Wow. I spent 6 years with Hartford and my salary nearly doubled and only had the AU designation. I started below the median $65k and finished well above that...and I left Hartford 7 years ago. Current role: above the median plus a company car, have AU and CIC. This is telling me there are some low e...

I started my career on the agency side as a captive with Farmers Insurance. I then worked in two independent agencies (one a bank agency, the other a very large brokerage) before coming to the company side in 2002. I would suggest that you consider sticking it out with the agency side for a few year...

Not just the E&S market does this on GL. If you have GL placed with a standard carrier but written in their high hazard area it's frequently has a minimum & deposit provision.

It should be made fairly clear on quotes and the policy.

(maxed out on characters) And I don't have any plans to go back to the agency side. I truly enjoy the insurance business, enjoy selling and am pretty good at it but the combined pressure of the "low price" ads and companies now selling their products directly is going to make it more and m...

After reading all of this I'm glad I made the switch to the company side years ago. I started as a Farmers agent in the great state of Iowa. One of my early experiences was when Farmers put a moratorium on any new homeowners business in my area for a month or so while requiring the newer agents (lik...

Silly requests on COI's from people who think they know what they are doing. Examples: Requiring a 2/4 GL limit, nothing else, when insured carries 1/2 and a 5mm umbrella Requiring AI forms from decades ago when most carriers are no longer filed to use them Dealing with any public entity who wants t...

I was a Farmers agent from 93-98 and I have a few positive comments: 1 Great training. Had an excellent DM at first, Chuck Marshall. He stressed excellence, knowledge & salesmanship. Training in KC RO was also very good - useage of products, how to sell life, positioning statement, etc. Lessons ...

Was an FIG agent from 1995-1998. Looked last year at the Farmers website...none of the agents who were with the company in my territory are still with the company. When I left after 3 years well under half were left. Left FIG and went to two other agencies then came over to company side, have been u...

The only way a standard carrier is going to write something with a mod of 1.89 is if they get top management sign off or if an underwriter disregards their authority letter. Remember there are two sides to this coin: they have a bad loss history and are not doing anything about it and they are also ...

An underwriting assistant position is not a bad idea, but the pay is a lot lower. With some companies they rarely move assistants/techs to UW positions because they get very valuable at processing stuff but still the pay is not great compared to underwriting. Another idea - check out http://www.insu...

I've got the same story. Was on agency side for 5+ years before going to a company, had to relocate across the country to Charlotte NC to be at Hartfords center there. Be prepared and ready to move, mostly at your own expense the first time. Once you get in with a company they will probably pay for ...

I'm wondering what other P&C underwriters think of an account I'm familiar with. The risk makes several types of products related to firearms/hunting/shooting sports: Handgun grips and stocks for rifles. Much of their work is custom grips for handguns. They also make sights and grips for bows an...

Back in 2008 I decided to step out of the insurance arena & go into ministry. It's been a good run but I have kids going to college soon & need to start funding the 401k again so I'm looking to get back into the insurance industry. I'm doing okay at getting interviews but can't seem to land ...

Encompass is no longer CNA and Kemper is no longer Kemper, now owned by Unitrin. You folks need to get on ambest.com and do some free research. Neither company has any bearing or relationship to what it was in the past. Read up on Unitrin because that's what you are getting. Encompass had a pretty l...

Former underwriter here: Named Driver Exclusions are not used by many companies because they don't work. Some states don't allow them and when the going gets tough (big claim, injured kids, etc) the courts find a way around them to get to the money. Even when they do work the carrier still has to sp...