Posted On: April 12, 2005, 4:10 pm CDT

Posted By: Licensed to Sell

I though insurance agents were, at least, "one rung" above car salesmen. Not anymore. Have they been elevated or have we been degraded? Hey, we are all in this together: Banks, Car Salesmen, Insurance Agents, Investment Firms, did I omit any other profession from the insurance sales arena? I'm sure there are more... How about REALTOR's offering FREE HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE with the purchase of a new home from Century 21? I wan't to be the one that pattent's that slik sales scheme. We are all one big happy family with the consumer's protection as our primary concern. Will the VW salesman be licensed and capable of discussing coverages? Eg: "Do you want that UM Stacked or Non-Stacked? Choose Stacked and we'll through in some "FREE" matts".

My insurance license makes it illegal for me to sell "FREE" insurance. I belive it's called "sliding". It would appear that my insurance license puts me at a competitive disadvantage. Hell, I've got to be careful if I take a plate of cookies to a referral source. I don't want to be charged with REBATING or SHARING OF COMMISSIONS WITH THE UNLICENSED.

Alas, this will never happen in my Great State, Florida. My commissioner would never allow insurance to be sold by the unlicensed. Wait a minute, I just lost a work comp account to an unlicensed PayChex payroll service rep and unlicensed PEO salesmen sell work comp like hot cakes in Florida... OOOPS!

Anyway, I'm in the market for a new car, and am always interested in saving money on my insurance. How competitively priced is that VW auto insurance? OH YEA, IT'S FREE! Great, I'm calling my Auto/Insurance Dealer/Agent to take a test drive.