Anyone with half a brain…….you must be a great finance guy. Your tolerance for risk is off the charts. Many of my clients do not have mortgages and carry FULL replacement cost insurance. They want to be paid if there house burns down…….what an idiot! Please name where you work so I can be sure not to put my money there.
Maybe you should all try and get the facts before blowing up on the banks. Truth is that Palmer & Cay could not pay on a $40 million note owed to Wachovia. The bank had little choice but to purchase the P&C.
The Gov didn’t give Wachovia money, nor did it even suggest the purchase. The fact is smaller independent agencies are going they way of the dinosaur as they have no value added services to speak of.
There are many independent agencies that add value to their client’s in the form of personalized, dedicated account management. Banks should stick to the business of banking and leave insurance alone.
Is this the same Wachovia that is demanding from the city of Charlotte that it fund a 1800 seat auditorium in the new building that Wachovia plans to build? Just what the Queen City needs, another underutilized auditorium!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Us small indies give the best service possible, particularly in personal and mainstreet business. Unfortunately, the carriers have their heads in the clouds and pick winners, including these bone-collecting grow-by-acquisition agencis that were once also a pimple an an elephant’s behind.
Problem is, a large agency with small agency accounts is analogous to a child’s sand sifter. Large agencies develop big-account-itis, and neglect the smaller accounts and personal lines, relegating them to the customer service personnel. The accounts eventually run off to someone that knows their name. So, the sifters, the insurance agency equivalent to Crazy Eddie, continue on the hunt for soon-to-retire or soon-to-die agencies to feed into the top of the funnel to keep the revenue stream coming. It’s all about the contingency, but they really are not in the business of insurance.
The average independent agency should not even worry about this acquistion.This is Wachovia in name only. We all know that this bank is First Union not Wachovia. The only reason that they didnt keep there name is that they had a horrible reputation in the banking business. If they do for insurance what they do for banking it want be long before they will have Palmer and Cay run into the ground. I give them three years and Mr Cay will want his company back. No bank has any business
in the insurance business. Its a conflict of interest in the worst way.
Money follows money and unlike others who posted comments, I do see synergies of financial institutions having insurance arms. You may not like it, but it is hard to tell a bank from an insurance company from a finaical services/investment company. They all cross sell.
At the end of the day,insurance companies are in the finance business, and not the dissaster recovery business!!! If your mortgage company did not require it, how many homeowners would even have homeowners insurance anyway?
As an underwriter for a large carrier, I’ve seen it all. To make the blanket statement that national agencies don’t provide personal service is short sighted and not always true. There is that happy medium.
Cash is king, and insurance intermediary businesses add significant new fee income to bank holding companies. Melding P&C with Wachovia will be a tough trick, however!
What happened to Jim Meathe in this deal? Another big payday or left in the dust?
Spoken like a finance guy. If what you wre true, the independent agent, State Farm Allstate, Farmers and all the career agents would be extinct. Banks peddle annuities; they bird-dog auto and home insurance through their tellers and direct marketing, but this client base is only the fringes of society, those people that don’t have any sense of value, are price sensitive and are always chasing the cheapest price. We’ll leave those clowns for banks and for GEICO. They aren’t real insurance customers anyway.
I happen to know personally that as late as last summer, Palmer Cay was looking for loans from some of its carriers, but was turned down. The rest of last year saw deteriorating results. This sale comes as no surprise. Kind of sad to see such an old company go by the wayside. Is the beautiful office in Savannah going to close?
If Palmer & Cay is the 15th largest agency, I do not think it is a small independent agency.
Anyway, in New England, most of the bank owned agencies are now up for sale if the rumor from BankNorth is correct. I heard that they would like to divest themself of insurance agencies.
Yeah, GEICO caters to the scum of the earth, because their customers don’t like paying for the local agents new boat. Don’t forget to lump in Progressive with that group. Oh, wait, you probably like Progressive, err, Drive, because you can sell it.
Not real insurance customers? Thats just a sophmoric response by a small fry that has lost too many of those not real customers to direct writers. Be careful, because more and more of the traditional walk-in and talk about the weather agencies are getting Direct sides, and once they see the profit, and the customer sees the savings, bye bye local guy. Thats reality. The almighty dollar rules it all.
To do a job right, we examine the whole of a customer’s risk profile. Financeguy, who likes to belittle our work, would rather you call a no-name roulette clerk and order your own malpractice from the GEICO check-the-box menu, get a state minimum policy because that’s the cheapest offering, depriving yourself of underinsured motorists coverage, and exposing your assets to lien and confiscation. (After all, Insure.com states finding the cheapest price makes you an “insurance genius”) Then, you can order your homeowners policy from a Dot-com website, insure the mortgage and end up with a 5% cyclone deductible on your Form 1 policy, and not even consider that you need an umbrella. Call progressive.com for your state minimum no guest passenger coverage motorcycle policy, and when you call this wonderful hodge-podge of insurance muck, you never talk to the same person twice. That is your preference, Mr. Know-it-all Finance man, but some people choose value over cheap. And, I suppose these wonderful carriers who you endorse employ no one? What a crock. We know our clients, and we look out for them, for as many years as we continue in this career. Keep eating at the Big Boy Buffet and buying your car insurance from a lizard.
Anyone with half a brain…….you must be a great finance guy. Your tolerance for risk is off the charts. Many of my clients do not have mortgages and carry FULL replacement cost insurance. They want to be paid if there house burns down…….what an idiot! Please name where you work so I can be sure not to put my money there.
