Billyard Insurance Group holds first company-wide awards ceremony

Billyard Insurance Group (BIG) recently held its first ever company-wide awards ceremony recognizing the achievements of the firm’s top-performing brokers and branches.

The 2021 BIG Insurance Awards was held virtually on May 28 from the company’s head office in Welland, Ontario and was hosted by president Steve Billyard and vice-president Cody Douma.

“BIG brokers are among the best in the business, so it takes something really special to make it to the very top of the list of outstanding professionals,” said Billyard. “We are going to acknowledge those individuals who have set the bar just a little higher for us all. They’ve earned our recognition, our applause, and now some new hardware for their desk.”

The awards were presented by the divisional directors of the firm’s personal, commercial, and life and financial lines, business development unit, and charitable arm BIG Hearts. The awards handed out to top-performing were:

• Elite Service Award – awarded to the top five brokers with the highest retention rates and more than $250,000 in renewals.
• Elite Personal Lines Broker Award – given to the top producers with the greatest overall retention.
• Elite Life & Financial Broker – awarded to the top five life insurance producers.
• Elite Commercial Broker Award – given to the top five commercial insurance producers.
• BIG Hearts Award – awarded to a broker who demonstrated outstanding philanthropic contributions in 2020.

High-achieving branches, meanwhile, were presented the following:

• Service Excellence Award – awarded to five branches with the top retention rate.
• People’s Choice Award – given to the top three branches with the greatest number of highly rated Google reviews.
• Life Brokerage of the Year – awarded to the branch with the most life and living benefits production.
• Commercial Brokerage of the Year – given to one branch with the most commercial lines production.
• BIG Personal Brokerage of the Year – awarded to the branch with the best personal lines production and sales in retention and new business.
• BIG Profit Award – top 10 branches with more than $1 million in premiums and best loss ratios across the BIG family.

The event culminated with the night’s two most prestigious awards:

• New Brokerage of the Year – awarded to a branch that joined the firm last year and posted the best numbers across a variety of metrics, including overall production, commercial and life and financial lines. 
• BIG Brokerage of the Year – awarded to the branch with the best overall production and profitability in personal, commercial, and life and financial lines, while also maintaining a high retention rate.

“It’s quite impressive to be able to grow your brokerage with versatility and lead in so many spaces,” Billyard said. “It really sets an example for us all. We’re really looking forward to what [the year] will bring for us as we continue to do BIG things together.”