Mass. Agencies The HR Hatch Insurance Agency and Nancy Z. Bender Insurance Announce Merger

The newly merged entity will be known as Bender Hatch Insurance

Two well-respected Downtown Boston independent insurance agencies have decided to join forces. On April 15, 2017, H.R. Hatch Insurance Agency and the Nancy Z. Bender Insurance Agency announced that they will be officially merging into one agency.

The newly created agency will be known as Bender Hatch. Both of the former agency principals, Josiah Hatch and Nancy Bender, will continue on at Bender Hatch in the same capacity as before. All of the former employees of both H.R. Hatch and Nancy Z. Bender Insurance also will continue on at the new agency which will continue to operate out of the same three re-branded locations the agency already has (Boston, Charlestown, and Roslindale) along with the same phone numbers. In the coming months, the agency expects to debut its new logo and website.

More about the history of these newly merged agencies…

The Nancy Z. Bender Insurance Agency was founded by Nancy Bender in 1978. A well-known and well-respected independent agent in the Massachusetts insurance industry for almost 40 years, she is a long-time Board Member of the Insurance Library Association of Boston and was named one of Traveler’s Agents of the Year in 2012.

The H.R. Hatch Insurance Agency has been a family-owned independent agency for over 100 years. The agency founded by President Josiah Hatch’s grandfather in the early 1900’s, has recently welcomed the fourth generation of the Hatch family with the recent addition of Mr. Hatch’s sons to the business. Over the years, the agency has continued to grow buying the King & Company Insurance Agency in Charlestown in the late 1990’s, as well as managing the Thomas Black Insurance Agency in Roslindale.

As a result of the merger, Bender Hatch, whose breakdown is approximately 80% personal lines and 20% commercial lines, expects to reach $30,000,000 in combined volume this year.

Merging the two agency was a natural fit…

In commenting on the reasons behind the merger, both Mr. Hatch and Ms. Bender, who have shared the same office space at 31 Milk Street for the past 25 years, said that it simply made more sense to combine forces going forward.

“Twenty-five years ago, Josiah Hatch of H.R. Hatch Insurance and I began sharing office space,” explained Ms. Bender in a letter to her insureds. “Over the years we realized we had similar values and goals about how we treat our employees and our clients. Josiah and I have decided to combine our agencies based on the common principles we have always shared.”

Noting similar sentiments, Mr. Hatch added, “Nancy and I have had the same values and business ethics from the first day we met. We have worked side by side for years, sharing office space and sincere mutual respect. Combining our companies is the next step in our long relationship of over twenty years.”

Mr. Hatch noted that he and Ms. Bender have had an informal agreement to take care of each other’s agencies in the case of an accident or death for a number of years. As a result, the decision to merge agencies was just a way to formalize that agreement in order to let both Mr. Hatch and Ms. Bender continue on working as long as they want.

“Nancy’s more of a rain-maker and we’re more of operations.” Mr. Hatch explained to Agency Checklists. “The intention is for us to handle the day-to-day operations of the agency so Nancy can continue to work with her clients, which is her favorite thing to do.”

Nancy seconded those thoughts as well in her letter stating, “The merger will free up my time to focus on the part of the job I love the most – working with you, my clients, and solving insurance problems. I plan on dedicating myself to the success of Bender Hatch Insurance for many years to come.”

In addition to retaining both Mr. Hatch and Ms. Bender, the newly formed agency also will include three of Mr. Hatch’s sons who in recent years have joined the agency. As such, with the ability of a fourth generation to learn the ropes under both Mr. Hatch and Ms. Bender, the future of Bender Hatch also has been been ensured and perpetuated.