THE RELUCTANT AGENT

“He doesn’t work in the gray,” she continues, pointing out that “he always does the right thing, even when no one is watching. He is the best boss I’ve ever had.”

That feeling is reflected in the many positive Google reviews for the agency, making it clear that Darren’s emphasis on integrity has been adopted by every one of the other people at the agency.

That’s high praise for someone who had no intention of going into insurance—unlike his brother, who learned insurance at the University of Iowa, where he studied with Emmett Vaughn, so he could join their father at his agency in Illinois. In the 1980s, “Our family was involved in a weird game of musical chairs. The agency’s largest client saw its best opportunity was in Florida and moved its operations there,” explains Darren, who today leads the agency.

“Rather than taking a chance on losing the account, my dad and brother went to Florida and looked for another agency to purchase,” he explains. “The owners of the Williamson & King Insurance Agency were looking for buyers; and in 1988, the Vermosts purchased half of the agency, while the agency’s office manager bought the other half.”

The name was changed to Williamson-Vermost Agency. In 2000, it became Vermost & Associates.

Loved heat

Meanwhile, Darren was coming down to Florida on holidays and, while he was still not interested in entering the insurance business, “I was in love with the warmth. I even told my parents that I wanted to move to Florida.”

He knew he could move there and work with his brother at the agency, but he wanted to find out more about the insurance business. “So, without telling anyone, I took an INS 21 course at American States Insurance to get a feel for what I might be getting into,” Darren explains. “It seemed like a business where I could help my brother, so I agreed to work with him.” That was 1990.

Then the game of musical chairs began in earnest. “I knew that Dad would eventually step down when he decided to retire,” Darren says, “but I was also certain that my brother would move into his chair. That allowed me to still fool myself into believing this was temporary, and that I would find a job in a technical field where my background would be better utilized.”

“We’ve built this agency through good old-fashioned blocking and tackling. When the hurricanes hit in 2024, we were on the phones taking calls and reporting claims while the storms were still on top of us.”

—Darren Vermost

President

But fate intervened. “My brother’s wife, who is a dentist, had an opportunity to attend Orthodontic school in Kentucky and my brother left the agency to be with her. Suddenly, I was the successor to my dad if the agency was going to stay in the family.” The game finally reached its climax in 2006, when Darren purchased the agency from his father and assumed the reins as president.

A strangely good fit

In a surprising way, the insurance business proved to be a good fit for Darren. He says that he needs to keep challenging himself, and what’s better to keep the challenges coming than being in the insurance business in a state that is subject to hurricanes on an all too frequent basis?

“That’s not the only challenge,” Darren explains, “although the hurricane risks are at least partially responsible. Ever since Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992, the market here got really messy. Insurance companies started looking at risks with greater scrutiny and many chose to stop writing business altogether in areas near the coast.”

Today, he finds that so much of the agency’s homeowners business can be written only through Citizens—a facility created by the Florida legislature in August 2002. The difficulties in the property market have been exacerbated by the new regulations in the condo market, requiring inspections that have led to condemnations and/or expensive repairs.

“All this means that we and all our competitors are selling exactly the same thing,” Darren continues. “For us, that’s actually a good thing in some ways, since we have built our customer base by educating clients and prospects as much as possible. We offer weekly tips and videos on social media.

“We’ve built this agency through good old-fashioned blocking and tackling,” he explains. “When the hurricanes hit in 2024, we were on the phones taking calls and reporting claims while the storms were still on top of us. We routed the calls to the phones of our people who still had service.”

Darren adds, “We also recognize that a lot of people in the area are on fixed incomes and can’t keep up with the rising prices, so we actively listen to determine the most creative way to provide them the best insurance protection at a price they can afford.”

The agency takes the same approach to the other lines of business, but with the advantage of actually being able to use their independence and find the insurance company that is providing the best coverage for each of their personal and commercial lines customers.

