Community Insurance Services
Community Insurance Services is a privately held independent insurance agency in Tipton, Iowa, serving homeowners, farms, businesses, and individuals across Cedar County with homeowners, auto, farm, commercial, and health and life insurance placed across 14+ carriers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1970
- HeadquartersTipton, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Community Insurance Services does
Community Insurance Services is a privately held independent insurance agency founded in 1970 and headquartered at 122 W 5th Street in Tipton, Iowa. The firm serves individuals, families, farms, and small-to-medium businesses across Cedar County and adjacent Iowa communities including West Branch, Bennett, Clarence, Lowden, and Stanwood. Operationally the agency is small, with a staff of approximately five led by President Mike Pelzer.
The agency offers five core product categories: homeowners and renters insurance, personal and commercial auto (including specialty vehicles such as ATVs, boats, and collectible cars), health and life insurance (via Wellmark, Aetna, Delta Dental, and affiliate Boedeker Financial Services), business and commercial insurance for local trades and government entities, and farm insurance covering farm liability, property, livestock, trucking, and crop coverage. Distribution is via direct in-office, phone, and email consultation, supplemented by a content-style website (tiptoninsurance.us) that routes customers to carrier portals for billing and claims.
The business model is commission-based: as an independent agent the firm earns carrier commissions on policies placed and renewed across its 14 represented carriers, which include West Bend, EMC, Grinnell Mutual, Auto Owners, Progressive, Allied/Nationwide, Farmers Mutual Hail, Hagerty, IMT/Wadena, Rain and Hail, United Fire and Casualty, American Mutual, Eastern Iowa Mutual, and White Pigeon Mutual. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; customer acquisition is driven by local presence, referrals, and personal outreach rather than digital marketing. No proprietary technology, no AI capabilities, and no institutional capital are involved in the operating model.
Community Insurance Services firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Community Insurance Services
- Legal name
- Community Insurance Services
- Website
- https://tiptoninsurance.us
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1970
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Community Insurance Services is a privately held independent insurance agency in Tipton, Iowa, serving homeowners, farms, businesses, and individuals across Cedar County with homeowners, auto, farm, commercial, and health and life insurance placed across 14+ carriers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Community Insurance Services industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Independent Insurance Brokerage
- NAICS
- Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (524210), Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (52421)
- SIC
- Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Individual Health Insurance Brokerage & Distribution (FSAIAEAL)
Keywords
Where Community Insurance Services is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tipton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Community Insurance Services business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Insurance Agency Commissions: Community Insurance Services operates as an independent insurance agency, earning commissions from insurance companies for policies placed. As an independent agent, they receive commissions when customers purchase and renew insurance policies through their agency.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Quote-based pricing tailored to individual customer needs |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels1 record
Community Insurance Services product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Community Insurance Services is an independent insurance agency that brokers and places personal, commercial, farm, auto, and health/life insurance policies on behalf of customers by representing multiple insurance carriers. The agency earns commissions from carriers when policies are placed and renewed, advising Cedar County, Iowa residents and businesses on coverage selection and risk management.
Product overview
Community Insurance Services is an independent insurance agency offering a comprehensive portfolio of insurance products through multiple partner companies. The agency provides five core insurance categories: Homeowners Insurance (covering dwellings, renters, and personal liability), Auto Insurance (including personal, collectible, commercial vehicles and specialty vehicles like boats and ATVs), Health & Life Insurance (through Wellmark, Aetna, and Delta Dental with Medicare products), Business & Commercial Insurance (for restaurants, contractors, retail, government entities, and more), and Farm Insurance (including farm liability, property, livestock, and crop insurance). As an independent agent, they work with multiple insurance carriers to provide customers with choices and competitive rates.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Homeowners Insurance Insurance coverage for homeowners, renters, and families in Cedar County, Iowa, including personal liability, rented dwellings, seasonal dwellings, and renters insurance to protect homes and possessions.
- Auto Insurance Vehicle insurance covering personal autos, collectible autos, business and commercial autos, trucking, and specialty vehicles including ATVs, golf carts, snowmobiles, Jet Skis, and boats.
- Health & Life Insurance Health insurance products including individual dental insurance, Medicare Supplement, and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug coverage through Wellmark, Aetna, and Delta Dental; life products offered through affiliate Boedeker Financial Services.
- Business & Commercial Insurance Property and liability insurance for small-to-medium businesses and government/nonprofit entities, including restaurants, contractors, retail stores, golf courses, excavation companies, apartment buildings, trucking, cities, counties, churches, and schools.
- Farm Insurance Insurance for Cedar County, Iowa farmers including farm liability (contract feeding, custom feeding, contract spraying, custom farming), farm property, livestock, farm trucking, and crop insurance products from Rain & Hail, Farmers Mutual, and Grinnell Mutual.
