Scott, what the heck did you have for breakfast??? Seems your temper is a bit short today. No time for "dullards", eh? Anyway, Scott is correct in as much as any potential employer would have been put-off by the initial posting from the Arizona Wolf. It was not thought out, and if someone ...

Labrys, my accident numbers refer to car insurance. The figures were from a Safeco study of over a 20-yr study, I believe. They are still pretty accurate today, in Washington State anyway. The point I was making is that even in states like MA, there will be some folks that fall through the cracks. S...

It also depends on the book. Indy -vs- captive. I know that in the past the carriers themselves have offered to fund the agency purchase with very good terms. They don't want a purchaser that is partial to a different carrier to come in and move a big book... So, talk with the carriers that are curr...

One thing we do with commercial accounts is to provide a very detailed summary of the actual service performed during the previous year. We share this at renewal discussions so the client understands what they are paying me for. Number of certificates, documented phone calls for service or advice, c...

An interesting concept... forced medical insurance. In Washington State we made auto liability insurance mandatory back in the '80s. At the time 10% of all drivers involved in an accident had no insurance. Almost 30 years later we have... you guessed it... 10% of all drivers involved in an accident ...

I think we can all tell stories like these... One of my clients had a total loss house fire a few years ago. When the new home was finally constructed (after the builder's risk was no longer needed) the insured went to a captive carrier. When I asked how they were able to place it after the fire los...

You are going to either spread yourself too thin, or not do justice to either one or both of the markets. It's hard to accomplish unless you have a team to work with. teams come in different shapes and sizes, from actual employee groups to contract (1099) arrangements to simple networking agreements...

Advisor, if you do get into one of these SEMCI programs make sure they include enough detail for each carrier you choose to get numbers from. For instance, if you go to Progressive.com and use their "get rates from all the popular carriers"... they purposly don't have all the data fields f...

Gregcw is right about the additional consideration. I've seen several cases here in WA where the new owners try to clean-up the employment contracts with standard language, including non-compete and no piracy clauses. In every case, the courts found that in order for the new owner to impose restrict...

Hi Kevinraz! Happy New Year to you, too! I do understand your thoughts about continuing commissions to the P/L people as well. However, in this particular agency, I pay her pretty well. Her Base Salary is set well above the norm for the area, probably the highest P/L CSR/Producer salary in the count...

Hey, Volstrike3... Happy New Year! I've been in insurance sales a long time, and have always felt that a producer should be paid well for what they are worth... in other words, their production. But, after buying a P/C agency and merging it into my Life /Health agency, I needed not only production h...

There are several great industry courses that may be beneficial to you. One that comes to mind is the LUTC Multiline course. It will share with you not only a few good things to know about the P/C business, but more importantly, you'll learn skills in cross-selling, how to review a client's policies...

If it's your intent to build a multi-line agency from scratch, good luck. Finding carriers willing to help you succeed is tough when you do have experience! If you are in a decent metro area I'd suggest finding a locally owned P/C agency that does no, or very little Life & Health sales. Team up ...

E-mail the commissioner's office for the answer. That way you'll have your answer in writing.

Swymmer

Talk to your underwriter about this. On the surface it appears that with the insurable interest and L/P it should remain on your family's PAP. However, the carrier may not have the same thought, or be able to insure in the state where it is "garaged". You should ask!

Wayne Lunday