B. C. Thibeaux grew up watching his father work in the insurance industry and remembers that “insurance was always something I was familiar with.”

After playing golf in college for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Thibeaux went on to play golf professionally for nearly three years. After leaving the professional golf world, however, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do as a career.

When a family friend visiting from England offered Thibeaux an internship at Lloyd’s of London, he jumped at the opportunity immediately. The experience “helped me see that I could really enjoy this industry, and it influenced the way I do business to this day,” said Thibeaux. “They’re very old school over there; everything is relationship-based. I learned how important and effective it is to be face-to-face with my clients as much as I can, from the very first meeting to renewals.”

These days, Thibeaux says he still plays golf frequently, and it has become a favorite outing for his family of four, including his wife Cassie and their 8-year-old and 4-year-old sons. “We love to go out to the golf course as a family and hit a few balls with the boys,” he said. Thibeaux is the senior vice president of HUB International Gulf South in Lafayette, LA, a regional office of HUB International, the largest privately held insurance agency in the world.

“What I like about operating under the umbrella of a large company,” said Thibeaux, “is that you can offer clients the backbone of a large company but the mom-and-pop service of a local agency.”

Part of Thibeaux’s relationship-based approach is his belief that it is important to challenge his clients to understand what they’re buying. “I think most successful business owners like to be challenged and to understand what goes into their business, and they are successful people for that reason. I try to go above and beyond to teach people about the insurance products they’re buying because that knowledge can really give them a measure of extra calm and confidence if and when something does happen,” he said.

Thibeaux also likes to go the extra mile to introduce his clients to the actual underwriters of their policies. “Putting an underwriter in a face-to-face meeting with a client I’ve connected them with really solidifies the relationship between me, the insurance company, and the client,” explained Thibeaux. “If my LUBA Workers’ Comp clients need to file a claim and use that insurance, all three of us know we’re on the same team and that LUBA is going to take good, competent care of that claim.”

Thibeaux said connecting his clients to the right carriers is one of the most important parts of his job. “A carrier’s performance for a client ultimately always falls back on me and my team,” said Thibeaux. “Insurance is only as good as it is when you have a claim. I’ve been using LUBA for more than 12 years, and in my opinion it has the best claim service of any workers’ comp company I’ve ever dealt with.”