Joey, With all due respect, if you think that you can include your subsidy in your BK filing AND keep your agency, you have no idea what sort of company you've associated yourself with. They are ruthless and heartless if you cross them, regardless if what you are doing is in your best interest. They...

This varies from state to state and company to company. You need to look at the definitions sections and determine what is considered a "covered vehicle" and an "insured". Normally, the coverage follows the vehicle because on most, but not all, policies an insured is "any pe...

N2I- If you visit company websites, most of them have a tab "become an agent". Reseach companies and determine a few that you would like to get appointed with and see what their requirements are. It is VERY difficult to just open up your own shop and expect a bunch of quality companies to ...

Normally you would want to have the owner of the vehicle listed as the named insured on the policy. I see three options for you that would add some protection for the father, but not eliminate it. The quickest fix is to transfer the title of the vehicle into the son's name. This adds a level of prot...

If you accept this 'mentorshop' then you have to rule out the captive carriers. You cannot do both. The fact is, you should be able to get a contract with a captive company at any time. This opportunity doesn't come along often. You will obtain practical sales training as opposed to product traingin...

My SIAA master agent help me apply for my E&O.
They shopped it out for me as part of the service for a new agency.
I ended up going with Westport.

I'm about 2 weeks away from my three year anniversary with SIAA and there is not a single regret. They were the perfect solution in switching from the captive agency side after 17 years. Last year I made 25% more than when I left, and that is AFTER the fee. The minimum commission on auto I earn is 1...

Maybe you should check your "facts" before spewing your rhetoric.

I am still friends with several Farmers agents and wish them nothing but the best. In fact, several of them refer business to me that they cannot write. However, this is not the same company that I joined 20 years ago. My issue is that you do NOT control your destiny. Regardless of what the DM who h...

sadcaptive - I'm going to sound like a SIAA recruiter, but I am not. It's been a few years since I investigated Smart Choice but here is what I remember. You pay 30% of the first $50k of commission, then you keep 100% afterwards. So if you make over $50k per year you will owe them $15,000 each and e...

Kevin- They are claiming once again that they are the third largest. I know that they dropped down a spot or two a couple of years ago. However, they now include their purchased business of Bristol West and AIG/21st in their calculation. I don't know what the year end 2009 numbers are, but I was tol...

SadCaptive- I joined SIAA three years ago, and it was the best career decision I ever made. I tried to get appointments directly, but could only get a handful of non-standards. The standard companies either wanted an existing book and/or minimum GWP guarantee. With SIAA I got Travelers, Hartford, AA...

I agree also. When I left, I had many customers that chose to follow me. I was surprised by some of the people that showed loyalty to me and suprised by others that showed loyalty to the company. I am also fully aware that a couple of the agents that inherited some of my policies were backstabbing a...

Greg- I re-started this thread because I'm new to the board and read through a bunch of old posts, and this one caught my attention, being an ex-FIG agent. You are absolutely correct on your interpretation of the contract. You cannot solicit, accept or service policyholders at the time of your depar...

55 posts on this topic and only 2 people showing support of Farmers. Both of those people were new agents just completing their 2 year career program. I wonder if either of them are still with Farmers. I was an Farmers agent for 17 years and now have been IA for three. I find it interesting that new...