Van Beurden Story: Legacy of Excellence

Though we’re one of the largest insurance agencies in the nation, we didn’t get here just by selling insurance. We did it by providing solutions – real solutions for real-world problems. Understanding each client’s unique needs and designing solutions to address those needs is key to our high rate of success in customer satisfaction.

Since 1934, Van Beurden Insurance Services, Inc. has upheld a commitment to the overall well-being and the ultimate success of our clients: the people, businesses and organizations that rely upon our help and expertise. This commitment, unchanged since Van Beurden’s inception, drives us to provide uncompromisingly superior programs and service.

This commitment has served our clients well, and in combination with a strong leadership and clear vision for the future, has helped drive our success as a company. Proof of this is found in our many long-term client relationships, as well as an extraordinary number of client referrals.

Not only does Van Beurden enjoy exceptional client retention, but a high rate of employee retention as well. Our experience is that knowledgeable, seasoned employees will better serve our clients, ultimately benefiting us all.

In the world of insurance services we stand alone, offering better answers and cost-effective solutions to the unique insurance issues facing businesses, homeowners, families and individuals. Our ultimate goal is to provide optimum service and unparalleled value to every Van Beurden client, and we welcome the opportunity to count you among them.

Company History

Van Beurden’s history, a classic American tale of success, began with a Dutch immigrant’s dream of a better life for his family.

The Van Beurden family emigrated to Central California in 1957. With a large household including nine children, the family had plenty of mouths to feed. Though the Van Beurdens spoke little English, they had a strong work ethic and a will to carve out a good life in their newly-adopted country.

In 1966, Bill Van Beurden took a job with Wigh and Associates, a Kingsburg insurance agency founded in 1934 by Herbert H. Wigh. Adopting Herbert as his mentor, Bill learned all he could about the insurance business and quickly moved up in the small-town agency. He had worked there for nine years when his mentor passed away in 1975, giving Bill the opportunity to purchase the business that would eventually grow to become one of the nation’s top insurance agencies.

Surveying the market, Bill saw that many local groups, from farms to churches to trucking companies, were being under-served. He developed a simple and effective business strategy that concentrated on meeting needs and surpassing expectations that were common to the people and businesses of the area. Soon, under the new name of Van Beurden Insurance Services, Inc., the company’s focus shifted from local to regional and Bill began to realize his visions of growth and success.

Family has long been an important part of the business – Bill’s brother Clé Van Beurden opened the company’s Los Osos office in the early 1980’s, with his sister Margaret coming onboard soon after. A decade later, a second generation was ready to join the business as Erik and Chris Van Beurden, Bill’s sons, graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. After learning the business from the bottom up, the sons have taken administrative positions within the company’s headquarters, with Erik as the company’s C.E.O. and Chris as C.O.O. Other family members include Bill’s sister Mary Beck and her daughter Aniek Ramsay, who operate the Woodland office, Clé’s daughter Carrie Van Beurden, who manages the Templeton location, and Bill’s niece Ineke McGraw, a Work Comp Advisor in the Los Osos office. Together the family continues to uphold the strong business philosophies and ethics on which they were raised.

The Van Beurdens continue to take pride in the fact that the company remains family owned and operated. From its humble beginnings as a small farming-community agency to its current status as a major force in the insurance industry, the agency’s essential mission remains unchanged: to offer its clients unmatched value by providing superior insurance solutions and a higher level of service.

The Van Beurden family arrives in Central California. From left, Mary, Paul, Stan, Leon, Marge, Iris, Joost, Mary, Bill, Clé and Cornelius.

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