Search found 126 matches
- Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:06 pm
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
- Replies: 24
- Views: 271969
Re: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
I got a chuckle out of your response. Now let's be serious. I was NOT trying to dismiss your input at all. It is just that you appear to have an agency relationship with a carrier that is compensating you with something that until now, I have never heard of. I do not proclaim to be an all knowing / ...
- Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:20 pm
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
- Replies: 24
- Views: 271969
Re: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
@lonestar - yes, the contract I have is still available to new agents. We are not 1099's like many captives have gone to. I'd prefer not say my carrier but they are one of the Top 20 largest in P&C in the US. So, you with a carrier, that to a new prospective agent trying to get into the agency ...
- Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:27 pm
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
- Replies: 24
- Views: 271969
Re: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
Wow. Where do I sign up for the deal you have? I am a 20+ year agent, and I am not aware of ANY captive offering your arrangement today. The only one I can think of that might have offered a similar program 30+ years ago is maybe State Farm. But that contract is no more, and has been changed 3 times...
- Tue Aug 27, 2019 4:50 am
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
- Replies: 24
- Views: 271969
Re: Newbie, Should I Start a Farmers or Independent ?
Insurance Guy 101.... If you go captive(with Farmers, also known as FIG) you will grow to loathe having to write life. As an ex FIG agent I can tell you the captive really beat up the agents to write life. On captive side, the commission is about half of what you would make on life as an IA. Just sa...
- Tue Aug 06, 2019 2:48 pm
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Questions on starting IA
- Replies: 7
- Views: 124133
Re: Questions on starting IA
mdel, you cannot treat the agency idea as a sideline to your current business. In order to keep your contracts with the carriers, you will have to continually show that you can write / produce enough good business every month, or they will remove your access and non renew the policies you have writt...
- Fri Apr 05, 2019 5:44 am
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Your single biggest challenge right now?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 233510
Re: Your single biggest challenge right now?
Single biggest challenge as an IA: Pros: You have more than one company to write with. Cons: You have more than one company to write with, and therefore more and more customers are requesting reshops, even if the renewal does not change much. BIGGEST CHALLENGE, however: Keeping appointments with maj...
- Fri Sep 21, 2018 10:46 am
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: WFG vs Allstate
- Replies: 2
- Views: 16086
Re: WFG vs Allstate
Or, you can locate an independent agent in your area that already has the hard to get appointments, including Allstate. Team up with that person, and trust me, you will make more money on the Independent side vs. the captive side. And, keep in mind, since you DO NOT own your own business(agency) wit...
- Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:26 am
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: New Agent to be
- Replies: 10
- Views: 30863
Re: New Agent to be
agent to be:
D's gives you some good advice. I am an ex Farmers agent, was with them 11 years. Went independent 7 years ago. DO NOT start / buy an agency with Farmers. There is a reason so many agencies are for sale at the moment. And, they are getting ready to cut commissions in 2018.
D's gives you some good advice. I am an ex Farmers agent, was with them 11 years. Went independent 7 years ago. DO NOT start / buy an agency with Farmers. There is a reason so many agencies are for sale at the moment. And, they are getting ready to cut commissions in 2018.
- Fri May 19, 2017 12:51 pm
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: DO and Donts when leaving an insurnace company
- Replies: 11
- Views: 53790
Re: Farmers Agent received 90 day notice Ca
MrD and D's, this is why as Independent Agents, we actually have a choice as to whether we decide to obtain an appointment with a given carrier or not. I am aware of the company MrD is talking about. In a profession like ours, in which it is important to read and know the differences in insurance co...
- Tue May 16, 2017 1:29 pm
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Need advise here regarding GEICO refusal to pay claim!
- Replies: 21
- Views: 72132
Re: Need advise here regarding GEICO refusal to pay claim!
Gotta Go is supported by people that care about rate only, and don't care about how claims are paid. Their mentality has "gone and went" by choosing to buy through "Gotta Go"!
- Wed May 10, 2017 1:08 pm
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: DO and Donts when leaving an insurnace company
- Replies: 11
- Views: 53790
Re: Farmers Agent received 90 day notice Ca
gregcw, actually, as an agent with Farmers, you DO NOT OWN your book of business. If you owned it, a departing Farmers agent would be able to take it with them. I was a Farmers agent for 11 years, and I was on the same contract you were on, referred to as the "84" contract. As an IA, if yo...
- Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:17 am
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Farmers - your opinion
- Replies: 62
- Views: 330007
Re: Farmers - your opinion
I wonder if "dm307799" is still cheerleading for Farmers... all my sources say that Farmers has gotten even worse since this thread was last active...
- Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:06 pm
- Forum: Hard-to-Place Accounts
- Topic: Agent Compensation Ideas
- Replies: 11
- Views: 32059
Re: Agent Compensation Ideas
Lest you be fooled, make not mistake about it boys and girls:
Companies do not have to cut commissions. They do it because they can. There is a huge difference here.
Companies do not have to cut commissions. They do it because they can. There is a huge difference here.
- Tue Oct 11, 2016 9:24 am
- Forum: Hard-to-Place Accounts
- Topic: Agent Compensation Ideas
- Replies: 11
- Views: 32059
Re: Agent Compensation Ideas
agenttalk, it is very simple: Pay agents better compensation(new and renewal) than the market, and reward them for a profitable book of business. It is called being a true agency parter. The problem with some other carriers, is that they have a sick definition of an agency being a "partner"...
- Fri Sep 30, 2016 8:50 am
- Forum: Opinions
- Topic: Travelers reducing commissions
- Replies: 69
- Views: 254349
Re: Travelers reducing commissions
The "Alamo" moment was in fall of 2013 when Travelers announced this. If agents, as a collective group, would have had a "sack" then to stop writing in mass, perhaps that would have changed where we are today, who knows. Or at least put off this reduction. Once thing is for sure:...