Hill & Usher

What Hill & Usher does

Hill & Usher is a privately held, independent insurance brokerage founded in 1995 and headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. It operates as a multi-carrier agency representing 29 of the nation's premier insurance carriers, including AIG, Allianz, CHUBB, Liberty Mutual, MetLife, Nationwide, Progressive, The Hartford, and Travelers, and earns commission-based revenue across business insurance, personal lines, and surety bond placements. The firm started as a construction-only specialty agency under founder and Managing Member Richard B. Usher and has grown into a full-service agency protecting individuals and businesses across the United States, with Taylor Usher as General Manager overseeing day-to-day operations.

The agency's product portfolio is organized into three layers. First, core commercial coverages include general liability, commercial property, commercial auto, workers' compensation, professional liability, EPLI, cyber, crime/fidelity, inland marine, business income, and group benefits. Second, personal lines include homeowners, auto, renters, umbrella, boat, life, health, disability, and personal articles floaters. Third, the firm operates six branded specialty programs targeting niche verticals: TrimRisk (landscape maintenance and construction), AerialPak (remote control aerial photographers and drone operators), BarPak (restaurants, bars, and taverns), PackageChoice (wedding, commercial, and architectural photographers), ProductionsPlus (production companies, entertainment, satellite uplink, and AV equipment rental), and Residential General Contractors. Surety bonds are underwritten in all 50 states.

Distribution runs through inside sales (800-956-4220), a self-service online instant rating platform for personal auto and homeowners in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Texas, an instant online rating and binding platform for Mexico auto coverage, and referral programs. Marketing includes a content blog, Facebook presence, and online quote intake forms. Customer segments skew toward SMB and individual policyholders, with specialty emphasis on construction, landscaping, photography, hospitality, and professional services. The firm does not disclose revenue or headcount growth metrics publicly.

Name

Hill & Usher

Legal name

Hill & Usher

Website

https://hillusher.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hill & Usher is a Phoenix-based independent insurance brokerage representing 29 premier carriers, offering commercial, personal, and surety coverage plus six branded specialty programs (TrimRisk, AerialPak, BarPak, PackageChoice, ProductionsPlus, Residential General Contractors) to businesses and individuals across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Phoenix

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Insurance Brokerage Commissions: Hill & Usher earns commissions from insurance carriers for placing business. They represent many of the nation's premier insurance companies and offer products across business insurance, personal lines, and specialty programs.
2. Commercial Insurance Products: Revenue from commercial insurance products including general liability, workers compensation, commercial auto, property, professional liability, umbrella, bonds, and specialty coverages.
3. Personal Lines Insurance: Personal insurance products including auto, homeowners, renters, umbrella, boat, life, health, and dental insurance for individuals and families.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Hill & Usher is an independent insurance agency that brokers commercial business insurance, personal lines coverage, and specialty insurance programs through relationships with 29 premier insurance carriers. The agency provides risk management, claims management, and policy servicing across commercial lines (general liability, workers compensation, commercial auto, property, professional liability, EPL, surety bonds) and personal lines (homeowners, auto, umbrella, boat, life, health). Its distinctive value is in customized specialty programs for niche industries including construction contractors, landscapers, aerial photographers, restaurants/bars, photographers, residential general contractors, and production/entertainment companies.

Product overview

Hill & Usher is a full-service independent insurance agency established in 1995, offering a broad portfolio of insurance products and specialty programs. The company operates as a traditional insurance brokerage rather than a technology platform, providing both commercial and personal lines coverage through relationships with numerous insurance carriers. Their product portfolio includes core business insurance products (general liability, commercial property, commercial auto, workers' compensation), personal lines (homeowners, auto, umbrella), and specialized niche programs targeting specific industries such as Residential General Contractors, Productions Plus for media/entertainment, PackageChoice for photographers, TrimRisk for landscaping, AerialPak for drone operators, and BarPak for hospitality. The agency also provides online quoting tools for instant auto/homeowners estimates in select states and Mexico auto insurance binding capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PackageChoice: Insurance program for wedding, commercial and architectural photographers and studios
• TrimRisk
• AerialPak
• BarPak
• Residential General Contractors (RGC)
• ProductionsPlus

