Does anyone have any suggestions for starting a new agency or to affiliate with an agency that also has ability to offer financial planning in California? Have my 7/63/65 licenses as well as my P&C, L&H, and Variable Annuity; have to make a decision soon, since the two year window to re-acti...

BTIS also places with Amtrust...don't know if they write hotels, however

What am I missing? What do guide dogs and Social Behavior have to do with Agency Management systems?

I have read many of these FIG posts.Can never equate these posts with the glowing career recruiting material . I guess it comes down to your upper level management, a situation which you really cannot control. Leads me to believe that independence or aligned with a few people you know and trust that...

And the fun is just beginning. Starting soon ,many agencies (under 100k in per annum premium I believe) are relegated to submitting all business through one of two wholesalers. That just adds another layer of paperwork and delay and another degree of non-accountability! Bad enough trying to get quot...

You answered all your concerns in two sentences: "I actually hate sales jobs. I am only semi-interested because people have supposedly already inquired about a protection plan before I call".

Good philosophy. The other ratio is the 20%-80% which is indirectly a corollary, i.e. 20% of your clients generate 80% of your income, so if you keep that 20% happy and pare the 20% of the other factor down to 10% as you suggest you are in good shape. Invariably your best clients are the most amenab...

Earlybird, what management system do you currently use and are you satisified with it?
Looking to improve effectiveness and be able to track and input non-retained commissions as received.

Pretty much what I was afraid would happen -see my comment 8/17/12. We have turned into a litigious society and hopefully they are just moving their business and that will be the end of it. No telling what the receiving broker may have said to gain the business but sounds like you may be better off ...

I would suggest to the policyholder that the policy be read and follow the Claims Reporting Procedures that is made part of all policies. You can offer to forward a claim but strongly suggest that the policyholder send certified mail or Priority mail signature delivery confirmation all the facts sur...

Another consideration: if the client has already contacted customers of their former employer, purchasing a policy today for acts committed in the past will probably not be covered; the D&O policy would probably only cover acts from its inception date regardless of Claims Made or Occurrence form...

Please accept my apology in advance if I sound a bit skeptical. Just would like you to verify that you are an "honest-to-goodness" agency owner/manager and/or producer. So many times this forum gets responses that turn out to be pure advertisements for a particular product someone acting a...

Great analysis, but in the real world there is no cut and dry answer. All I know is that I wouldn't want to have my future and license in the hands of a jury versus the "poor uninformed insured" that didn't know his policy had been cancelled and had generated income for the agent by purcha...

Reluctantly I have to agree with earlybird. If you earn a commission from a policy, you owe the insured a measure of customer service, even when they are the habitual/chronic late payers. You can advise them that it is a courtesy notification, but that still won't get you off the hook should the pol...

Private or public property notwithstanding, hire a couple of teenagers to video the activity. They know all the lesser known websites besides Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo Local, Pinterest, etc. They can edit, add narration, maybe even capture some soundbites of these guys. They might even get extr...