I hate to say it but Travelers has been on a long, slow decline for the last few years it seems. We lost our PL appointment for not writing enough business which was no big deal as we have other, better appointments. The issue was none of the agents wanted to take the software engineering courses re...

Hi all, Here's the deal: We have been SCIF brokers for over 5 years. The recent collapse, essentially, of the company has in my opinion made them nearly impossible to work with. They reject applications without offering reasons and are practically non-responsive in many cases (with the exception of ...

I did the whole thing using the older books because I bought all of them at once and then they changed it on me when I was ready to take the tests. The new books aren't any different; it is just a means for the institutes to keep new students buying new books instead of the old ones. Maybe buy a new...

GREAT topic! 1. Carrier/GA underwriters that don't respond to emails/phone calls. 2. Customers that can pay every bill but their insurance bill. 3. Banks and their sometimes idiotic requests on EOIs (we deal with HOAs). 4. Unscheduled drop in visits from Marketing reps, that seem to always occur whe...

Agree with D's... I have been using hull for access to those markets but I know other GAs have access as well.

I have been doing a ton of research on the usefulness of them for our own agency. I haven't found any myself that focuses on any given region that would be worthwhile. I found agentsweb.net that seems to be among the directories with the most agencies listed, but for some reason they only agencies a...

Thanks all for the informative replies. We will keep looking for something that has good ROI. d's insurance: when you recommend specialization, are you talking about niches like business classes (i.e. "we specialize in tech or medical")?

Hi all, We are looking at various options for online marketing. We are thinking about getting included in some paid directories but it's hard to figure out which ones, if any, give you any ROI. Some are rather expensive. Any experiences with any good directories that anyone can share? We checked out...

This is a good thread. I have been trying to do the same for awhile now. Let me know if you have any luck and what helped you. I have a CPCU too but not many bites yet as far as resumes go. Also, I have been somewhat lazy about the hunting. Getting a job can be a job itself. One nice thing, the job ...

Sorry but good luck with this one. Payroll is too low; no one will want it. I have been having similar problems. It is probably in the insured's best interest to pay the audit. This will be an even bigger problem in the future if the insured needs to go back to State Fund for whatever reason. If I a...

Is it just me or have things gotten worse over there since the thread was last commented on? We have been told to wait a month for quotes. We have been given misinformation constantly by customer service. I have been hung up on for getting frustrated. Not rude, just frustrated. I understand that for...

Honestly, for the purposes of passing the tests, I doubt a few changes to policy forms would affect you at all. They generally didn't ask such detailed questions on any of the tests regarding forms, endorsements, etc... And also, insurance is just one facet of it. The other books apply to Finance, R...

I bought all the CPCU books at once last year, only to have change to the tests made right afterwards. I was needlessly worried until I realized that the changes did not impact my ability to study. This is a common "tactic" (if you will) by textbook makers to make money despite the flood o...

I agree with Big Dog... also, post on Yelp and contact the DOI. This is highly unprofessional. The ethical parts of the ins. code can be a bit subjective at times and this seems like one of those times. He is degrading the profession and makes us all look like clowns. My guess is if you went out the...

One point of clarification... I have had some luck there with some people, who have been very helpful and knowledgeable. I don't mean to say that ALL of them lack any work ethic, but many of them do, simply because they do not operate under the same pressure that private business does.