Insurance aggregators/Groups for personal lines

[surestart12345]

Who has experience with the many different Insurance Aggregators, their fees, ease of binding applications/endorsements and the number of insurance companies available to get quotes through?
I've looked at many of them and find ISU to have the most insurers available through the company and more through their own agents who may "assist in writing business", but they are expensive to participate in and they have a convaluted formula for back end payments and now I'm looking at ASNOA and Iroquois Southwest. Many have a large upfront fee, some high monthly fees - especially to work with their Agency Management System and many are 80/20 or 90/10...to me the most important is access to carriers and ISU has everybody beat in that department unless I'm missing out on someone new....??? I think that access to the right carriers is one of the most critical issues to independent agents nowadays, no matter what the industry gurus and heads of the associations lament on as many carriers just don't want to help out the smaller agencies or even give them a try to build up a book of business.

[amckirahan]

There are many options available and each are uniquely different. Whether there is a monthly fee, a broker fee, reduced commissions, etc....there is a cost. I'm biased because, in the interest of full disclosure, I work for a large on-line wholesaler that has access to 50+ carriers, many of which are for personal lines. We do charge a nominal monthly fee (no up front set-up cost) and, for this fee, you get access to our carriers, a comparative rater for personal lines, a propriatary agency management system and access to our agency services team and underwriters. Our service level committment to our members is to process all quote submissions same day if we receive it by 1:00 PM CST. We offer both personal lines and commercial and, have 3 E&S partners for business we can't place in house. I would be happy to discuss our company with you in greater detail; please call me at 512-687-6702. Thank you and I look forward to visiting with you. Andy

[surestart12345]

what's the company name andy? nominal monthly sounds great, would like to see list of personal lines p&c carriers, you can provide name/website or email carrier list to : tsfc2065@yahoo.com. thanks!

[AgencyEquity]

I wrote an article on this very subject, An Overview of Agency Clusters, Alliances and Agency Networks...
http://www.agencyequity.com/blog/25-an- ... r-networks

Also, you can search over 100 of these groups across by state and keyword...
http://www.agencyequity.com/listings/in ... -alliances

No one group fits all. What may be good for you may not be good for another agency. Each group is different, and that is what is great about the marketplace. Different needs are filled with different options.

[sacman]

There are other things to consider that may or may not matter to you.

Will you be licensed directly with the carrier or as a sub producer for the aggregator?
Will your agency name be on the dec pages or the aggregator?
Are you paid directly by the companies, or is the aggregator repsonsible for processing
your commissions and subtracting any fees?
Do you get bonus money, and if so, what percentage? This is a HUGE question, lots at stake in bonus money.
Do you own the book?
What happens if you want out? Who keeps the policies? departure fees?

My opinion about differing aggregators is well known. I looked at many before chosing.
Be sure to look at the big picture to determine what is the best fit.
Those that are cheapest to join up front, may not be the cheapest over the long haul.

Best of luck

[JAM]

www.thinkpremierfirst.com

[kevin316]

There are many options available and each are uniquely different. Whether there is a monthly fee, a broker fee, reduced commissions, etc....there is a cost. I'm biased because, in the interest of full disclosure, I work for a large on-line wholesaler that has access to 50+ carriers, many of which are for personal lines. We do charge a nominal monthly fee (no up front set-up cost) and, for this fee, you get access to our carriers, a comparative rater for personal lines, a propriatary agency management system and access to our agency services team and underwriters. Our service level committment to our members is to process all quote submissions same day if we receive it by 1:00 PM CST. We offer both personal lines and commercial and, have 3 E&S partners for business we can't place in house. I would be happy to discuss our company with you in greater detail; please call me at 512-687-6702. Thank you. If you have any questions, you can either pm me or leave a message here and I will get back to you.

Hi Andy,
I would like to discuss this in greater detail, but when i called that number, the person said it is the wrong number. Is there any way that I could reach you? Thanks.