Insurance Agents Offer ‘Beverly Hills Service in Highland Park’

It’s a long drive from Highland Park to Beverly Hills, that Westside haven of luxury known for celebrities and outstanding quality of life.

But if you ask Richard Calderon, there’s a slice of Beverly Hills right here in Highland Park.

Calderon and his wife Tanya co-own Reinas Insurance, a family owned business that claims to provide “Beverly Hills Service in Highland Park,” according to a sign outside the 5331 Figueroa St. storefront, across from the Mystic Dharma Buddhist Temple a block away.

“When people think of Beverly Hills, they think of exceptional service,” says Calderon, offering an example of what he does to create a similar environment: “I tell the girls to give customers water when they come in.”

“The girls” are Calderon’s young, uniformed female employees, several of whom can be found working the phones or offering walk-in customers auto and home insurance from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Calderon’s hospitality comes with a touch of humanity almost certainly lacking in Beverly Hills: Reinas specializes in providing affordable insurance to undocumented residents who need to show no other form of certification to qualify except a valid drivers license.

“State Farm and Allstate don't take people who are illegal but who have a drivers license, even though they may have been living here for 20 or 30 years,” says Calderon.

That, he explains, is the big difference between Reinas and other insurance companies, especially corporate ones, in the neighborhood.

Reinas, which means “queen” in Spanish, opened in Highland Park in 2004, four years after the Calderons got married. At the time, “there was no quality insurance office in Highland Park and there was nobody to help people who are illegal,” says Calderon. “I'm still the only one here.”

In fact, says Calderon, the whole purpose behind his business was to open an insurance company that would help one of the neediest, not to mention relatively substantial, sections of Highland Park’s population.

“Since we're both Hispanics,” says Calderon, referring to his wife and himself, “we felt insurance would be a good area to work in." 

In 2009, the Calderons opened a branch in Boyle Heights, injecting their business strategy into the heart of East L.A., where undocumented immigrants abound.

 “That's why we're so successful,” says Calderon, referring to his willingness to work with so-called “illegal” folk. “People can't figure it out.”

Jim Astorino, an Allstate agent in nearby Atwater Village, agrees that there are advantages when an independent insurance business chooses to focus on a fairly large segment of the population such as undocumented workers.

“It sounds like he has something good going for him,” Astorino says, referring to Calderon.

Reinas has its roots in Pasadena, where it was co-founded in 1989 by Tanya’s mother, who lent her first name to the company. Having cut her teeth in her family’s business, Tanya brought valuable hands-on experience to Reinas when it opened in Highland Park.

Richard, by contrast, is a former used-car salesman. His background, however, has been helpful in marketing, especially since he knows a thing or two about drunk drivers who risk their lives and wreck their vehicles, pushing up their insurance premiums in the process. 

In 2009, Richard launched an eye-catching campaign that brought numerous clients to the business. For a year, he installed a special exhibit in Reinas’ private parking lot—the shell of a wrecked Infiniti sedan suspended in the air from the store's wall. Nearby, a sign warned, “Si Toma No Maneje” (“If you drink, don't drive”).

Calderon also attributes Reinas’ success to good old business ethics. “I don't overcharge people,” he says. “I don't rip them off.” Earlier this year, he says, he fired an employee who overcharged a customer $400 in broker’s fees. 

“He couldn't figure it out why I got so mad,” says Calderon. “I said, Would you do that to your grandmother? A guy like you would ruin my business in two or three years.”

Calderon also takes great pride in his keeping his storefront as attractive as he possibly can, which, he doesn’t mind, adding, is another element of his clever Beverly Hills marketing. 

“I love this property because I own it,” he says. “As soon as I see graffiti, I wipe it out.”