Business is personal at PSI

“I once told someone we insure everything from babies to bulldozers,” quipped Loren Korte, owner/agent of Personal Service Insurance, Inc.
The Iola-based company also has offices in Moran, Humboldt, Yates Center, Walnut and Mound City. All handle farm, residential, commercial, automotive, business and personal property insurance needs.
“I contract with at least 20 different insurance companies” to provide products that can cover anything, Korte said. “We even have access to Lloyd’s of London,” he noted.
Because of that selection, Korte said, customers can get a better deal on rates than by going to a single agency.
“We can shop their insurance (requirements) rather than them having to go all over town,” Korte said.
PSI works with Travelers, State Auto, Progressive and Hartford insurance companies, to name a few. Even people with damaged driving records can get a policy through PSI, Korte noted.
The business has insured wedding presents, art, motorcycles, antiques and engagement rings as well as farms, homes and automobiles, Korte said.
With the wide range of companies PSI works with, “it gives us the flexibility to insure special events” such as Farm-City Days as well, Korte noted. PSI also insures municipalities and public entities, Korte said.
PSI insures clients in Allen, Neosho, Woodson, Crawford, Linn, Bourbon and Anderson counties.
“We do insurance in Missouri and Oklahoma as well,” providing coverage for Iolans who move away or for cross-state commercial clients, Korte added.
To get the best rate, Korte suggests clients bring in a copy of their current policy.
After conferring with a client, Korte said, “We do a comparison” by reviewing available offers, then the agents “prepare a recommendation of what we think they need.”
“We try to analyze (a customer’s) needs and come up with a plan that best fits,” Korte noted.
While each PSI agent can offer a full range of products, they also specialize in one area or line of product, Korte said.
“For example, at the Iola office, Chrissy Powell is homeowner’s, Cathy Greenwood is auto insurance and Chris Elmenhorst is a farm and crop agent,” he noted.
That specialization allows a client to receive expert advice when purchasing a particular type of product, Korte explained.
“By that person learning everything they can in that field, they become a better agent,” he said.
In addition, “Every customer has their own agent for each service,” Korte explained. “That way, you have an agent you can relate to.”
Agents, beside those in Iola, include Jim Mueller, commercial, and Gari Korte, farm and records processing, in Moran; Janet Korte, crop insurance, Gretchen Murrow, crop insurance, and Laci Sicka, all lines, Humboldt; Terry Smithers, all lines, Mound City; Don Smith, all lines, Walnut; and Marvin Chrisman, all lines, Yates Center.
In the Iola office, Korte has mementos of bygone days. He has an even larger collection in Moran, where he began 30 years ago, he said.
“This business has had only two owners since 1926,” Korte said.
“We’re the longest continuously operating insurance business in Southeast Kansas.”
PSI began as Houk Insurance in Moran, Korte noted.
“I actually bought the business from the son of the original Houk who started it,” he said.
In 1989, Korte moved the company to Iola and changed the name to Personal Service Insurance to reflect his business philosophy.
“I try to be really accessible,” Korte said. “I publish my cell phone number and people call me day or night.”
And, he said, “I don’t have any plans to retire. I enjoy it.”