Tom Kelsey’s Auto Body:

Loyal to his Customers and Eldredge & Lumpkin

When Tom Kelsey bought his first car in 1963—the year he turned 16—he sought out Dick Lumpkin for his first insurance policy. He’s remained a loyal E&L customer ever since.

Today, computers have streamlined procedures at the agency, but back then all records were typewritten. Tom still remembers his first meeting with Mr. Lumpkin. “I didn’t know anybody could type that fast!” he recalls.

A South Chatham native and a graduate of Chatham High and Curry College in Boston, Tom went into business for himself in 1976, repairing foreign cars in his South Chatham garage. He quickly outgrew that location and moved the business to Harwich Port, where he started doing bodywork as well.

With a steadily growing customer base, Tom built a small body shop in Chatham’s Commerce Park in 1980, eventually phasing out foreign car repairs to concentrate on collision work. His business prospered, and again Tom needed more space. In 1989 he expanded the original 2,400-sq.-ft. building to its present 10,000 sq. ft.

“We handle at least 100 cars every month,” says Tom. Kelsey’s Auto Body has nine employees, two of whom have been with Tom for 27 years, and three others for more than 20. “Our customers appreciate seeing the same faces every time they come in,” says Tom. “It speaks to the quality of service we provide.”

“Many of our customers have been with us through several generations,” he adds. “We’re fixing cars today for drivers we remember coming here in car seats!” Reflecting that continuity, Tom is pleased that his son Jim recently joined him in business, looking ahead to the day he will take charge.

The majority of Kelsey’s Auto Body jobs are insurance-claim related, according to Tom, who has nothing but good words for the way Eldredge & Lumpkin goes to bat for its customers. “If there’s ever a problem dealing with an insurer, E&L will step in and make calls on the customer’s behalf,” stresses Tom.

He speaks from personal experience with an environmental claim related to his Harwich Port property dating back almost 20 years. “The claim would never have been settled in my favor without E&L’s persistence,” Tom says. “Alan Long personally dug through my old policies stored in the agency’s cellar and researched the policies until he found proof that my company had coverage when the damage originally occurred.”

Contact Tom Kelsey at 800 244-2955 or Email:

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