Eustis Insurance: Regaining Business Continuity After Hurricane Katrina

Eustis Insurance

In 1946, when Laurance Eustis founded the insurance company that still bears his name today, he already knew how much dedication and passion it took to start a business from scratch. He used that knowledge to build his agency around a promise to protect his client’s work and to be available when they called, no matter the circumstances. In the following decades, Eustis Insurance has seen and assisted clients through ever-changing hardships, but their commitment to being there has remained the same. As a provider of property and casualty insurance and health and benefits solutions, maintaining business continuity is at the center of keeping their promise. 

Problem

Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst storms ever to hit the southeastern United States. Heavy rainfall and winds that reached 175 miles per hour impacted around 90,000 squares miles of land. New Orleans was hit especially hard when levees broke, and stormwater flooded the city's vast majority. More than one million people were displaced, and thousands of businesses were damaged and unable to operate, including our client Eustis Insurance. In this dire moment, Eustis knew they had to be there for their clients to handle claims and answer questions. 

Solution

Eustis Insurance called Agility’s hotline to declare an emergency and request a full mobile-unit recovery. With New Orleans still experiencing heavy flooding, we set out to open a temporary headquarters in Baton Rouge for their agents to work from. We coordinated with Eustis on a location and arranged for generators and communications equipment to be shipped to the temporary headquarters. 

Results

Within 48 hours of their emergency declaration, we deployed our mobile recovery units to Baton Rouge. The ready-to-work offices provided Eustis Insurance agents with everything from computers, office furniture, meeting spaces, and Internet connectivity. Agility’s quick response to the crisis enabled agents to process claims and assist clients with questions they faced after a devastating storm.

“Without Agility’s help, there was no way we could have gotten through this. The effort Agility demonstrated in getting our office up-and-running was absolutely incredible. And the benefits of being prepared have been tremendous. The year after Katrina, we are probably going to have the best year financially. A lot of that has to do with our relationship with Agility, our ability to recover and, most importantly, our ability to service clients.”

Ward Stallings, Chief Administrative Officer