BB&T Insurance Services

BB&T Insurance Services, Inc. is a subsidiary of BB&T Insurance Holdings, Inc., a BB&T Corporation (Branch Banking & Trust) Company. It is the fifth largest Insurance Broker by revenue in the United States and sixth largest in world. In 2013, BB&T Insurance Service's revenues were $1,582,443,400.^[1]

BB&T Insurance Services is Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina and operates over 100 offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and California. It is the largest Independent Insurance Agency in Virginia and The Carolinas. BB&T Insurance Services represents most major carriers in the United States, and offers a broad range of Commercial and Personal Insurance Products.^[2]

On January 1, 2016, Wade Reece retired as Chairman & CEO and was succeeded by John Howard. ^[3]

InsureWithBBT.com

In July, 2010, BB&T Insurance Services launched InsureWithBBT.com, which enables consumers to shop for personal auto insurance coverage, compare quotes and purchase insurance online. They are one of a few companies that offer a real-time comparative auto insurance quoting platform in the United States.^[4] Four carrier partners have teamed up with InsureWithBBT.com; Progressive, Safeco, The Hartford and Travelers.^[5]

Currently, consumers can purchase auto insurance in 11 states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as Washington DC.^[6]

Flood insurance

On June 27, 2012, BB&T Insurance Services announced that they became the first Independent Insurance Agency in the United States to sell Flood Insurance Online, by partnering with The Hartford and National Flood Services (StoneRiver).^[7]

Greenwich Associates

In July, 2010, Greenwich Associates honored BB&T Insurance Services with three top awards in customer satisfaction. Greenwich Associates rated BB&T Insurance Services as excellent in three separate studies conducted:

• Greenwich 2010 Excellence Awards for Customer Satisfaction, National;
• Greenwich 2010 Excellence Award for Customer Satisfaction in the Southern Region; and
• Greenwich 2010 Large Corporate Insurance Study.

The three awards were earned collectively by BB&T Insurance; McGriff, Seibels & Williams, Inc.; and BB&T Insurance Services of California, Inc.^[8]

In the 2012 Greenwich Large Corporate Insurance Study BB&T Insurance Services scored higher than the five largest insurance brokers with sales greater than $500mm.(Greenwich Associates, 2012)

Mergers and acquisitions

BB&T Insurance Services has been relatively active in the past few years in acquiring smaller, regional insurance agencies. In the past several years, those acquisitions include:

• April, 2014, BB&T Insurance Subsidiary McGriff, Seibels & Williams acquires Caledonian Insurance Group.^[9]
• March, 2014, BB&T Insurance Services acquires Woodbury & Co.^[10]
• April, 2012, BB&T Acquires parts of Crump Group Inc. which makes BB&T Insurance Services the largest independent wholesale distributor of life insurance and one of the largest providers of wholesale commercial insurance brokerage and specialty programs in the U.S.^[11]
• November, 2011, BB&T Insurance Services buys San Ramon’s Precept employee benefits consulting firm.^[12]
• September, 2011, BB&T Acquires Liberty Benefit in California.^[13]
• September, 2011, BB&T Insurance Services acquires Atlantic Risk Management Corp of Columbia, Md.^[14]
• November 2009, BB&T acquired Oswald Trippe and Company Inc. of Fort Myers, FL.^[15]
• December 2008, BB&T Insurance Services acquired J. Rolfe Davis Insurance of Maitland, Florida.^[16]
• July 2008, BB&T Insurance Services acquired Puckett, Scheetz & Hogan of Myrtle Beach, SC and Pawleys Island, SC.^[17]
• April, 2008, BB&T Insurance Services moved to the west coast with the acquisition of UnionBanc Insurance Services Inc., headquartered in San Diego, CA.^[18]
• February 2008, BB&T Insurance Services acquired Burkey Risk Services of metro Orlando.^[19]

LexisNexis Insurance Exchange

BB&T Insurance Services is one of sixteen Insurance Brokers who teamed up with LexisNexis to join the (now defunct) LexisNexis Insurance Exchange. The exchange was designed to enhance the flow of data between Insurance Carriers, Insurance Brokers and Insurance Agents. It was designed to enhance efficiency and reduce errors and redundancy in placing insurance.^[20]

BB&T Corporation

BB&T Corporation (Branch Banking & Trust), the Parent Company of BB&T Insurance Holdings, Inc., is an American bank with assets of $184.7 billion (March 2014), offering full-service commercial and retail banking services along with other financial services like insurance, investments, retail brokerage, mortgage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international banking, leasing and trust. Based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, BB&T operates more than 1,850 financial centers in the United States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Texas, and in Washington, D.C..

It is also notable for certain ideological stances taken by its management, and for its financial support of academic programs concerning "libertarianism" and the "moral foundations of capitalism."^[21]

In June 2009, its chairman, John A. Allison IV delivered a keynote address to a meeting of the center-right Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he said government regulation caused the 2007-2009 financial collapse.^[22] The bank had recently accepted $3.1 billion in bailout money through the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program.^[23]

Earlier, in 2006, BB&T said it would not lend money for commercial projects on property acquired through eminent domain. This was a reaction to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. New London in 2005 that such transfers are permissible.

References

External links

• BB&T Insurance Services Company Website
• InsureWithBBT.com
• www.BBT.com