Best Insurance Agency
Working for Frederick and Beyond
By Arlene Karidis
Insurance First Inc. likes to stick around; and their staying power is how they’ve left a lasting impression and solid footprint in the highly competitive insurance niche for half a century. So when the independent agent outgrew its Damascus office of 50 years, it found a new location with plenty of growing room to continue laying deep roots. With their move in 2005 they expanded their space from 1,900 to more than 5,400 square feet, located in Urbana.
“We wanted to be in Frederick and chose Urbana, particularly, because it is like a growing child, and we keep growing with it,” said Mitch Babashan of the well-established company that today offers auto, home, business and life insurance to more than 8,500 customers and represents 10 insurance carriers.
The move made all the more sense since many of IFI’s employees lived in Frederick, as did Babashan, known around town for coaching local little league and high school football and baseball.
Insurance First’s roughly 10-mile move west enabled the team to stay in close touch with their established customers, and they’ve since picked up plenty of new ones throughout Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
They’ve expanded their reach to North Carolina to accommodate loyal customers who’ve since retired there.
Beyond working to cut insurance premiums and risk for a growing Frederick clientele, the company serves the community on a more personal level. They sponsor the Frederick County Humane Society, and you will see IFI’s logo hoisted high at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium; the company is a long-standing sponsor of the Frederick Keys.
Among its growing accolades, the company has ranked as one of Erie Insurance’s top Maryland agents for 25 years. It’s a two-time winners of the Erie Maryland Agent of the Year award. And Insurance First personal lines manager and agent Linda Smith was just voted Erie’s Maryland Customer Service Agent of the Year.
Working for a gamut of clients—from corporate players to individual homeowners—has added dimension to the team’s job. In a day, agents may educate a million-dollar company on how to cut its risk for worker injuries, thus avoiding sky-high premiums—then tell a newly licensed teen how his driving habits will impact not only his safety but mom and dad’s premium. “Parents appreciate this because it’s coming from someone other than them,” Babashan said.
He and the team he leads not only push to get clients the best rates, but Babashan has also served as a liaison between Erie and the agents representing the company in multiple states. In this capacity, he ran a task force charged with keeping Erie and the agents at the top of their game.
“It was my responsibility to meet with the agents and address how we could continue to improve our clients’ complete insurance experience. I took agents’ feedback to the home office and sat with upper management to continuously improve pricing, coverages and claims service to be the best in the industry,” he said.
But his company’s top goal is focusing on the people to whom it sells insurance.
“We want to make sure there are products available for whatever our clients need, so we can provide great coverage at the lowest possible price.”
Find more information at insurancefirst.com.
