Merged Insurance Group Has New Home

When the economy slowed to a crawl, Justin Cook saw a way to survive.

He agreed to merge his family’s longtime Montville insurance agency – the Curtin Insurance Agency – with the larger Bouvier Insurance Agency.

In some ways, it was a tough decision for Cook, who is the third generation of Cooks to be in the insurance industry.

In other ways, it was a no-brainer.

“I’m still independent,” Cook says. But now, Bouvier – which has its main branch in West Hartford – controls the operations and has built a powerhouse insurance agency in southeastern Connecticut.

That is not at all onerous, Cook says. In fact, he feels the relationship is favorable to his customers.  Bouvier, a larger firm, has access to more insurance possibilities. 

THE CURTIN INSURANCE AGENCY has been around since 1904, Cook says. He bought it from his dad in 2004; the move to join Bouvier came in 2010. The move to the new address came in January.

Cook had the agency at 620 Norwich-New London Turnpike, across the street from Tri-Town Foods.

Curtin has been joined under the Bouvier umbrella by Mathieu Insurance, which moved from Norwich, and by agents Kathy Kane, Dave and Brian Kelly, Mark Spinnato, and Sue Moyer. The new branch, Cook says, is the company’s second-largest. With all the new people, it was too big to stay in its old home.

Now, it’s at 80 Norwich-New London Turnpike, in one of Bill Allen’s buildings.

 As part of Bouvier, Cook says, he can provide more options for home and auto insurance, business insurance, property, liability, workers’ compensation, umbrella policies, and more.

While he does some advertising, he increases his business primarily by word of mouth.

COOK HAS LIVED in Montville since he was 9. A graduate of St. Bernard’s, he married Alison, his high school sweetheart. They have three children – Noah, 13; Greta, 11; and Liam, 8.

Outside of work, he is a member of the Montville Rotary, and a vice president of the Montville Youth Soccer Club.

The thing that he likes best about insurance, he says, is “meeting the people.”

And, he says, “I like to educate people about how to protect their assets.”

COOK HAS A WEBSITE where customers can get home and auto quotes emailed to them. It’s www.jcquote.com. Look for his blog posts on insurance issues to start soon, here on the Montville Patch!