This week's featured Shop Wharton business
Schulz Insurance offers personal touch
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

Staff Photo by Barry Halvorson Karen Schulz, left, and Rita Whitley offer insurance coverage for a host of needs at the Alabama Road business.

Locally owned and operated for more than 20 years, Schulz Insurance can meet all of your insurance coverage needs ranging from home and health to your crops in the field.

Owner Karen Schulz has been in the insurance business for the past 23 years and at her current location of 1316 N. Alabama Road since 2001.

That was the same year Rita Whitley, also a licensed insurance agent, joined the company.

While Schulz Insurance specializes in Germania Insurance products, Schulz said it also offers policies from other companies, such as Progessive and Mercury Insurance.

"Germania is a company that people here can be comfortable with," she said.

"With the home office located in Brenham, the company's been around since 1896 and offers Texas-based coverage. You can even visit the headquarters building in Brenham when you visit."

And all of the business's products are provided with that personal touch.

"A lot of the major insurance carriers now have Web sites you can visit to purchase coverage," she said.

"You can get quotes on line but are you getting all of the information? Going to an agent you can get the full story on not only what a policy does cover but also what it might not cover. That's information you need to know before something happens, not after."

And having a personal relationship with a firm like Schulz Insurance also can mean quicker

claim service in the event of a catastrophic loss, either an individual problem or a wide ranging

disaster like a hurricane.

"In such an event, I recommend that you give your agent your cell phone number for emergency contact," Schulz said.

"Most catastrophic events include a power outage so you might not be able to access your regular phone line. And I also recommend giving them an alternate address, family member or close friend, you might stay with or have regular contact with in an emergency."

Among the business's specialties is providing a wide variety of crop, farm and ranch and machinery insurance, including some insurance you might not know is available. Schulz said she has recently been offering two new kinds of crop policies.

"We are now writing pecan policies which are new to this area," she said.

"And we also write crop polices on traditional crops like corn, cotton, milo, rice and soybeans. And we are now also offering crop hail insurance.

"To maintain accreditation, a licensed agent has to maintain continuing education on an annual basis," she said.

"We get a lot of our class through Germania. But we do crop insurance CE twice a year because of the changing government regulations. By taking those classes more frequently, this agency can always provide you with the most up-to-date coverage."

While traditionally individuals and businesses have frequently tried to spread out their insurance polices between various carriers to boost the local economy, Schulz said that people need to consider consolidating their home, health, life and other policies with a single carrier.

"Many companies are now offering combined coverage discounts," she said. "By packaging all your insurance needs, you can save money. I had one customer who had a home insurance package and the discount they received from adding their other policies generated discounts that made their life insurance virtually free as the result of the savings. And a lot of companies are also now offering claims free discounts. The longer you go without an accident, the more of a discount you can receive."

Schulz was born and raised in Wharton County, a member of the Pyka family. Her husband of 26 years, Jimmy Schulz, is a familiar local figure, employed at Farmer's Coop in El Campo and active in local youth sports. The couple has two college-age sons, Chad and Jeremy.

"We've been active in the Wharton High Booster Club and involved in such sports as Babe Ruth Baseball. We always emphasized being involved in our children's activities."

Interested in knowing more about Schulz Insurance? You can visit the office at 1316 N. Alabama Road, open 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, call 532-0021 or e-mail Schulz at kschulz@sbcglobal.net.

Schulz said she also has a Web site for the business currently under develop that should be available in the near future.