Maybe you should all try and get the facts before blowing up on the banks. Truth is that Palmer & Cay could not pay on a $40 million note owed to Wachovia. The bank had little choice but to purchase the P&C.
THE GOVERNMENT IS REALLY HELPING THE BIG FINANCIAL COMPANIES PUT THE HURTIN’ ON THE INDEPENDENT AGENCIES.
The Gov didn’t give Wachovia money, nor did it even suggest the purchase. The fact is smaller independent agencies are going they way of the dinosaur as they have no value added services to speak of.
Bob-Are you saying Palmer & Cay was a small independent agency with no value added services?
There are many independent agencies that add value to their client’s in the form of personalized, dedicated account management. Banks should stick to the business of banking and leave insurance alone.
Bob,
Is this the same Wachovia that is demanding from the city of Charlotte that it fund a 1800 seat auditorium in the new building that Wachovia plans to build? Just what the Queen City needs, another underutilized auditorium!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Bob,
Us small indies give the best service possible, particularly in personal and mainstreet business. Unfortunately, the carriers have their heads in the clouds and pick winners, including these bone-collecting grow-by-acquisition agencis that were once also a pimple an an elephant’s behind.
Problem is, a large agency with small agency accounts is analogous to a child’s sand sifter. Large agencies develop big-account-itis, and neglect the smaller accounts and personal lines, relegating them to the customer service personnel. The accounts eventually run off to someone that knows their name. So, the sifters, the insurance agency equivalent to Crazy Eddie, continue on the hunt for soon-to-retire or soon-to-die agencies to feed into the top of the funnel to keep the revenue stream coming. It’s all about the contingency, but they really are not in the business of insurance.
The average independent agency should not even worry about this acquistion.This is Wachovia in name only. We all know that this bank is First Union not Wachovia. The only reason that they didnt keep there name is that they had a horrible reputation in the banking business. If they do for insurance what they do for banking it want be long before they will have Palmer and Cay run into the ground. I give them three years and Mr Cay will want his company back. No bank has any business
in the insurance business. Its a conflict of interest in the worst way.
Money follows money and unlike others who posted comments, I do see synergies of financial institutions having insurance arms. You may not like it, but it is hard to tell a bank from an insurance company from a finaical services/investment company. They all cross sell.
At the end of the day,insurance companies are in the finance business, and not the dissaster recovery business!!! If your mortgage company did not require it, how many homeowners would even have homeowners insurance anyway?
As an underwriter for a large carrier, I’ve seen it all. To make the blanket statement that national agencies don’t provide personal service is short sighted and not always true. There is that happy medium.
Cash is king, and insurance intermediary businesses add significant new fee income to bank holding companies. Melding P&C with Wachovia will be a tough trick, however!
What happened to Jim Meathe in this deal? Another big payday or left in the dust?
Spoken like a finance guy. If what you wre true, the independent agent, State Farm Allstate, Farmers and all the career agents would be extinct. Banks peddle annuities; they bird-dog auto and home insurance through their tellers and direct marketing, but this client base is only the fringes of society, those people that don’t have any sense of value, are price sensitive and are always chasing the cheapest price. We’ll leave those clowns for banks and for GEICO. They aren’t real insurance customers anyway.
I happen to know personally that as late as last summer, Palmer Cay was looking for loans from some of its carriers, but was turned down. The rest of last year saw deteriorating results. This sale comes as no surprise. Kind of sad to see such an old company go by the wayside. Is the beautiful office in Savannah going to close?
If Palmer & Cay is the 15th largest agency, I do not think it is a small independent agency.
Anyway, in New England, most of the bank owned agencies are now up for sale if the rumor from BankNorth is correct. I heard that they would like to divest themself of insurance agencies.
No need to panic now–been there, seen it before.
Yeah, GEICO caters to the scum of the earth, because their customers don’t like paying for the local agents new boat. Don’t forget to lump in Progressive with that group. Oh, wait, you probably like Progressive, err, Drive, because you can sell it.
Not real insurance customers? Thats just a sophmoric response by a small fry that has lost too many of those not real customers to direct writers. Be careful, because more and more of the traditional walk-in and talk about the weather agencies are getting Direct sides, and once they see the profit, and the customer sees the savings, bye bye local guy. Thats reality. The almighty dollar rules it all.
To do a job right, we examine the whole of a customer’s risk profile. Financeguy, who likes to belittle our work, would rather you call a no-name roulette clerk and order your own malpractice from the GEICO check-the-box menu, get a state minimum policy because that’s the cheapest offering, depriving yourself of underinsured motorists coverage, and exposing your assets to lien and confiscation. (After all, Insure.com states finding the cheapest price makes you an “insurance genius”) Then, you can order your homeowners policy from a Dot-com website, insure the mortgage and end up with a 5% cyclone deductible on your Form 1 policy, and not even consider that you need an umbrella. Call progressive.com for your state minimum no guest passenger coverage motorcycle policy, and when you call this wonderful hodge-podge of insurance muck, you never talk to the same person twice. That is your preference, Mr. Know-it-all Finance man, but some people choose value over cheap. And, I suppose these wonderful carriers who you endorse employ no one? What a crock. We know our clients, and we look out for them, for as many years as we continue in this career. Keep eating at the Big Boy Buffet and buying your car insurance from a lizard.