We were founded in 1954 by Kenton R. Hayes, Sr. Initially we were known as Hayes, Mayer & Foster, then Hayes & Foster, then Hayes, Foster & Utley, then Hayes, Utley & Associates and finally today going by Hayes, Utley & Hedgspeth.
Initially, we wrote mostly car and home insurance, but as the economy grew and the experience of our people grew, we branched out and were writing a great deal of insurance for businesses. As more and more businesses became clients, we found that they were interested in having us provide employee benefits as well as their property and casualty lines. We branched out further and now providing employee benefits is also a big part of what we do.
Cab Utley, a principal of the agency in 1964, became interested in flying in 1978, and he developed a large book of aviation insurance business, much of which we still have today. We still write more seaplane insurance that any other agency in the US. Mike Sherrard CIC today is responsible for the aviation division.
In 1970 Hayes, Foster & Utley merged with Heritage Insurance and became known as Hayes, Utley & Associates. Kenton Hayes, Sr., Cab Utley, Don White, John Newman and Hulin L. "Sam" Bundy were the owners, and built the agency into a premier insurance agency.
Julie Hayes Leahy, CPCU, Kenton's daughter, joined the agency in 1980 and after a few years became interested in Medical Professional Liability Insurance. She started our medical professional liability division, and today it is the agency's specialty. Her, along with Tom Elder, CIC and Todd Sorrell have a wealth of experience in that area, and in fact, we were recently chosen by Mag Mutual to be their exclusive Kentucky agency and to kick off their entrance into the state.
In 1988 Kenton Hayes, Jr. CPCU along with Glen Hedgspeth, CIC and Julie Hayes Leahy, CPCU purchased the agency from the prior owners, and along with Mike Sherrard and Debbie Hayes currently make up the agency ownership.
Location History
Initially were located in the offices of the State Home Loan Company. After a few years, the offices moved to 310 West Liberty St. In the 1960's we bought a building at 3923 Bardstown Road and stayed there until selling the building and taking over the 11th floor of the Kaden Tower in 1987. In 1998 we moved to our current location, 1900 Plantside Drive in the heart of Bluegrass Industrial Park, one of the largest industrial parks in the Midwest.
