Today, the agency is fully automated, even cautiously proceeding with blogs and Twitter. “We try to keep up with the latest technology, and use all automation possible; downloads, uploads, online rating, etc. We have an IT staff of two,” Lowndes said.

C.T. Lowndes also provides its customer service representatives with dual monitors for increased efficiency, and has created its own processing center to minimize paperwork and allow CSRs to spend more time with clients.

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Growing business

The agency is located on a hurricane-threatened coast, so the company concentrates on flood and wind coverage, along with earthquake insurance (the area experienced a major earthquake in 1886). It also includes a small but growing life and health business.

The premium volume of the agency has reached $47.5 million from its 60 percent personal lines business and 40 percent commercial lines business. Its main insurers include Safeco, Travelers, Progressive, Montgomery, Hartford, Zurich, CNA, Accidental Fund and more.

Another aspect that helps C.T. Lowndes grow is its Charleston location. The agency has witnessed many market changes over the years that have not impacted the business. “We just go with the flow and move forward,” Lowndes said. “It is important to try to anticipate the market swings so we can be proactive and not reactive.”

C.T. Lowndes uses a philosophy to educate its clients about their insurance policies, such as what is covered and why they need the coverage, as a way to stay ahead of the insurance game. “Clients in this day and age want knowledge as well as insurance coverage,” Lowndes said. “We try to provide that knowledge by taking the extra time to discuss coverages and needs.”

To stay ahead of competitors, C.T. Lowndes represents the best companies that are willing to do business along the coast. Its size, permanence and reputation has allowed the agency to gain contracts with most of the companies it is willing to do business with.

Related: Read “Prospering after devastation.”

It's a family thing

Charles Lowndes was a wealthy planter and merchant who served on the board of directors of the Bank of Charleston, and was also one of the nation's outstanding businessmen. The statements held true when he opened an insurance company at a time when Charleston was a thriving sea port.

Through his direction, Lowndes saved the bank twice–once during the Economic Panic of 1857 and again after the Civil War. The Bank of Charleston was one of the few businesses that survived during the reckless fiscal policies between 1865 and 1872.

After Charles' death in 1884, the agency was passed down to his only surviving son, Rawlins.

During Rawlins' reign, the Great Earthquake of 1886 struck Charleston and leveled a large portion of the city. Insurance policies at the time did not cover earthquakes. The agency survived the disaster and earthquake insurance became available in 1916, prompted by the 1906 earthquake that hit San Francisco.

Another major hurricane struck the city in 1911 and flooded Charleston. World War I would soon start and end but the agency continued its operations, even after Rawlins' death in 1919.

Charles Mullally, Rawlins' grandson, took over the agency after serving as a naval officer in the First World War. The agency was incorporated in 1928 with Mullally and Hassell Rivers as stockholders.

The newly invented automobile was becoming more and more popular, and the agency began offering automobile insurance. When the Great Depression swept through the country in the 1930s, C.T. Lowndes adapted to these changes and managed to remain in business.

In 1931, Mullally's fifth cousin, Henry Horlbeck Lowndes, became a stockholder and part of the family business.

Mullally, Lowndes and Rivers insured many of the plantations in Charleston. In 1951, after another world war, Mullally agreed to sell the agency to Lowndes.

In the early 1950s, the homeowners' insurance policy was introduced and the special multi-peril policy was developed to combine commercial lines policies. Lowndes and Rivers ran the agency, along with C. Harrington Bissell. Rivers soon retired and Lowndes' eldest son, Edward F. Lowndes, II, joined the firm in 1965.

During the 1950s and 1960s, C.T. Lowndes acquired several small regional agencies, including Schweers Agency, Wehman Agency and Stoney Agency.

In 1972, Henry Lowndes Jr. joined the family business, and Bissell left to form his own agency. C.T. Lowndes continued to prosper but stayed small, with a premium volume of about $500,000.

C.T. Lowndes was one of the first agencies in the city to purchase a computer system in the mid-1970s, and later would use the INSURNET system before updating to the current AMS system.

Then in 1980, Willard (Billy) A. Silcox Jr. was welcomed at C.T. Lowndes, and served as the catalyst for the growth that would follow the agency.

After the death of Mullally in 1984, the company restructured with Henry as president, Edward as vice president and Billy as secretary. Silcox's oldest son, Willard (Bill) Silcox, III, joined the firm in 1989.

As the years passed and the firm acquired agencies and opened a total of eight offices throughout South Carolina, more restructuring occurred. Henry Lowndes Jr. stepped aside as president in October 2009, and Billy took over the day-to-day operation of the agency.

Henry's nephews, Edward F. Lowndes III and Rawlins C. Lowndes, will become owners of the agency in 2012, making C.T. Lowndes assured of being operated by the sixth generation of the Lowndes family, including a second generation of the Silcox family.

The plan that happened

C.T. Lowndes experienced an eye-opening phenomenon when it implemented its 2010 strategic plan. The company had recently taken a strategic planning session with an outside facilitator and developed the plan.

“For the 37 years I have been in the business, we had no plan for our growth from one office and five staff to eight offices and 90 staff,” Lowndes said. “We relied on good luck and took advantage of opportunities, but had no plan whatsoever. The world today changes too fast to even try to grow and compete without a plan.”

One reason for the longevity of the agency, Lowndes said, is that the older generation made sure to not put the younger generation in debt. Each generation transfers their ownership of the business to the next generation to ensure that they will not start in debt.

“Although I may not be around, I fully expect this agency to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2050, with the sixth and maybe seventh generations of the Lowndes family, and the second or third generation of the Silcox family in attendance,” Lowndes said.

The most important element to C.T. Lowndes is that the agency is perpetuated and the family business remains a viable enterprise, providing a good livelihood for the Lowndes family. “There is a great deal of pride involved here, and that overcomes financial considerations,” Lowndes said.

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