Companies that use Community Insurance Services
Customer profileSegments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Community Insurance Services technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Community Insurance Services partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- West Bendcore
- EMCcore
- Farmers Mutual Hailcore
- Grinnell Mutualcore
- Hagertyminor
- Allied / Nationwidecore
- Auto Ownerscore
- IMT / Wadenacore
- Progressivecore
- Rain and Hailcore
- United Fire and Casualtycore
- American Mutualcore
- Eastern Iowa Mutualcore
- White Pigeon Mutualcore
- Wellmarkminor
- Aetnaminor
- Delta Dentalminor
- Boedeker Financial Servicesminor
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Community Insurance Services competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- COUNTRY Financial: COUNTRY Financial is a Midwest regional insurance and financial services company with deep rural Illinois, Iowa, and surrounding-state penetration. Its product mix (auto, home, life, farm, commercial) and agent-driven rural distribution closely parallel Community Insurance Services' positioning and customer segments.
- Farm Bureau Financial Services: Farm Bureau Financial Services is a Midwest-focused insurance and financial services provider with strong rural and agricultural customer overlap. Like Community Insurance Services, it serves farming families, small-town homeowners, and rural small businesses through a multi-line (auto, home, life, farm) distribution model.
Broad incumbents
- Allstate: Allstate is a national personal lines incumbent with a captive-agent model. It competes directly with Community Insurance Services for auto and homeowners insurance customers in Cedar County, and its brand scale and advertising presence represent a structural competitive pressure on smaller independent agencies.
- State Farm: State Farm is the largest U.S. personal lines insurer, operating a captive-agent distribution model that competes head-on with Community Insurance Services in auto and homeowners. While vastly larger and single-carrier, it serves the same rural Iowa households and small businesses and represents the dominant incumbent threat.
- Brown & Brown Insurance: Brown & Brown is one of the largest U.S. insurance brokerages and an active acquirer of independent agencies. It is a relevant comparable both as a consolidator of agencies similar to Community Insurance Services and as a benchmark for the structural roll-up dynamics shaping the agency's potential exit paths.
Others
- Auto-Owners Insurance: Auto-Owners Insurance is a Midwest regional carrier and a core partner of Community Insurance Services. Like EMC and Grinnell Mutual, it is included as a peer because carrier-partner dynamics — commission rates, underwriting appetite, product launches — are a primary determinant of independent-agency economics.
- Grinnell Mutual: Grinnell Mutual is an Iowa-based mutual insurer and one of Community Insurance Services' longest-standing carrier partners for farm and commercial lines. As a regional mutual with deep Iowa roots, it is a structural counterpart shaping CIS's farm and agricultural book of business.
- IMT Insurance: IMT Insurance is a Midwest regional carrier and a partner of Community Insurance Services. As a regional mutual writing personal and commercial lines in Iowa and surrounding states, IMT is part of the carrier ecosystem on which CIS's commission revenue depends.
- EMC Insurance: EMC Insurance is a Midwest regional carrier and one of Community Insurance Services' core carrier partners. It is included as a peer because carrier-partner concentration is a key structural feature of the agency's revenue model, and EMC's commission terms and product appetite directly shape CIS economics.
Regional players
- Erie Insurance: Erie Insurance is a regional carrier operating in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic through exclusive agents. Although not directly operating in Iowa today, it represents a comparable regional-carrier business model that rural Midwestern independent agencies benchmark against for multi-line P&C service.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Community Insurance Services social profiles
Digital presenceCommunity Insurance Services financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Community Insurance Services leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Community Insurance Services funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Community Insurance Services M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Community Insurance Services
What does Community Insurance Services do?
Community Insurance Services is an independent insurance agency that brokers and places personal, commercial, farm, auto, and health/life insurance policies on behalf of customers by representing multiple insurance carriers. The agency earns commissions from carriers when policies are placed and renewed, advising Cedar County, Iowa residents and businesses on coverage selection and risk management.
Is Community Insurance Services a public or private company?
Community Insurance Services is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Community Insurance Services founded?
Community Insurance Services was founded in 1970.
Where is Community Insurance Services based?
Community Insurance Services is headquartered in Tipton, United States, in the North America region.
How does Community Insurance Services make money?
One revenue line is on record: insurance Agency Commissions.
Who are Community Insurance Services's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are COUNTRY Financial and Farm Bureau Financial Services. Broad incumbents are Allstate, State Farm and Brown & Brown Insurance. Others are Auto-Owners Insurance, Grinnell Mutual, IMT Insurance and EMC Insurance. Erie Insurance is listed as a regional player.
Does Community Insurance Services have an API?
No public API is recorded for Community Insurance Services.
What industry is Community Insurance Services in?
Community Insurance Services's product category is Independent Insurance Brokerage. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAIAEAL, Individual Health Insurance Brokerage & Distribution. Its NAICS code is 524210 and its SIC code is 6411.