etimer, did you ask client if he/she ever wondered why the price of gas, milk, health insurance goes up ever year?

In Texas, we see at least a 8-10% home rate increase every year. Some years we see 20% to 30%. I would laugh at my client if they asked why the premium only went up $100...

D, you are spot on once again. When I went from a captive company of 11 years to an IA 6 years ago, one of the things I learned as a captive is 20% of your clients can take up 80% of your time... the old 80/20 rule. So when I started over, I only offered EFT / bank draft on monthly billing options. ...

Once you step into this world, the minute a policy lapses and a claim happens, and you did not remind them of the payment due date, you can be brought in to court. My philosophy, if the client is not paying attention to the billing notices from the carrier, which normally are two to three before a p...

justthere, I do not have a beef with Farmers. I try to only speak from the facts. Regarding my previous post about being able to write business with other carriers, I was speaking from the point of view of writing business with other carriers that Farmers would write, since Farmers has a broad appet...

FBIS, if a Farmers agent is caught doing this, they will be terminated by Farmers. So to answer your question, it is like speeding in your car. You can do it until you get caught.

Reading Tolstoy and War and Peace will also make you a more distinguished, educated person. But to the average client, which is to whom we insurance agents are trying to "add value" to, do they decide to purchase their auto / home / life insurance from only those channels with a CPCU desig...

sundevil, as others have already said, if you are living the dream as a captive, enjoy it while it lasts, especially with Farmers. Of all the captives, the evidence and the history of what Zurich has done to this company since 2000 is overwhelmingly demonstrative that Farmers is on a large downslide...

d's, you may be right. Maybe we should all sell our agencies now, and look for another job.

I can understand why some people view this development as another chapter in the "Gloom and Doom" chapter of the agency channel. But I really think that the future of the agent, independent agent anyway, is really dependent on whether the carriers value the business that the agent brings t...

maestro, it is too soon to tell exactly what impact this will have. However, I can tell you one thing, and most independent agents do not like to hear this, but I believe it to be true. If you and I do not learn how to sell on other factors other than price, then the IA companies do not need the age...

Sevak, yes a customer can purchase personal lines and commercial lines direct from Hartford.

Check with your attorney, as the answer to your question will no doubt be written into the contract you signed with SIAA. Too bad you are not happy with SIAA. From what I have heard from other agents looking at the various aggregators, SIAA is held in higher regard than the others, especially when c...

gman, I have to side with ins-atty on this one. Actions tell the truth. Words from a company rep mean nothing if the actions do not mirror the words.

Look at what Hartford is doing by their actions, and that will reveal to you the truth. Actions of a company reveal the true intent.

LTG, my, you have a cavalier attitude. Actually, I disagree with you. This IS a Hartford issue, and is an issue with every company that openly bones the agency channel. Yes, Progressive has a different rate structure for direct vs. agent. However, they do not jack up the agency channel rate by 27% t...

D's, we all know too well how competitive it is, even as an IA. Can you imagine trying to start up a brand new agency today, as a newby captive Farmers, Allstate or State Farm agent?