Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance Give Clients Sustainable Option

“Being able to offer friends, family and neighbors discounted insurance is a dream come true in the insurance world,” says Jon Merwin, owner of Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance, a company that relies on local talent in its workplace and sustainability in ecological outlook.

Founded in 2005 by Merwin, PAI is a local independent agent serving customers in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire from its main office in Suite 201, 40 Pleasant St. (the Old Custom House building), in Portsmouth, and its satellite office in Durham. PAI offers all personal lines of insurance, including auto, home, motorcycle, renters and condo insurance, as well as commercial and business insurance. And it provides life and health insurance, and financial services.

“In essence we’re a one-stop shop for insurance and can often save people a lot of money by packaging everything together,” Merwin says.

The idea of “local” is paramount in PAI’s mission. It is able to offer all UNH faculty and staff discounted insurance rates for home, auto and other lines of insurance through MetLife Insurance and Tower Group. 

“I graduated from UNH in 2007, and we’re the only independent insurance agency that has an office in Durham,“ Merwin says. “I have strong ties to UNH personally, and in the past I have met with UNH faculty and staff to facilitate group discounts. They have been very welcoming of the idea, and we’ve had a lot of success being able to offer the discounted rates to UNH employees.”

Merwin notes that, besides himself, PAI employs another UNH graduate, Kristine Bell, and a UNH intern, Alexander Kaminski.

On top of the UNH discounts, PAI is also able to offer discounted rates to all employees of the city of Portsmouth, as well as all teachers in SAU 52, comprising Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth Middle School, Dondero School, Little Harbour School, New Franklin School and Robert J Lister Academy.

“This is a big deal for our agency, considering we identify and pride ourselves as being a local, family owned insurance agency,” says Merwin, adding: “One of the other nice features about this discount is that we’re the only independent agency that’s able to provide discounted rates for these organizations – if you contact another MetLife agent in the state of New Hampshire, it will not be able to provide the same discounted rates for these institutions.”

These discounted rates can save clients hundreds of dollars annually. PAI can offer such discounts because its costs of customer acquisition are very low. A majority of its clients come from word-of-mouth referrals from local realtors and mortgage brokers who then give Merwin more referrals because they know their clients get very competitive rates and better customer service.

And good service reaps its own rewards: “We have expanded our office space in Portsmouth, and we’re growing our customer base every day. In fact we’re one of the fastest growing insurance agencies in New Hampshire,” Merwin says.

Besides offering discounts, PAI’s other goal is to be the greenest insurance agency in the state. To that end, it is a member of Green Alliance, a local green business union that certifies its member businesses green and advocates greener choices to the public . GA also offers its members discounted green products and services.

PAI qualified as a GA business partner by employing several green practices, such as instituting a paperless agency management system, which uses soy-based ink for the relatively little material his agency prints. It uses 100 percent recycled paper, paper towels, and toilet paper, and biodegradable plastic bags, and makes use of 7th Generation cleaning products. PAI recycles extensively — including all printer and toner cartridges — and emails upwards of 95 percent of its quotes to its customers.

PAI sponsored a team in this year’s Tough Mudder event, described on the Tough Mudder Web site as a “hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. … Tough Mudder has already challenged half a million inspiring participants worldwide and raised more than $3 million dollars for the Wounded
Warrior Project.”

Merwin, a participant in this year’s event, is looking to sponsor teams in the future for more obstacle course-type races.

For more information on Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance, dial 603-431-4020 for the Portsmouth office and 603-397-3242 for the Durham office, email jmerwin@portsmouthatlanticins.com, or visit www.portsmouthatlanticins.com.

For more information about Green Alliance, visit www.greenalliance.biz.