A great industry

Despite his early misgivings, Darren says, “This has surprised me by being one of the best industries to work in. You have unlimited opportunity if you’re willing to work your butt off. But you had better be a good businessperson with your vision set on the future and ready for change.

“You have to take the long-range view,” he says, adding that he knows that “a swing will come and the homeowners market will return once the companies figure out how to properly reflect the underlying risks.

“There are some new companies starting up now, but it’s still too early to tell if they’ll be around in the future,” Darren says. “But I know we will.”

In addition to running the agency and producing both commercial and personal lines business, Darren developed an expertise in the probate bond field, and business there grew to such an extent that the agency spun it off in 2023 to a subsidiary called Probate Bond Pros. “We did that so we could focus on developing the digital underpinnings for exceptional service in this specialized market,” he notes.

“We have a heavy responsibility. People’s livelihoods depend on our ability to properly protect them against risk, and we work hard to do the best possible job every day.”

—Mary Rivera

Office Manager

“We actually guarantee that, when a client uses our digital process, the bond will be issued in less than two hours.” In fact, Darren is known as “The Bond Guy” by many in the area. “Most of our bonds are issued in under 20 minutes,” he adds proudly.

The Vermost Insurance Agency has revenues totaling $2.1 million, with commercial/personal split 60/40 if you include the subsidiary’s bond business, or 40/60 without that. There were 14 people in the agency at the end of 2024, but Mary Rivera points out that there could be more by the time the article appears in print. “I’m responsible for interviewing and HR and currently am meeting with three candidates,” she explains, “some or all of whom might join the agency.”

High morale

“I find that selling the agency to prospective employees is easy,” Mary adds, “because Darren’s reputation for integrity and fair dealing is known throughout the region. I can honestly tell new candidates that he never throws anyone under the bus. He always has your back no matter what, even if we have to fire a customer.

Monthly, team members have a chance to spin the agency’s Team Reward Tool, the “Wheel of Darren.” For example, the team member whose customer wins the monthly referral award has an opportunity to spin the wheel to receive a prize like cash, a gift card or an opportunity to leave the office early for the day.

“I find that selling the agency to prospective employees is easy, because

Darren’s reputation for integrity and fair dealing is known throughout the region.”

—Mary Rivera

“Darren understands that some customers just aren’t for us, and if they make life difficult for any of our team members, he will back us if we say that customer needs to move on,” she explains. “He understands and never lets money stand in the way.

“Of course,” Mary says, “we always treat every customer politely, even when they have to go. There are never any harsh words from our side. Employee morale is extremely important and we don’t want it undermined.”

Mary points out that the firing of a customer is an extremely rare occurrence, since the agency depends on referrals for most of its business. “We have a referral program that includes monthly prizes and a grand prize at the end of the year,” she explains.

“Whenever a new client joins, we ask how they heard about us. If a customer referred them to us, we’ll contact them and let them know they’ll be entered in the monthly drawing. In 2024, we gave a $50 gift card to the monthly winners and a big screen TV to the annual winner.

“We also tie the referral program to our charitable giving,” Mary adds. “We make a gift to charity in the name of the people who provided referrals. We also give people paid time off to do charity work.”

Summing up the agency’s approach, Mary says, “We’re not perfect, but we always focus on the fact that we are in a service industry and pride ourselves on providing excellent service. We have a heavy responsibility. People’s livelihoods depend on our ability to properly protect them against risk, and we work hard to do the best possible job every day.

“But most important,” she concludes, “we’re there when the you- know-what hits the fan. During the recent storms, we worked 24 hours a day for two straight weeks with claims coming in. We were exhausted at the end of that; but that’s our job, and we pride ourselves on doing it well.”

Rough Notes is proud to recognize Vermost Insurance Agency as our Agency of the Month for their ability to work “fast and smart” to make certain that their customers receive the best.

The author

Dennis Pillsbury is a Virginia-based freelance insurance writer.