clients – many of whom are families and neighbors – who have been loyal customers for decades.

Suffolk’s product offerings include commercial lines (50 percent), personal lines (40 percent), as well as life and health coverages (10 percent). The agency typically averages 7 percent growth per year and places a large segment of its personal lines portfolio with Main Street America, its second-largest personal lines carrier.

The agency is having great success with Main Street Protection Auto, the private passenger auto program the company implemented in 2015 for the preferred/standard marketplace in Virginia.

“Main Street Protection Auto is a great product,” acknowledged Kent. “We are doing well with it and consistently look for ways to match up the product with our largest personal lines accounts.”

“Main Street America is one of our top personal lines markets year after year,” added agency president Hunter Odom Jr. “As a community-based agency, we have seen other agencies shy away from phone quoting. We are known as a generalist agency that still quotes over the phone and one that provides help on small personal lines accounts.

Main Street America’s products and services are a good fit for the extra things we like to do for our customers.” Kent added the agency believes their relationship with Main Street America’s personnel is a key element of the successful partnership.

“Relationships are very important to us and that’s a key driver of why we rely on Main Street America,” Kent stated. “It’s the people in the company, top to bottom. Sometimes it’s challenging to communicate with a carrier, but Donna (Main Street America field marketing representative Donna Wysong) and Dave (Southeast Region president Dave Randle) do a great job of keeping in touch with us whether it’s a claim issue or things are just going well. The same is true with their underwriting and other company functions. They have a great willingness to listen and we can always talk with them and get things done. We get very good service and resolution.”

Dave added, “The communication goes both ways. We have been very fortunate to benefit from Kent’s service on our Southeast Region and National Agency Councils. We realize it’s a big time commitment, but his insights and the feedback we receive from our customers, through the councils and our regional listening tours, is invaluable.”

Another pillar of the successful partnership is Main Street America’s unwavering support of independent agents, which strengthens Suffolk Insurance’s ability to act as a trusted advisor to their clients.

“As independent agents, we strive to fit the product and company to our customers and Main Street America has a total commitment to the independent agency system,” Kent concluded. “Unlike many of our other writing companies, we are Main Street America’s customer. We know they are our partner and are going to work with us, not compete against us.”