Good insurance isn't one-size-fits-all. It never was. That belief is written into the founding of WalkerHughes, and it shapes how we work with every client today.

Ask Ben Schoettmer how WalkerHughes Insurance started, and he won't hand you a one-pager.
He'll tell you about Everett Hughes.

Everett was an insurance agent in Tipton, Indiana. He had muscular dystrophy and spent most of his life in a wheelchair. He insured Ben's father's farm for years, and when Ben was a teenager working toward his Boy Scouts’ Eagle Scout rank, his dad made an introduction. Ben needed to complete a Disabilities Awareness merit badge, which meant spending real time with someone living with a disability. His father knew just the person.

What was supposed to be a structured visit became something neither of them anticipated. Ben started building computers around that time and became Everett's go-to IT person. The work gave them hours together, talking about business, about clients, about how to treat people. And what struck Ben wasn't Everett's situation. It was his dedication to the people he served. He ran a full agency, made sure every client was covered, showed up when things went wrong, and never stopped working to protect the people who trusted him.

That made an impression that never left.

The mentorship grew into a business partnership, and in March 2007 they opened a second location together. Everett passed away unexpectedly seven months later. Ben purchased both offices in August 2008 and rebranded them Hughes Group, a tribute to his mentor. Everett's wife Diane continued with the company until her passing in 2021.

People come to us because they need to protect what they've built. Everett showed up for people without excuses, and that standard didn't leave when he did.

What that history means for how we work

The story of WalkerHughes isn't really about insurance. It's about what happens when you pay attention to the person in front of you — their situation, their constraints, their life.

Everett modeled that. He never asked for accommodation. He just found a way, and he built real relationships doing it. Ben continued to build WalkerHughes around that same mentality: that every client, whether they're insuring a family home, a commercial fleet, a public entity, or a multi-generational farm, deserves someone who takes the time to understand their specific needs. Not a transaction. A relationship.

No two clients are the same

We work with individuals, families, farmers, and business owners across Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio. And one thing we've learned across all of them: the coverage that's right for one person can be completely wrong for another, even if they look the same on paper.

That's why we don't lead with products. We lead with questions. What do you actually need protected? What keeps you up at night? What has fallen through the cracks before? From there, we find the right fit, not the fastest one.

Accessible by design

Part of meeting people where they are is making sure we're reachable. Everett Hughes ran a thriving agency from a wheelchair in a small Indiana town. He didn't wait for things to be easier; he built something anyway, and he did it with integrity. That spirit is something we carry forward — being the kind of broker who's easy to talk to, straightforward to work with, and present when it matters.

We've grown a lot since those early days in Tipton. But the way we think about clients hasn't changed.

Your situation is unique. We’d love to meet you.