"What two or three words would you use to describe the quality of CIMA's service?" Here are some of the words our clients often choose...

Accurate... caring... competitive... comprehensive... consistent... dedicated... dependable... efficient... engaging... excellent... exceptional... friendly... helpful... knowledgeable... professional... prompt... reliable... resourceful... responsive... thorough... top-notch... always accommodating... always willing to work with us.

Executive director of a nonprofit organization dedicated to education, training and job placement of individuals with disabilities and other disadvantages

"It's nice to have someone who can uncomplicate insurance for me, and give us direction. Mary Katherine Hurst does that exceptionally well, with great grace and a smile on her face...She is smart, engaging, and provides a wonderful and fun presentation to a 'not so fun' topic."

Executive director of an association advocating for school districts nationwide

"You provide an excellent service. You always do your best to give us the best product at a reasonable price, and you have (the association) always as your priority - super job."

Operations manager for a nonprofit serving at-risk citizens in the areas of education, employment and life-skills training

"I have been doing business with CIMA since 1987, and have contracted for your services whenever I moved to a new nonprofit organization. Thank you for always providing excellent service."

Chief operating officer, facilities maintenance contractor

"Dave Smith and CIMA would get my highest recommendation for quality service."

Treasurer, golf course design firm

"Bill Groves is a very professional, knowledgeable person I enjoy working with. You guys have been working very hard at keeping our costs under control."

President, construction contracting firm

"We've been with you 29 years and counting. You are professional, thorough and competitive."

Customer for homeowner, auto and other personal lines of insurance

"I wanted to let you know what a positive and easy experience I had working with your company to have my auto and homeowners insurance coverage reviewed and updated. Marti Rogers was able to save me almost $900 per year and I now have coverage for my jewelry. She took the time to answer all of my questions and she kept me updated on the status of my policies. I will recommend your company to all of my friends."

Consultant who purchases his professional liability insurance from CIMA

"I'm a retired executive, management consultant and college professor, and you people are the best service providers I have ever dealt with. You always recommend the right thing, you send me a reminder when you need to but don't bother me all the time, and just provide great, great service."

Executive director, human-services nonprofit organization

"Thanks to you, one of the best things about our organization is our insurance program."

Operations manager, historic preservation nonprofit organization

"Mary Katherine is a jewel. I'm only as good as the people I surround myself with, and she's one of those valuable people."

Director, nonprofit providing legal services for the poor

"Any time there has been a rate increase, you've always been very good at explaining why."

Owner, commercial property development and management firm

"You are very responsive. That is one of your great strengths."

Customer for homeowner, auto and other personal lines of insurance

"I have had experience with many insurance agents, and have never found one who has exceeded Susan Carter-Burke's expertise and capabilities to assess insurance needs of the client, provide insurance policies/advice, and institute coverages for unique circumstances. She executes endorsements immediately as requested, and serves with a great degree of patience/detail and understanding."

Operations manager, concrete supply company

"Lori Anderson has been wonderful. Whenever I call, if she isn't there she calls me right back. And there's never an 'I don't care' attitude. That's so different from a lot of business people you have to deal with."

President, industrial pump service and supply company

"Dave Smith does a great job...He must be checking his email and voice mail all the time, because if he isn't there when I first call, he gets back to me right away. He's like me -- not punching a clock."

Chief financial officer, private school

"Mary Katherine does a wonderful job for us. She's sharp, and has a good feel for our business. She's very prompt about responding to any request we have - if we need a certificate, or have any questions about our policy."

Vice president, commercial security firm

"Dave Smith's wonderful. I just send him an email, and he takes care of whatever I need. You're really dependable. It's so seldom (as a consumer) that you ask for something and it actually gets done."

President, government contractor providing engineering and management services

"Laurie Warren is very responsive. And if we have a question, Laurie’s very good at answering it. I’m dense, but she drills it into me until I understand it."

Personnel Director of a large specialty contractor 

"I had been handling the insurance for our company for four years before becoming a client of The CIMA Companies. In that time, our company was paying astronomical fees for insurance. While our rate of claims would drop each year, our premiums would inevitably increase. Further, the service we experienced was, in a word, 'terrible.' We would try to fight unjust claims and get little response from the insurance company.

I knew CIMA to be a strong negotiator, and decided to put their skills to the test. They went through our policies and, one by one, showed me where we could save money. Then they took bids on our insurance and came up with a substantial savings."

Controller of a wholesale organization with large-scale fleet operations 

"I just wanted to express how happy I am that we made the decision to place our insurance coverages through your company. Often times, many promises are made in an effort to obtain a client, but once that is done, complacency sets in and promises go unfulfilled. We've really gotten a lot of help from CIMA on loss control, particularly with vehicles. What I had been looking for in a broker was someone who pays close attention to my business needs, and that's exactly what I'm getting from CIMA."

Vice president of finance for a real-estate management firm  

"The information provided by CIMA enabled us to truly understand our coverages, as well as our exposures to loss, for the first time. CIMA was able to negotiate not only competitive coverage and pricing, but also the 'service' we needed."

