Paige & Byrnes Insurance Thrives for Generations

WARREN, Ohio – The insurance industry has seen a great deal of consolidation in recent years. But John Taylor has heard this story before.

“For almost 50 years the experts have been predicting the demise of the independent insurance agency in America and the independent insurance agencies in America are stronger than ever,” he says.

Taylor, one of the owners of Paige & Byrnes Insurance in Warren, says that’s because people often underestimate the advantages independent agencies offer. “There was a war, and we won and that’s because nobody does it better or as inexpensively as independent agencies,” he says. “We’re good at what we do and we work hard for our clients.”

David Paige founded the agency in 1921, and it has remained a locally owned, family-run business. Today it is owned by John Taylor and his children, Shelley and Dave.

Paige & Byrnes Insurance came into existence during the Great Depression when David Paige and James Byrnes joined forces to establish what became one of the most enduring insurance agencies in the region.

The business has seen significant changes over the decades, both within the family and the insurance industry.

The Taylor family’s involvement with Paige & Byrnes began after World War II when Bob VanFossan, Shelley and Dave’s grandfather, joined the firm. He isn’t to be confused with Bob VanFossan, the siblings’ uncle, who also worked at the agency.

The elder Bob became a partner in the late 1950s alongside Charlie Crouse, while the younger Bob joined after serving in the Vietnam War.

“My dad, John, came into the business in 1977,” says Shelley Taylor, president of Paige & Byrnes.

John’s path to insurance wasn’t direct. Originally from Selma, Ala., he worked as a golf pro at Trumbull Country Club where he met Shelley and Dave’s mother during a lesson. He returned home to work for the Alabama Farm Bureau Insurance Co. for a few years. Then John moved back to Ohio to join his brother-in-law and work at Paige & Byrnes.

“In those days, you were going to people’s houses,” Shelley recalls, noting how much the industry has changed since her father and uncle began.

Along with his brother and other partners, John helped the agency grow through acquisitions.

“There were a couple of agencies that Paige & Byrnes wanted to acquire but they didn’t have enough help,” John says. “We bought one in January 1978 and another in January 1979.”

Shelley herself joined the family business in 1997 after earning a degree in forestry. She had planned to return to school for a master’s degree when a job opened at the agency. “And here I am,” she said, having stayed ever since.

Dave Taylor, the youngest of John’s children, joined the agency in 2012 after initially pursuing a career in glassblowing, owning a business that made light fixtures and art pieces.

However, joint issues prompted him to reconsider this physically demanding career and a position at Paige & Byrnes opened just in time.

Paige & Byrnes offers commercial, home and auto insurance, group health and life policies, Medicare supplements and Medicare Advantage policies. With 17 employees, each agent specializes in his respective area.

Roughly 40% of the business comes from commercial insurance, another 40% from personal lines and 20% from life and health policies, including Medicare.

Industry Changes

The insurance industry has undergone significant changes in recent decades, particularly in claims hand-ling, automation and the complexity of policies.

John Taylor notes the stark contrast in claims processing: “Somebody would take a report of the loss. You’d type up a form to file the claim. Then [you’d] mail it to the company. In all of that, it would take 10 days before you contacted the insurer. Today it’s almost instantaneous.”

While technology has made some aspects of the industry easier, the Taylors say the industry is always changing and becoming more complicated.

“It’s a lot more complex than people think,” Shelley says. “Auto insurance is simple. But the homeowner side is a lot more complex.”

Changes in home-owner policies have prompted the agency to focus on educating clients.

For instance, Shelley emphasizes that insurance companies no longer cover older roofs in the same way. “If your roof is getting old, you need to think about getting it replaced, not getting a claim. Because the industry is not doing that anymore,” she says.

Insurance companies are introducing wind and hail deductibles, which could mean higher out-of-pocket costs for homeowners. “If your deductible is $1,000, you may have a wind/hail deductible that’s $2,500,” Shelley says, noting the rising costs of roofing.

Dave adds that policyholders often misunderstand their insurance contracts. “The insurance contract is not a maintenance contract,” he says. “Your responsibility as the property owner is to maintain your property. Just because you have a loss, you should ask yourself, ‘Should I file a claim?’ What is the intent of insurance? It’s for catastrophic losses.”

One of the biggest challenges facing the industry today is rising prices, driven largely by the increased costs of building materials. “If homeowner prices go up 40%, that’s going to carry over to the insurance,” Shelley explains. “If the claims don’t change, everything is going to cost 40% more.”

According to a recent analysis by insurance marketplace Policygenius, the average home insurance premium climbed 21% between May 2022 and May 2023.

Technology has also reshaped the insurance landscape, providing both opportunities and challenges for agencies like Paige & Byrnes. Insurance companies now use tools such as Google Maps to analyze homes and roofs, sometimes leading to denied claims.

“We’ve had claims denied because they’ll look at the last seven or eight years of images of your roof and see that the hole in your roof goes back years,” Shelley says. “Claim denied.”

At the same time, new technology is helping to prevent claims altogether. Shelley has installed a water flow device in her home that monitors water use and shuts off the water supply if something unusual is detected. “It will stop a claim before it happens and my insurance carrier gives a discount for that,” she says.

Such preventive measures are becoming more common, with some carriers requiring them in certain cases.

Despite these technological advances, Shelley believes the human touch remains crucial.

“Our industry has the technology available. But all of it has become overwhelming,” she says. “The fact that we have somebody who answers the phone, and we have a place for people to meet, I think is something that is back in fashion.”

As the insurance industry continues to evolve, the Taylors say they are committed to staying ahead of the curve. The family plans to further expand the business and ensure they have the technology their customers expect while maintaining the personal relationships that have been their hallmark for generations.

“This is a wonderful business. We help people,” Shelley says. “We’re the people you call when you want your kids’ baseball team sponsored. We do volunteer work. David delivers for mobile meals every other Friday.”

Getting to work with family and having the opportunity to pass the business on to his children, John says, has been very rewarding. “I love it. That’s why I’m still here,” he says.

“If it wasn’t for [Shelley and Dave] Paige & Byrnes wouldn’t be here. Perpetuation of an agency is difficult and, fortunately for me, I’ve got two great kids that allow me to come to work every day and be with them. They’ve taken the agency farther than the older crew would ever have taken it.”

Shelley and Dave are also making efforts to introduce the next generation to the business. This summer, Shelley’s stepchildren worked at the agency. “They were so great,” Shelley says. “My stepson will be coming back.”

“It’s nice to at least give the next generation a flavor of what it’s like to be in the office,” Dave adds.

Ultimately, Paige & Byrnes remains a locally owned business rooted in the community. “This is where the heart of your community is,” Shelley says. “It’s businesses like Paige & Byrnes.”

Pictured at top: Shelley and David Taylor own the insurance agency with their father, John Taylor. The agency was founded in 1921.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.