Products and services

• Business Insurance Commercial business insurance coverage designed to cover a business, including employees and ownership, including general liability, business property, business interruption, commercial auto, professional liability, and workers' compensation.
• Personal Lines Insurance Insurance protection for individuals and families including homeowners, health, auto, renters, disability, umbrella, and other property and casualty coverage.
• Workers' Compensation Workers' compensation coverage providing medical costs and related benefits to employees who suffer from occupational injury or disease, with access to more than a dozen insurance carriers in Arizona.
• Commercial Insurance Comprehensive commercial insurance including property, inland marine, general liability, professional liability, umbrella/excess liability, commercial automobile, crime/fidelity, surety bonds, group life, and group health.
• Commercial Property Coverage Coverage for buildings and business personal property against direct physical loss or damage, including earthquake coverage, inflation guard, and replacement cost valuation options.
• Commercial Auto Insurance Commercial automobile coverage including liability, collision, comprehensive, medical payments, hired auto, non-owned autos, uninsured/underinsured motorist, and rental reimbursement.
• Commercial Crime Insurance Crime coverage including employee dishonesty, computer fraud, forgery or alteration, extortion, premises burglary, robbery and safe burglary, and theft, disappearance and destruction.
• Commercial Inland Marine Insurance Coverage for goods in domestic transit, goods of bailees/customers, moveable equipment, and unusual property including accounts receivable, cargo, contractors equipment, and electronic data processing.
• Employment Practices Liability Coverage (EPL) Coverage for alleged mistreatment of employees including wrongful terminations, harassment, discrimination, defamation, and unfair or illegal hiring practices with minimum annual premiums typically $1,000.
• Group Benefits Employee benefits including medical, dental, life, vision insurance, Section 125 pretax plans, flexible savings accounts, short and long term disability, long term care, and business overhead insurance.
• Business Income Business income insurance paying actual loss of business income due to suspension of operations following physical loss or damage, including extended period of indemnity and civil authority coverage options.
• Bonds: Surety & Fidelity Programs Surety bonds provided in all 50 U.S. States including bid bonds, completion bonds, construction contract bonds, performance bonds, license and permit bonds, and notary public bonds.
• Boiler Machinery Insurance Coverage for direct damage to boilers, vessels, and machinery equipment caused by sudden and accidental breakdown, including expediting expense and defense cost extensions.
• Homeowners Coverage HO-3 homeowners policy providing protection against risks of direct physical loss to real property with coverage for dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, and additional endorsements for earthquake and inflation guard.
• Individual Life, Health & Disability Programs Individual and family insurance programs for life, health, and disability coverage, offered through partnerships with carriers including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.
• Personal Articles Floater Inland marine floater coverage for valuable personal property including jewelry, furs, cameras, musical instruments, silverware, golfers equipment, fine arts, stamps and coin collections.
• Personal Umbrella Coverage Excess liability insurance over primary policies such as homeowners, personal auto, and boaters policies, providing coverage on a worldwide basis for bodily injury and property damage liability.
• Boat Insurance Boat owners policy providing liability, physical damage, medical payments coverage, plus emergency service, life salvage, and uninsured boaters coverage on an all risk basis.
• ProductionsPlus Specialty insurance program for production companies, entertainment, satellite uplink providers, and audio visual equipment rental dealers covering negative and faulty film, props, sets, equipment, and providing zero self-insured retention with first dollar coverage.
• Residential General Contractors Specialized insurance program for residential contractors covering general liability up to $2,000,000 aggregate, excess/umbrella limits up to $100,000,000, automobile liability, builders risk, property, crime, and equipment coverage.
• TrimRisk (Landscape Maintenance & Construction) Specialty insurance program for landscape maintenance and construction businesses, offered through their website at www.trimrisk.com.
• AerialPak (Remote Control Aerial Photographers) Specialty insurance program for remote control aerial photographers and drone operators.
