Agency Fee

[oalltex]

Hello! I'm a Texas agent and was wondering if it is ok for Texas agents to charge a fee and get commission as well.
i have called the TDI and was directed to their web site, i couldn't find any info. on this topic.
Thanks

[Big Dog]

You will DEFINITELY want to have some sort of contractual agreement in place outlining that you are receiving both. You'll need to justify to your client why you need to charge a fee on top of the commission you receive.

[Insismypassion]

I'm not positive about Texas, but I do know that in some states to charge a fee it must be clearly posted in the office and the insured must sign an acknowledgement that there is a fee involved (I'd recommed at every renewal). Both of these must state how much or what percentage the fee will be. And any fee must be broken out in the billing.

Lastly, a fee has to be charged to everyone in a particualr class equally. If you want to charge a fee for a personal auto policy, you have to charge a fee to every personal auto policy, not just certain accounts.

Same with commercial. If you decide to charge a fee on WC policies, there must be a fee charged on all WC policies, not just a few.

[mica.cooper]

We see this commonly used in the midwest, Ok, Ar, Mo, Ill, Ks, etc. Agents are particularily interested in recouping time and gas spent photographing property that is farther than a set limit say outside the local county or city or over 10 miles from the office. We have seen no issues with this as the fee is clearly disclosed on the application as an "Agency Fee" and the amount.