Holub insurance takes pride in clientele, awards

     There have been many signs of success in recent years for Holub Insurance Agency (HIA), the small, family-owned company that has federal crop insurance as one of its biggest sources of clientele.

     One was the 2019 merger in which Holub bought out the NXT Insurance Agency, resulting in an additional location and two new employees.

     Another was the recent award from IMT Insurance, which named HIA as a Gem Too Agency for the fourth time in the past six years.

     Still another was HIA’s handling of insurance claims after the derecho that hit much of Eastern Iowa, particularly the Cedar Rapids area, in August 2020.

     And, there is an upcoming farmer meeting, run by HIA, in which the agency will offer topics and tips on federal crop insurance to farmers in the area.

     Ben Holub, owner-operator of Holub Insurance Agency, said each of these reflects well on the company, which now has four employees.

     In particular, he said he is proud of the IMT’s Gem Too Award.

     “IMT is one of the companies that I write for as an independent agent,” Holub said. “They have standards for their agencies, and this is a recognition of meeting those standards of writing good business with the good clientele that I’ve had through the years.”

     Holub is quick to credit the agency’s customers, primarily when it came to its response to the 2020 derecho.

     “I think we had 150 claims in three days, which was unreal,” Holub said. “I’d say half of them were crop-related. The rest were homes and cars.

     “I think it’s a testament to the clients that I write for. They are just good, honest people, and I try to do the best I can for them. We write a good book of business because we have good clientele.”

     HIA has two locations; the country office near Central City that was built onto the Holub home in 2014; and offices in the NXT building in Central City that were acquired in the 2019 merger.

     “There are three offices that I rent there,” he said. “I wanted to keep doing that, because having that presence there in the bank building gives us that storefront, main street-type office, where out in the country I don’t have that. It’s been a good fit.”

     Holub and his son Nathan work primarily out of the country office. Kevin Johnson and Karen Fish work out of the NXT building, and Ben Holub floats there at times too.

     He also tries to stay available to customers by cellphone.

     “You can get hold of me at any time, and I always try to answer no matter what time of the day or night or weekend,” he said.

     Holub will also make himself available during the farmer meetings that are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the American Legion Hall in Central City. There are two scheduled time slots: 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

     Topics will include a PowerPoint presentation on crop insurance, comparisons between Area Revenue Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), and information about the PACE (Post Application Coverage Endorsement). Allison Ryan of River Valley Cooperative will be on hand to speak at both meetings.

     With PACE, Holub said, “there’s going to be a premium involved if they have that endorsement to their federal crop policy. It might be an incentive for guys to go out and do a 50-50 split application of fertilizer because they know, in the event they can’t get that second application on in the summer, they’ll be covered.”

     While crop insurance continues to be a big part of HIA’s book of business, the most volatile changes, Holub said, are in property insurance.

     “The cost of construction has gone through the roof, due to the derecho and shortages of supplies,” he said. “We’ve had homeowners calling, wanting to know if they’ve got enough insurance on their home. That’s been a constant battle, and rightly so.

     “That’s what an agent is here for. If they have questions, they should call.”

     HIA may soon have an additional agent to handle customer calls. Ben’s daughter Emily, a senior at the University of Iowa, is studying at the university’s Vaughan Institute to enter the insurance field.

     “She interned at my agency last summer and probably will again this summer. I think that’s going to be a good fit for her,” Holub said.

     “Hopefully we’ve got a succession in place for her and Nathan to carry on someday.”

     In the meantime, Holub said he likes the size of the agency just the way it is.

     “I don’t want to grow so fast that we can’t give good service,” he said.