Our story
Terrapin Insurance Group was founded in 2011 by Mike Davis, a University of Maryland alum and Montgomery County native who'd spent enough years inside larger insurance organizations to know what was missing: an agency that worked for the client first, that knew the neighborhoods it served, and that called you back before the renewal hit your inbox.
We opened at 1300 Piccard Drive in Rockville — deliberately in Rockville, not a fancier nearby ZIP — because Rockville is home. It's where Mike grew up, where many of our staff live, and where we've built the agency one household and one business at a time for the last decade and a half.
Today Terrapin is licensed in Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia, with a team carrying 15+ years of cumulative experience across personal lines, commercial, high net worth, life, and specialty business insurance. We've grown by referral. We intend to keep doing it that way.
Our independent agency difference
Captive companies (think the big direct-to-consumer brands) sell only their own product. One quote, one carrier, one rate. If that rate jumps at renewal, you're starting over.
We're independent — which means we represent 12 appointed carriers and shop them all at once. We work for you, not the insurance company. Our 12 carriers:
- Erie — our workhorse for personal auto, home, and umbrella across MD/DC/VA.
- Geico — competitive personal auto for select profiles.
- Progressive — strong for auto, small commercial, and non-standard risks.
- AIC — preferred home and auto for select Maryland neighborhoods.
- Chubb — our single HNW market for $1M+ estates.
- Tapco — specialty and hard-to-place property and liability.
- Assurant — renters, lender-placed, and specialty programs.
- US Assure — builders risk for new construction and major renovations.
- Steadily — landlord and short-term-rental specialist.
- MGT — commercial brokerage access for specialty risks.
- USLI — small business GL, professional, and management liability.
- Utica National — main-street commercial property and BOP.
That bench is the whole point. We don't fit you to a carrier — we fit a carrier to your risk. And when life changes — teen driver, new home, business launch, retirement — we proactively review your policies, not just at renewal but at the life events that should trigger a coverage conversation.
Meet the team
The names you'll talk to when you call Terrapin. We answer the phone, we know your file, and we know each other — so a call routed to anyone in the office goes to someone who can actually help.
Service area
Terrapin is licensed in Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia. Our concentration of business reflects the geography of our office:
- Maryland — Heavy concentration in Montgomery County (Rockville, Bethesda, Potomac, Gaithersburg, Olney, Silver Spring, North Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Kentlands, Lakelands, Crown, Edgemoor, Avenel, North Potomac, Damascus, Germantown, Clarksburg, Colesville, Fairland, Darnestown, Travilah, Leisure World), with a meaningful book in Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, and Prince George's counties.
- Washington, DC — All quadrants. Northwest is our largest, but we write the District top to bottom.
- Virginia — Northern Virginia — Arlington, Alexandria, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn, Leesburg.
If you live or own property anywhere in MD/DC/VA, we can write you. See our full service area map.
Our values
- Local expertise. We know the housing stock in Lincoln Park vs. Fallsmead, the flood maps on Rock Creek, the auto-theft corridor on Rockville Pike, the HOA quirks in King Farm, the Chubb threshold in Edgemoor. That local knowledge translates directly into better coverage advice.
- Carrier access. Twelve appointed carriers is a real bench. We don't fit your risk to one product — we shop the right carrier for the situation.
- Real advocacy. When you have a claim, we work it with you — not as a routing layer to a 1-800 number, but as your representative inside the carrier's claims process.
- Proactive service. Teen driver coming up? Business expanding? Refinanced? Adding a pool? Buying a second home? Those are policy conversations. We call you when they happen — not when the renewal hits.
Credentials & trust
- Maryland Licensed (resident producer)
- DC Licensed (non-resident producer)
- Virginia Licensed (non-resident producer)
- IIA of Maryland Member — Independent Insurance Agents of Maryland
- Trusted Choice Agency
- BBB Accredited
- Founded 2011 — 15 years in business
- 4.7 stars / 21 Google Reviews — read what clients say