• BarPak (Restaurants, Bars, and Taverns) Specialty insurance program for restaurants, bars, and taverns covering liquor liability and related exposures.
• PackageChoice (Photographers & Studios) Specialty insurance program for wedding, commercial and architectural photographers and studios, including camera equipment, liability, and business coverage with online certificate request capabilities.
• Instant Auto Quote Online insurance application providing instant annual premium estimates for personal automobile, homeowners, and renters coverage in Arizona, California, and Colorado.
• Mexico Auto Insurance Instant online rating and binding for insurance coverage while traveling in Mexico, available through their online platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Workers Compensation costs reduced year after year through claims management, subrogation recovery, safety programs, and experience modifier monitoring
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• TrimRiskcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialty insurance program for Landscape Maintenance & Construction businesses. Dedicated branded website with customized, highly competitive insurance programs.
• AerialPakcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialty insurance program for Remote Control Aerial Photographers. Provides customized coverage for drone photographers.
• BarPakcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialty insurance program for Restaurants, Bars, and Taverns. Provides customized, highly competitive insurance coverage.
• PackageChoicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialty insurance program for Wedding, Commercial & Architectural Photographers & Studios. Provides comprehensive coverage including equipment, liability, and business interruption.
• Insurance Carriers (29 carriers)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHill & Usher represents 29 insurance carriers including Acuity, AIG, Allianz, American Liberty, AmTrust, Badger Mutual, CBIC, CHUBB, Copperpoint, EMC, Encompass, Foremost, Great American, Guard, Hallmark, Hanover, Liberty Mutual, MetLife, Nationwide, Progressive, Republic Indemnity, RLI, Safeco, Secura, State Auto, The Hartford, Travelers, Union Standard/Berkley, United Fire Group. They shop coverage across these carriers to find the best policy for each customer.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Horton Group: Independent insurance and risk advisory firm offering commercial, personal, and group benefits through multiple carriers. Comparable to Hill & Usher in independent brokerage model and cross-line service offering.
• Brown & Riding Insurance Services: Specialty insurance brokerage and wholesale firm focused on niche verticals with deep carrier relationships. Comparable specialty-program-led go-to-market approach to Hill & Usher's branded verticals.
• M3 Insurance: Mid-market independent insurance brokerage providing commercial, personal, and employee benefits solutions. Similar employee scale band and multi-vertical independent agency model.
• Hausmann Group: Independent insurance and risk management firm serving commercial and personal clients. Comparable structure with multi-carrier representation and specialty vertical emphasis.
• BKS Partners: Mid-sized independent insurance brokerage with strong construction, real estate, and commercial specialty practices. Similar in size band and specialty vertical orientation to Hill & Usher's contractor-focused roots.
• Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage: Independent insurance brokerage with construction, surety, and commercial specialty practices. Strong comparability to Hill & Usher's construction roots and surety bond product line.
• Heffernan Insurance Brokers: Independent insurance brokerage offering commercial and personal lines through multiple carriers with specialty programs across verticals. Closely comparable to Hill & Usher in structure, carrier-shopping model, and vertical specialty approach.

Broad incumbents

• Burns & Wilcox: Specialty insurance wholesale broker and MGA with deep carrier appointments and niche industry programs. Comparable specialty-program-led GTM and carrier breadth, with broader geographic and segment coverage than Hill & Usher.
• Insurance Office of America: Larger independent insurance brokerage with personal, commercial, and group benefits practices. Comparable independent multi-line model with broader employee and geographic scale than Hill & Usher.

Emerging players

• RPS (Risk Placement Services): Specialty insurance wholesaler and brokerage operating across niche verticals with proprietary binding and rating platforms. Comparable specialty-program distribution model, though more wholesale-oriented than Hill & Usher's retail focus.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/hillusher
• Xx.com/hillusher

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hill & Usher