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Commercial · Family-owned · Waterbury

Generations of clients.
One phone call.
We get it.

Heritage is a family-owned agency writing for family-owned businesses. We handle the building owned by the family LLC, the relative on payroll without the title, and the key-person life policy nobody wants to talk about. One agent for the shop, the trucks, and the house.

One agent
Whole household, whole shop
25+ years
Average client has been with us
Succession-aware
Coverage that survives a generation change
Schedule a family review Or call (203) 755-1228

Three situations family businesses run into.

These are the situations a family operation lives in but never sees on an insurance application.

"Dad still comes in three days a week. Is he covered?"

If he's on the payroll he's a W-2 and WC handles it; if he's "helping out," he's an unlisted exposure. Ask us to look at the actual relationship, including building owners who are family but not employees.

"My brother and I own it together. What happens if one of us gets hit by a bus?"

Buy-sell funding via key-person life insurance: the surviving partner uses the proceeds to buy the deceased's share from the estate. Without it, your partner's share may pass to their estate or heirs, and you could end up sharing the business's profits with them.

"The building is owned by Mom's LLC. The shop is in my name. Who insures what?"

Two policies, structured carefully: landlord/owner coverage on the LLC, business-property and tenant improvements on the operating company. Ask us to review the structure.

Seven coverages that help
family businesses outlast a generation.

These are the family-specific lines. We'll explain what each one does.

Business Owner's Policy (BOP)
GL plus property in one bundle. The foundation of any small business policy. Sized to actual square footage, equipment, and revenue, not a default.
Workers' Compensation
Required in Connecticut once you have one or more employees (C.G.S. § 31-284). We handle the family-specific quirk: the founder who's on payroll, the spouse who runs the books, the kid working summers. Each gets the right WC treatment.
Key Person Life Insurance
Pays the business if a critical owner dies. Funds operations while a successor takes over, or funds a buyout of the estate's share. Often the single most important coverage in a closely-held family business.
Buy-Sell Funding
Life insurance structured to fund a buy-sell agreement between owners. Without this, succession is a fight; with it, it's a paperwork exercise. Your attorney drafts the agreement; we handle the insurance side.
Commercial Auto + Family Auto Bundle
Family-owned operations often have business and personal vehicles in the same household. We bundle with one carrier where it makes sense: fewer renewal dates, better discounts.
Building & Tenant Coverage Split
When the family LLC owns the building and rents to the operating company, each side needs its own coverage. We'll look at how yours is set up.
Umbrella + Personal Excess Liability
A commercial umbrella over the business plus a personal umbrella over the family, often shopped together for the household-discount math. Critical when the same name is on the LLC and the personal mortgage.

Insuring local families
and businesses since 1982.

Heritage has been independently owned since 1982. The average client has been with us over 25 years, and we now insure the grandchildren of many of our original clients.

Your agent's cell number.
Our agents give clients their cell phone numbers, and every carrier we represent has a toll-free line for reporting claims at any time.
Your attorney, your CPA, and us.
Buy-sell agreements, entity structure, building-LLC arrangements: your attorney and CPA handle their side, and we handle the insurance side.
Successions go right or wrong before the handoff.
Coverage that lives through a generation change is structured before the change, not during it. We'll walk you through what to put in place ahead of time.

What family
owners ask first.

If yours isn't here, the phone is faster than a contact form.

There are often several owners with different ideas about how to protect the operation. Family members who are owners may not want to carry all the insurance the business actually needs. That disagreement is the risk. And regardless of who owns what, you need workers' compensation for every W-2 worker.
Succession, and it usually involves key-man life insurance. The other half is softer: the next generation often has very different ideas about how to run the business, and that difference needs to be accounted for while ownership is transitioning, not after.
A new owner often doesn't obtain adequate coverage for what they've just taken on. Workers' compensation is the clearest example: it's state mandated, and it's still the policy new owners most often neglect to put in place.
A life insurance policy where the business is the beneficiary. If a critical owner or operator dies, the proceeds keep the lights on while you find a successor, or fund a buyout of the estate's share. For a family business with one or two indispensable people, this is often the most important coverage on the books.
Usually no. If the building is owned by a separate LLC (very common for tax reasons), it needs its own landlord policy, and the operating company needs business property and tenant improvements coverage. Done wrong, neither may pay at claim time. Ask us to review both.
In Connecticut, a family member who lives in your household generally isn't covered by workers' comp unless their pay is included in your policy's payroll (C.G.S. § 31-275). Owners' own coverage depends on whether you're a sole proprietor, partnership, LLC or corporation. Ask us to look at your setup.
A lot, and the time to set it up is well before the handoff, not during. New ownership names on policies, key-person policies repurposed, building structure reviewed, founder's personal lines reconsidered as their relationship to the business changes. Your attorney and CPA handle their side; we handle the insurance.
Often yes, and there are real discounts when carriers see all the household business at once. We look at every policy across the family. Sometimes one carrier wins everything; sometimes it's split for the best total cost.
Insurance can't fix the disagreement, but a properly funded buy-sell agreement turns "we need to dissolve this" from a fight into a transaction. The agreement is your attorney's job; the funding is ours. They work together, get them both right early.

Family businesses usually look at:

Contractor Coverage→ Restaurant Insurance→ Personal Home & Auto→ All Coverage Lines→
One conversation.
One agency, every policy.
Schedule a family review Call (203) 755-1228