World Insurance Associates LLC has acquired the business of Fillmore Insurance Agency of Brooklyn, New York, effective March 1, 2026.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Fillmore was founded in 1970 and operates as a commercial lines-focused agency specializing in real estate, contractors, and retail stores, in addition to offering personal lines coverage. The agency is led by John Sluyk, James Sluyk, Patrick Sluyk, and Stephen Van Sluyk.
"At Fillmore Insurance Agency, we provide our clients with a comprehensive range of innovative products," said James Sluyk Jr., owner of Fillmore Insurance Agency. "Joining World will increase the products and services we can offer to our clients. This is an exciting time for Fillmore."
Fillmore's specialization in contractors and real estate places it in one of the most technically demanding corners of the US commercial insurance market. New York's Labor Law Sections 240 and 241, known as the Scaffold Law, impose absolute liability on contractors and property owners for elevation-related construction injuries, regardless of whether the worker was partially or entirely at fault. Unlike every other state, New York does not permit a comparative negligence defense under Section 240, meaning a jury can award full damages even where a worker ignored basic safety protocols.
The cost implications for brokers and agencies serving this market are significant.
According to Chubb data, New York sees one bodily injury general liability claim filed for every $2.74 million in construction payroll, compared with one claim per $37 million in payroll across all other states, a claims frequency more than 12 times higher than the national norm.
Industry analysis has found that New York contractors pay between four and six times more for general liability insurance than contractors in neighboring states. Scaffold Law verdicts in New York City and Long Island regularly exceed $1 million, prompting brokers to recommend $2 million per occurrence and $4 million aggregate general liability limits, plus a commercial umbrella of $2 million to $5 million, for most commercial New York City construction projects.
That risk environment has reshaped the underwriting market itself.
Many carriers have left the New York construction insurance market in recent years due to the elevated risk profile, narrowing the pool of insurers willing to write Labor Law-exposed risks and pushing more business toward specialty markets and brokers with deep familiarity with the statute's coverage triggers. For an agency like Fillmore, that expertise represents a defensible niche, and exactly the kind of specialist capability that has made Fillmore an attractive target as larger brokerages look to deepen their bench of technical underwriting knowledge.
The Fillmore deal is the latest in a long string of acquisitions for World, which has built its growth strategy almost entirely around buying independent agencies with precisely this sort of niche expertise.
World was among the most active acquirers in the country in 2025, with deal activity up year-over-year even as the broader market slowed, according to OPTIS Partners' annual agent and broker M&A tracking. Meanwhile, Tracxn data showed World has completed 111 tracked acquisitions, with insurance distribution accounting for the large majority, while World's own materials described a tally well above 250 deals since the firm's founding in 2011.
That pace stands out against a broader US insurance brokerage M&A market that cooled in 2025. OPTIS Partners counted 695 insurance agency deals in 2025, down from 787 in 2024, with the fourth quarter producing the fewest transactions since 2019.
The number of significant transactions actually increased, including six firms with over $25 million in revenue changing hands, such as AssuredPartners' $2.9 billion sale to Arthur J. Gallagher and Accession Risk Management's $1.7 billion transaction with Brown & Brown. The buyer base itself narrowed, with only 95 firms announcing acquisitions in 2025, down from 104 the prior year.
Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla provided legal counsel to World, while Satin and Lee Law P.C. represented Fillmore, with Sica Fletcher advising the agency on the transaction. No other advisors, diligence firms, or legal counsel were disclosed.
