About Us.

Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is a federation that includes the national association and 51 independent state associations, each led by an executive, staff and a volunteer agent leadership team. Many states also have local chapters. When an agency joins a state association, it also becomes a member of Big “I” national and the Trusted Choice® brand. Together, we support nearly 25,000 independent agency locations nationwide. The Big “I” also has an international agent and broker members. 

Independent agents represent multiple insurance carriers and offer choice, customization, and advocacy to their customers. Big “I” members offer consumers all types of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans, and retirement products.

The Big “I” is governed by an executive committee and a national board. The executive committee comprises seven elected members and has one agent chair. The national board has one volunteer agent director from each state association. Top priorities of the Big “I” include effective advocacy for its members in all branches of government and sectors of insurance, as well as effective communications on behalf of independent agents and brokers and their customers. 

In this high-tech age of instant gratification, history sometimes takes a back seat. But history is important because we learn from it. 2021 marked the 125th anniversary of the Big “I,” which formed in 1896 as the National Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents when Grover Cleveland was president of the U.S.

The first independent agent, John Maynard Davis, started his business in South Carolina in 1795. The first local agent board was established in 1838 in Cincinnati, and the second in 1846 in Cleveland. The oldest state associations, New York and New Jersey, formed in the following decades. According to “Soaring With Eagles,” a history of the Big “I,” agent boards were strongholds in the nation’s cities but had little coordination among them. Enter the formation of the national association—the glue that pulled the local boards and fledgling state associations together, providing a uniform voice and direction.

We’ve had seminal moments in our history, perhaps most notably our win in the famed Yonkers case of 1904, which solidified agents’ ownership of expirations and secured their future. “Any member who ever wonders what (the Big ‘I’) has done for the American agency system should be reminded of the Yonkers victory,” according to “Soaring With Eagles.”  Without the Big “I,” companies would own brokers’ custom lists, which are now an agency’s foundation.

Our accomplishments are immeasurable. We ended a decades-long feud with the banking industry in a historic compromise that protected agencies from the force of credit tie-ins. We formed an industry bank—InsurBanc—built a co-brand—Trusted Choice®—and offered access to markets. Who would have thought the Big “I” would be a PGA Tour sponsor or have Raymond Burr as our spokesman?

As the independent agency system has evolved, some things haven’t changed: the adaptability, resiliency, strength, community spirit and optimism of its entrepreneurs. Despite the many challenges we have faced over 125 years, these qualities endure to this day.