Thirteen years built one relationship at a time.
Yoshizumi Insurance Agency was founded in 2013 in the Badger Building on La Granada — two blocks from the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The model hasn't changed in thirteen years: every policy hand-built, every renewal shopped, every claim handled by Kiyoma personally.
The agency built for California's hardest insurance market.
Yoshizumi Insurance Agency is a boutique, client-first independent agency that combines personalized service with professional expertise — protecting what matters most to families and businesses across San Diego County. Founded in 2013 by Kiyoma Yoshizumi, the agency has become the firm local realtors and homeowners call when the California insurance market gets complicated. From fire-mapped Rancho Santa Fe estates to commercial portfolios in downtown San Diego, every quote is shopped across carriers, every policy is hand-built, and every client gets the direct phone number — not an 800 number.
From the start, the model was different from how most insurance agencies operate. No call centers. No tiered service. No policy that exists only because it was the carrier the agent gets paid to sell. Every quote shopped across 30+ carriers. Every renewal re-shopped. Every claim handled by Kiyoma personally — from the first phone call through the final check. The boutique-agency model, in other words, scaled for the moment California finds itself in.
About Kiyoma Yoshizumi.
Born and raised in San Diego, Kiyoma Yoshizumi has proudly called the city home for more than 35 years. A graduate of Scripps Ranch High School and the University of California, San Diego, he has deep roots in the community and a genuine passion for helping the people who live here.
Kiyoma's approach to insurance was shaped by personal experience. He lived through both the devastating 2003 and 2007 San Diego wildfires. During the 2003 Scripps Ranch fires, many of his friends lost their homes. In 2007, his own family was forced to evacuate as the fires came dangerously close to their home. Witnessing firsthand how quickly families can lose everything gave him a deep sense of empathy and a strong commitment to helping clients protect what matters most.
After graduating from UC San Diego, Kiyoma began his insurance career with American National Insurance Company in 2013. Over time, he realized that becoming an independent broker would allow him to better serve his clients by providing more options, greater flexibility, and customized coverage solutions.
Today, Yoshizumi Insurance Agency works with more than 30 insurance carriers, helping individuals and families find coverage tailored to their unique needs. Kiyoma takes pride in building long-term relationships with his clients, many of whom have trusted him since the beginning of his career.
Whether clients are dealing with a home flood, auto accident, wildfire claim, or another unexpected event, Kiyoma is known for being accessible, responsive, and ready to help guide them through difficult situations with care and honesty.
What changed in the California market
Between 2023 and 2025, California's insurance landscape underwent its hardest contraction in a generation. Many homeowners insurance companies pulled back, stopped writing new homeowners policies, and non-renewed thousands of fire-mapped properties. Premiums tripled. Non-renewal letters became normal mail.
Then the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires happened. The market got harder, not easier. Coverage that was previously available disappeared. Specialty E&S carriers became the only option for many high-risk properties. The California FAIR Plan went from a last-resort insurance company to the only solution. Premiums kept climbing.
The agencies that grew through that period were the ones with deep specialty-market relationships and the willingness to do the work. That's the agency Kiyoma built. When CBS 8 needed someone to explain the crisis to San Diego viewers in January 2024, they called Kiyoma. When real estate agents needed an explanation of why escrows were canceling in April 2024, CBS 8 called him again. When the post-fire questions piled up in January 2025, Heather Myers sat down with him for the long-form interview.
Where to find Kiyoma in the press
- Why are homeowner's insurance rates going up in California? — CBS 8 San Diego, January 2024.
- Home insurance woes impacting San Diego real estate market — CBS 8 San Diego, April 2024.
- Sorting out the lesser-known California insurance carriers — CBS 8 San Diego, April 2024.
- Questions to ask your California insurance agent after the 2025 fires — Heather Myers, January 2025.
How we work.
Every quote starts the same way: send the basics — what you need coverage for, the property address, your timeline — and we shop across 30+ carriers (admitted and specialty E&S markets), and come back with options usually within 72 hours. For escrow-sensitive transactions, that turnaround compresses to 24–48 hours.
No fee for quoting. No obligation to switch. When a policy binds, we're paid by the carrier — never by you. When a claim happens and you need advice, you call my direct line, not a 1-800 number. When your renewal comes due, we re-shop your rate automatically — no email asking if you'd like us to, no upcharge for the service. It's the model that turns one-time clients into ten-year clients.
The lines we write
Homeowners Insurance · Auto Insurance · Life Insurance · Business Insurance · Exotic & Classic Car Insurance · Recreational Insurance · Annuities · Umbrella Insurance. Personal and commercial, coordinated under one roof so the policies actually talk to each other and there are no gaps when something happens. Homeowners is the line we get the most questions about — for obvious reasons in the current California market — but every line gets the same shopping rigor and the same direct-to-Kiyoma claim handling.
Why neighbors keep referring us
Most of our new business comes from referrals — from realtors who need an agent who can close escrow on a fire-mapped property, from neighbors who got non-renewed by their insurance company and didn't know who else to call, from estate planners and family attorneys who work with us on the back end of complex family estates. The model is simple, and thirteen years in, it still works: do the work that other agents won't, answer the phone when other agents don't, and be available when disaster strikes when you need claim advice.
If you've been looking for a reliable independent insurance broker in San Diego County or just someone who'll actually pick up when it matters most — this is the agency.
Tell us a little about what you need to protect.
Send the basics and we'll come back with shopped quotes within 48 hours — same day if it's an escrow.