Agency profile: K and K Insurance Group, Ft Wayne IN

This Indiana-based provider of sports, leisure and entertainment insurance grew out of its founders’ love for – and inside understanding of – motorsports

Insurance News

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By Michael P. Tremoglie
 
Lorena Hatfield is the marketing manager for K and K Insurance Group, Inc., Ft Wayne Indiana – a leading provider of unique sports and recreation specialty insurance markets. She took a few minutes to talk to Insurance Business America about her firm
 
How and when was K and K built?
 
Hatfield: K&K was originally founded in 1952 by Nord and Teddi Krauskopf in Fort Wayne, IN to provide insurance products for motorsports participants.  Nord's involvement as a team owner and sponsor gave him an insider perspective on the coverage needs of the motorsports industry.  His dedication to motorsports eventually resulted in winning the Grand National Championship in 1970; the team was led by legendary driver Bobby Isaac (who will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016) and crew chief Harry Hyde.
 
Tell us more about what you do? 
 
Hatfield: As one of the largest managing general underwriters in the United States, K & K  performs a variety of traditional insurance company functions on behalf of the insurance companies. This includes program development; sales & marketing; underwriting; policy issuance & administration; loss control; and claims.
 
K&K employs more than 250 people in its Indiana headquarters. The company pays commission to agents and offers over 70 specialty programs for risks including: arenas, aquariums and zoos, bowling and billiard centers, camps, campgrounds, convention centers, entertainers, exhibitors and vendors, facilities, family fun centers, festivals, fairs, franchised powersport dealerships, gaming risks, health clubs, horse and dog tracks, intercollegiate sports, K-12 insurance, professional and amateur sports, martial arts, gymnastics and dance studios, motorsports race team and tracks, outfitters & guides, skating rinks, special events, sports facilities and stadiums.
 
Why did they get into this business? 
 
Hatfield: Nord and Teddi Krauskopf were long-time racing participants and Nord’s love of motorsports eventually led him to create K&K as a resource for motorsports insurance. Over several decades the company grew to include events and venues where racing events take place, such as fairgrounds and other sports facilities.
Some of our recent program expansions include the addition of resorts as an offshoot of our camps and campgrounds program and adding RV dealerships to our franchised motorcycle and powersports dealership program.
 
What is K and K’s involvement in the local community?
 
Hatfield: Each June K&K participates in our service day when employees volunteer to spend the day working for a local charity; this year the selected organization was the Community Harvest Food Bank, an organization that distributes over 13 million pounds of food annually to those in need in Northeastern Indiana. We also participate in the Fort Wayne Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk each fall, donating several thousand dollars each year through the generosity of our colleagues.
 
Fast facts
 
Founded: 1952
Headquarters: Ft. Wayne, Indiana
Employs: 250 in Ft. Wayne
 
 

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