Our operation was started on January 15, 1982, under the name of George Knight & Associates. In May of 1986, Gary E. Peterson purchased the outstanding stock of George Knight & Associates and changed the name to Chris-Leef General Agency, Inc. The name, Chris-Leef, is a combination of the given and middle name of founder Gary Peterson's son, Christopher Lee Peterson, and also an allusion to the company's "logo" the Oak Leaf. The "Mighty Oak" represents our slow, sure and steady growth over the years. It also represents our philosophies of truth, integrity, and imagination.

September 22, 2011, Chris-Leef celebrated 25 years in business by sponsoring its 1st Breast Cancer Research Charity Golf Tournament for the benefit of Susan G. Koman of Greater Kansas City. That year $8,300 was raised thanks to our agents and company supporters. This has since become an annual event and to date, $109,392.84 has been raised for the benefit for Breast Cancer Research.

 

November 1st of 2013 Chris-Leef General Agency Inc., acquired H&W Insurance Services, Inc. located at 4210 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Shawnee Mission Kansas. H&W specializes in offering insurance products for Errors & Omissions, Directors and Officers, Cyber Liability, Employment Practices Liability, and Media Liability. H&W Insurance operated as a subsidiary of Chris-Leef General Agency, Inc. In July of 2014, the old H&W Insurance staff transitioned into the Professional Lines Department and moved from the old H&W office location to Chris-Leef’s office.

 

Chris-Leef General Agency, Inc. began small with a staff of three on May 1, 1986, and has grown to become well known and widely respected in the Excess and Surplus Lines specialists. Today, Chris-Leef employs over 35 talented underwriting and insurance personnel. Our focus is on providing our retail insurance agents with the best service and markets available of any independent Managing General Agency or Wholesale Brokerage firm in the marketplace. The company started with less than a handful of markets and we now represent over 50 B+ rated or better Admitted and Non-Admitted Markets providing us In-house Binding Authority and Brokerage capabilities.

 

In the last 30 years, we have seen growth and change not only in our industry but the world. We have embraced our vision of "Sharing Our Passion for Service, Solutions and Education to Benefit Your Family and Ours"; with this in the forefront, we will continue to see success and growth into the future.

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As of January 1st, 2018, we were very excited to announce our acquisition of Granite Insurance Services, Inc., of Westminster, Colorado! This is the next step in our journey to position Chris-Leef General Agency as a leading Managing General Agency and Wholesale Broker who continually provides leading products and services to the marketplace.