Joshua Barger, owner of Barger & Associates, has been named to D Magazine’s Best Insurance Agents list for the eighth time, according to the publication’s insurance agent directory. His appearances on the annual list include 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

The recognition is not a paid placement. D Magazine compiles the list by surveying subscribers, recent homebuyers, and industry peers, including mortgage professionals and real estate agents, who are asked to nominate insurance agents they have worked with directly. Nominees are then checked against Texas Department of Insurance licensing records to confirm active status and a clean disciplinary history before the names are finalized for publication. The process is intended to reflect firsthand client and referral-partner experience rather than self-submitted award applications.

For an agency, appearing once on the list is a notable signal of local reputation. Appearing across eight separate years, spanning nearly a decade of Southlake-area service, suggests the agency’s approach to client service has remained consistent across a changing insurance market and multiple economic cycles. Barger & Associates has operated in Southlake since 2012, and third-party review platforms show a strong aggregate rating across a large volume of verified reviews covering auto, home, life, and renters coverage.

“Getting nominated by people we’ve actually worked with, year after year, means more to me than any award we could apply for ourselves,” said Joshua Barger, owner of Barger & Associates in Southlake, Texas. “Our team hears about a lot of frustrating experiences people have had with insurance before they find us, and this list exists because of the neighbors who took the time to say something went right.”

The agency, which represents Allstate as a local exclusive agent, works with Southlake-area families and businesses across auto, homeowners, renters, life, motorcycle, and umbrella coverage lines. Beyond Southlake, the agency’s client base extends into other North Texas communities including Grapevine, Colleyville, Keller, and Flower Mound, as well as select markets elsewhere in the state.

Local insurance agents in fast-growing DFW suburbs such as Southlake often face a retention challenge. As new residents move in and existing clients’ needs evolve with home purchases, growing families, and teen drivers, agencies must keep pace with more complex household risk profiles. Repeated recognition on a peer- and consumer-driven list suggests an agency has managed that complexity amid rapid regional growth, where referrals from real estate and mortgage professionals can be especially important.

D Magazine’s Best Insurance Agents honorees are typically announced in the publication’s September issue each year, following a nomination period that opens earlier in the year. For clients and referral partners, the list functions as a public checkpoint on who is being consistently recognized in the local market. According to agency leadership, Barger & Associates plans to continue its current service model heading into the next nomination cycle.