Home Owner Insurance Alabama

Birmingham's Cobbs, Allen & Hall reflects on 125 years as insurance provider

DETAILS

Company: COBBS, ALLEN & HALL

Year founded: Dec. 1, 1887 as John G. Smith Co.

Founders: Capt. John G. Smith, E.V. Gregory and T.L. Molton. Acquired its current name in 1945 reflecting involvement of John H. Cobbs (joined in 1928), Wilbur K. Allen (joined in 1940) and John C. Hall (joined in 1945 and added mortgage loan company).

Contact: 115 Office Park Drive, Suite 200, Birmingham, AL 35223

Phone: 205-414-8100

Website: cahins.com

Birmingham-based insurance firm Cobbs, Allen & Hall at 125 years

Since being founded in 1887, Birmingham-based Cobbs, Allen & Hall has undergone a dramatic transformation just like its home city.

The provider of insurance and casualty services, Alabama's largest privately held insurance risk management firm, has survived two world wars, the Great Depression, Birmingham's volatile civil rights movement and the latest downturn known as the Great Recession.

In the 1970s, Cobbs, Allen & Hall sold its mortgage business to the predecessor of SouthTrust Bank, now known as Wells Fargo, to focus on its commercial insurance and private insurance business.

In 1992, Birmingham native Grantland Rice III led a group of investors and acquired Cobbs, Allen & Hall, recruiting current chairman and chief executive Bruce Denson to help run the company. Earlier this month, the firm hired Felix Drennen, the longtime CEO of Brice Building Co., to serve in a newly created position as chief development officer.

Rice and Denson said the addition of Drennen, who works with Cobbs, Allen & Hall to ensure they are meeting their clients' needs, will help position the company for even greater growth in coming years.

"He is a great fit for our company," said Rice, who is planning a series of activities next year celebrating the firm's 125th anniversary.

History

Cobbs, Allen & Hall was founded in 1887 under the name John G. Smith Co. by Capt. John G. Smith, E.V. Gregory and T.L. Molton as a provider of various insurance services for clients across Alabama. In 1945, the firm changed to its current name, reflecting the involvement of three new owners: Birmingham businessmen John H. Cobbs, Wilbur K. Allen and John C. Hall.

2 Costly but Common Homeowners Insurance Mistakes

Most people do two big things wrong when they purchase their home insurance. The first is they get coverage based on the market value of their home. The second is that they don’t update the amount of coverage after they purchase their home.

If the correct amount of coverage for your home is the likely selling price of your home, it is just a coincidence. Your homeowners insurance is a promise to repair or rebuild your home according to the limitations in the policy. It is not a promise to buy you a new house. This is true whether you purchase an Alabama house insurance policy or a policy to cover your California residence.

The amount it is likely to cost to rebuild or repair your home is based on how much materials and labor cost in your area. This amount may be much more or much less than the market value of your home.

The other big mistake that people make is that they forget to update their home owner’s insurance policy. Sometimes homeowners will stay in a house for twenty years and never update their policy’s limits.

This can result in a situation where after a catastrophe hits, the homeowner is left holding the bag for thousands of dollars because his insurance is inadequate.

Be sure to update your policies as time goes on. Time does not stand still. Rates for just about everything go up as the years pass.

This advice isn’t limited to house insurance . Your auto insurance, life insurance and disability insurance should also be looked at every year or two to make sure that they provide adequate protection.

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