Inszone Insurance Services has acquired D.B. Insurance Services, adding a personal lines agency built heavily around mortgage broker referrals at a time when insurance distributors are looking more closely at how they reach customers during the homebuying process.
Founded by Darrell Boyd in 2011, D.B. Insurance Services developed much of its business through referral relationships, particularly with mortgage brokers. The San Antonio agency offers auto, home, condo and renters coverage, making those relationships a direct source of potential personal lines business when customers are buying or financing a home.
The model places the agency close to a transaction that often creates an immediate insurance need. Similar links between insurance and mortgage distribution have been emerging elsewhere in the market, including Baldwin Group’s home insurance partnership with Fairway.
D.B. is also not the first Inszone acquisition to bring this type of referral network onto its platform. In March, the brokerage acquired Jaffery Insurance & Financial Services, an Omaha personal lines agency focused on home and auto coverage that had built much of its book through relationships with real estate agents and mortgage professionals.
The two deals put a spotlight on referral networks as a source of new business at a time when the broader acquisition market is becoming more selective.
North American insurance agency acquisitions fell to 292 in the first half of 2026, down 15% from 342 a year earlier and 24% below the previous five-year average, according to OPTIS Partners’ first-half M&A data.
That marked the lowest first-half total since 2016, with insurance agency acquisition activity continuing to contract. OPTIS said valuations remained high for larger, well-run firms, while pricing had softened for some other sellers as buyers became more selective about the businesses coming to market.
Inszone nevertheless remained one of the market’s most active buyers, completing 33 acquisitions in the first six months of 2026, second only to BroadStreet Partners with 37. Its first-half total was down from 45 a year earlier, although its trailing 12-month acquisition pace increased 33%, according to OPTIS.
Private equity-backed and hybrid buyers accounted for approximately 76% of announced transactions over the trailing 12 months and 80% of deals in the second quarter.
"My main goal was to make sure my employees were taken care of as we transitioned. A friend of mine referred me to Inszone, and after speaking with them for about a year, I preferred them over everyone else. It has been a great time and honestly the easiest closing process I have ever experienced,” D.B. Insurance founder Darrell Boyd said.
Inszone Insurance CEO Chris Walters said employees will gain access to Inszone’s carrier relationships and centralized support functions following the transaction.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