Executive director, nonprofit organization providing services for underprivileged children

"We had a number of different policies with various insurers and brokers. CIMA rewrote them all into a package that eliminated all the overlaps, broadened coverage and saved us $20,000 in premium. We are proud to be a client. We've received excellent service."

Executive director, nonprofit organization serving the developmentally disabled

"It's very important that we keep our board of directors informed on matters concerning our insurance, and CIMA really helps us do that."

President, collectibles import firm

"Our most frequent kind of injury was back injuries from lifting containers in our warehouse. CIMA provided us an excellent warehouse safety program, with emphasis on safe lifting. It really has helped. Our warehouse employees now know how to reduce the risk that they will be injured on the job."

Vice president, parking facilities firm

"Your loss control work has helped us reach a point where we believe we are doing everything reasonable to control our losses. I believe the efforts you are all making on our behalf will help us control costs both now and in the long run."

Vice president, large utility trade association

"We had an employee dishonesty claim that required a great deal of investigation. CIMA was very helpful in keeping the communication going among the Institute, our legal counsel, and the insurance carrier responsible for paying the claim. CIMA has continued to play the key role as our advocate."

Owner, roofing contracting firm

"We had some office equipment stolen while I was out of town. By the time I got back, most of the equipment had been either ordered or replaced. I was really pleased. You put service first and insurance second."

Vice president, technology service firm

"The carrier initially denied coverage on an errors and omissions claim we had submitted. But CIMA not only appealed and got our claim covered, you also did a very good job keeping us informed of the status along the way. What you did was just stellar."

Managing director, manufacturing firm

"Due to your zealous efforts, we received a check for reimbursement of the rental expenses we incurred when the storm blew away our portable cover. Please convey our deep gratitude to all the staff people who helped bring this to such a successful conclusion."

President, construction contractor

"The owner of a project was looking to us to pay for damages after a sprinkler system malfunctioned. CIMA quickly diverted the claim to the subcontractor who had installed the system and had assumed the responsibility for it under their contract with us."

Director of administration, human services nonprofit organization

"Before we began working with CIMA, I never would have thought to call my agent (for help in resolving a third-party liability claim). They never had put themselves in that role. Now I feel confident that I'll not only get information and help I need when I call, but that whoever I talk to will welcome that call."

Director, medical specialty training organization

"I have worked with CIMA staff closely for several years on our group health insurance policy renewals and have been able to count on their knowledge and informative presentation of options to keep our coverage within budget and at a quality level that has been of great benefit to our employees."

President, nonprofit advocacy group

"My special thanks to David Brantlinger and CIMA for once again helping us over the hurdle of our annual group health insurance renewal. This year's renewal was an unusually tough one, and we were especially glad to be able to rely on Dave to be a source of useful information, a sounding board for ideas and our faithful advocate in dealing with the insurance carrier... Dave's a terrific negotiator - we're always glad he's on our side when there's a point to be won... As president, I recognize the importance of talented, dedicated staff, and I wanted to make sure you know how much we appreciate yours."

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Over the years, we have developed our success around our ability to solve problems that other brokers have not been able to solve, or interested in solving, as the following examples illustrate.

In the late 1960's, virtually no insurance carriers were interested in writing coverage for nonprofit organizations engaged in the delivery of social services - particularly involving services to developmentally disabled people. CIMA was one of the very few insurance brokers in this region that worked to develop viable insurance alternatives for these kinds of organizations - combining accurate underwriting of the risk with targeted loss-control efforts. A significant percentage of CIMA's client base is now composed of such organizations, and a number of insurance carriers with which we work are willing to write this kind of business.

In the late 1980's, pension actuaries were having a very difficult time obtaining professional liability insurance at a reasonable cost. Working with the major professional society representing actuaries, we built a program from scratch, working with insurers in the London market. The program today includes more than 350 pension actuaries nationwide. We have negotiated program enhancements consistently, based on the group's favorable loss experience, and rates have never needed to be increased over the ten-year history.

In the early 1990's, attorneys representing the indigent had only one market for professional liability insurance. Rates had been increasing steadily. CIMA surveyed the attorneys' claims experience. We found that the rates were not justified based on actual losses, and developed an alternative program. We began marketing the program in 1992. Today more than 180 legal services organizations nationwide participate in our program.

In the first year of our program, legal services organizations saved more than $2 million in premiums as a result of our being able to offer an alternative with rates that were truly reflective of the risk exposure involved. Those savings have been maintained as our program has matured.

As our clients' operations expand.

In recent years, as many of our clients have expanded the geographic scope of their operations, we have helped them shape their risk management programs accordingly, to avoid problems that expansion otherwise could bring. Within the foreign insurance market, we provide state-of-the-art international coverages, rather than the standard "off-the-shelf" international insurance package so often provided.

Our global clients range from companies with solely foreign travel to those that have dealer networks and millions of dollars in inventory overseas, and a client who actively operates in more than 30 countries from a D. C. headquarters.