Tag: community

Same Values, New Feel/Look

dbi-logo

If you haven’t already heard, Dalrymple – Burns Insurance has been rebranded as dbi Brokers Ltd.  We still have the same small town values that Mr. Dalrymple and the Burns Family instilled in their brokerages years ago, but times have changed a little bit, and we needed to as well.

We made this video to help reintroduce ourselves, check it out, and learn what we are all about.

Out with the old and in with the new seems to be the trend more and more frequently these days.  Although we still have the same values, we’re now able to offer you a new/better experience:

  • We’re on social media, sharing valuable content.
  • Our website has been updated and is more user friendly than ever.
  • We can work with you and complete applications via email and e-signatures.
  • You can e-transfer payments to us instead of bringing in funds or supplying your credit information.

We encourage you to explore our website, and better yet, contact us to truly experience the dbi difference!

Local Story Behind the Cheque

A few weeks ago, the owner of dbi Brokers Ltd, Larry Brown, nominated the Lisaard House for the a giving Tuesday fundraiser.  Gore Mutual Insurance Company was set to give away $5000 donations to a nominated charities and organizations.  The selections for the donations were being made by Gores employees, and they ended up selecting Larry’s nomination.

Gore and Larry presented the Lisaard house with a $5000 donation, and that’s a great story in itself.  This is the real story and background info on why this isn’t just a random donation.

The Lisaard/Innisfree House provide comfort, care, and closure to patients and loves ones through the end of life journey.  Above from left to right are Larry Brown of dbi Brokers Ltd, Margot Vanderlaan of the Lisaard House, and Liz Santo of Gore.

To start let’s look at how dbi Brokers Ltd came to be:

Dalrymple Insurance started in 1931 when Ayr native Gordon S. Dalrymple established a small insurance agency out of his home.  For years Mr. Dalrymple grew his business in Waterloo Region, Brant County, and Oxford County.  As the business grew he decided to sell part of his business to a Paris resident – Murray Burns.  From this, Burns Insurance was created in downtown Paris.

As Mr. Dalrymple’s business continued to grow throughout Waterloo Region, and Oxford County, he brought on other agents who shared the load.  Recognizing the potential in one of the agent,  Dalrymple made Jack Brown a partner in the 1960’s.

Time passed and Mr. Dalrymple retired, but the business continued to grow.  Some of Jack’s relatives were brought in forming a family business.  Jack retired in the early 90’s and left the company in the hands of four family members who all worked out of the Ayr office.

Later in the 90’s a familiar name came back into play – Burns Insurance Service in Paris.  The Burns brothers were looking to sell their business, and couldn’t think of a better fit than the brokerage who got them into the insurance game in the first place.  It was an easy transition from Waterloo Region to Brant County, and a few of the Dalrymple partners simply switched offices from Ayr to Paris.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and all of the Dalrymple family partners are retired except for Jack Brown’s son, Larry.

2016 was a big year for Larry and Dalrymple and Burns Insurance brokerages as they went through a re-branding phase.  Instead of having a Burns Insurance Service, and Dalrymple Insurance Brokers operating somewhat separately, they were combined to create dbi (Dalrymple Burns Insurance) Brokers Ltd.  Later in 2016, seizing more local opportunity dbi Brokers Ltd expanded to Simcoe in Norfolk County, and Goderich in Huron County.

That’s the History, and this is why it means so much to us:

As mentioned earlier in the story, Jack Brown was one of the successors of Mr. Dalrymple.  What wasn’t mentioned is that Jack is no longer with us; after he retired he lost his battle with cancer in 2001.  In his final weeks of his life, he and his family were cared for and comforted by the staff at Lisaard House.  Having personally experienced their caring and respectful service, the family brokerage is honored and extremely grateful to have Larry’s nomination selected by Gore.  We would again like to thank Lisaard House for their exceptional service, and also thank Gore for this most generous donation.