According to a source, the brokers themselves have little to worry about with this issue as the target is the general agency. If you need more legal opinion, I can forward to you his email address if you have any further questions. Superior Access, NIA, SIAA and others provide a very important service to brokers and Garabundy would love to make this his \”Spitzer\” case as he expects to run for Lieutenant Governor. Whether or not he wins this case or it gets thrown out, he will be perceived as a politician \”for the people\”. I wish all of the general agencies and wholesalers the best with this investigation and I believe you will prevail.
Superior Access must be kidding. Who is to pay their fees? Either they are agents of the Hartford, or they broker for the Hartford. Either they are legally charging their fees, or they are not.
They have a spam email program too. Maybe the DOJ should break out a case of flashlights and find out what\’s up ethically with these folks. Smells like fish.
I wrote with Superior Access for a number of years and I have had many discussions with fellow Agencies and my Agents regarding the legality of the \”Technology Fees\” Superior Access charged. It seems after many discussions we all came to the same agreement, SAIS is charging broker fees. They believe they are charging their brokers a fee, but I would like SAIS to give me one example of when a Broker DID NOT pass that fee along to the Insured.
To quote Superior Access, \”Transaction fees are regularly charged by wholesalers to brokers for services rendered.\” This statement is only half true. Fees are charged by \”E&S Wholesalers\”, not \”Standard Market Wholesalers\”. Compare SAIS to any other \”Standard Market Wholesaler\”. No other \”Standard Market Wholesaler\” charges fees because they understand the legal issues raised by CDI.
I stopped writing with SAIS some time ago because of those fees. I know they offer Premium packages where you don\’t have to pay technology fees, but for anyone who doesn\’t want to pay those fees, I recommend looking at alternative Wholesalers. There are any number of companies that supply better service, instant quoting, comparable commissions, free quote management software, instant online chat and much more.
\”A rose is a rose by any other name\”. You can disguise it how ever you like, but a fee is a fee.
Below is excerpt from the California DOI website. Please note section 1 – Applicability. Guess what? Broker fee regulation only applies only to personal lines.
\’Industry: Broker Fee Regulations Summary
SUMMARY OF THE NEW
DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE
BROKER FEE REGULATIONS
The new Department of Insurance broker fee regulations include eight major sections. Those sections, and the most important provisions of each section, are described below.
Warning: The below descriptions oversimplify the actual requirements of the regulations. Brokers are responsible for complying with the actual regulations, not merely this summary. Brokers must therefor read and understand the actual regulations.
1. APPLICABILITY
The regulations apply only to personal lines.
The regulations apply to retailers and wholesalers, though wholesalers are exempt from several requirements. \’
Superior Access\’s business practice has been to jack up broker\’s fees when a carrier notifies them that a certain product is reaching capacity. This is their way of slowing down activity on a particular product. I always felt soiled after doing business with them.
i thought they were a bunch of liars after trying to deal with them. i insisted that they refund my $200. annual fee due to lies and more lies about service or rather lack of. i have fired them twice in the last 5 years.if they have not met your expectations i would recommend to go anywhere else.i would also insist on a refund of your money.
After reading the article and everyone\’s comments I guess my question is this…why is SAIS different than any other broker that charges fees? I have not dealt with them and am basing my opinion on what has been read. Restrictions on fees applies to agents not brokers thus I do not see where any laws were broke. Maybe their fees were high but then the agent has the option to deal with them or another broker who does not charge so much. Sounds like someone is on a witch hunt. These can end up burning in areas not intended (historically speaking).
WE just had our first and only encounter with Superior Access. After paying $750 we were told we would have 24 hour access to all these companies. After over a month and tons of paperwork, we are out $750. and have access to nothing. We would recommend not wasting your time nor
money.
Superior Access has done nothing but drive more business to my agency.
This really is a matter for the courts to decide. Hartford was surely aware of this practice, and did nothing. Considering that nothing in the law prohibits Superior from charging a fee, shouldn\’t those flashlights be pointed at Hartford?
I think the \”witch-hunt\” has taken an interesting turn by reading the comments here.
According to a source, the brokers themselves have little to worry about with this issue as the target is the general agency. If you need more legal opinion, I can forward to you his email address if you have any further questions. Superior Access, NIA, SIAA and others provide a very important service to brokers and Garabundy would love to make this his \”Spitzer\” case as he expects to run for Lieutenant Governor. Whether or not he wins this case or it gets thrown out, he will be perceived as a politician \”for the people\”. I wish all of the general agencies and wholesalers the best with this investigation and I believe you will prevail.
Fred DiMeo
Independent Broker Network http://www.ibnbrokers.com
Superior Access must be kidding. Who is to pay their fees? Either they are agents of the Hartford, or they broker for the Hartford. Either they are legally charging their fees, or they are not.
They have a spam email program too. Maybe the DOJ should break out a case of flashlights and find out what\’s up ethically with these folks. Smells like fish.
I wrote with Superior Access for a number of years and I have had many discussions with fellow Agencies and my Agents regarding the legality of the \”Technology Fees\” Superior Access charged. It seems after many discussions we all came to the same agreement, SAIS is charging broker fees. They believe they are charging their brokers a fee, but I would like SAIS to give me one example of when a Broker DID NOT pass that fee along to the Insured.
To quote Superior Access, \”Transaction fees are regularly charged by wholesalers to brokers for services rendered.\” This statement is only half true. Fees are charged by \”E&S Wholesalers\”, not \”Standard Market Wholesalers\”. Compare SAIS to any other \”Standard Market Wholesaler\”. No other \”Standard Market Wholesaler\” charges fees because they understand the legal issues raised by CDI.
I stopped writing with SAIS some time ago because of those fees. I know they offer Premium packages where you don\’t have to pay technology fees, but for anyone who doesn\’t want to pay those fees, I recommend looking at alternative Wholesalers. There are any number of companies that supply better service, instant quoting, comparable commissions, free quote management software, instant online chat and much more.
\”A rose is a rose by any other name\”. You can disguise it how ever you like, but a fee is a fee.
Below is excerpt from the California DOI website. Please note section 1 – Applicability. Guess what? Broker fee regulation only applies only to personal lines.
\’Industry: Broker Fee Regulations Summary
SUMMARY OF THE NEW
DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE
BROKER FEE REGULATIONS
The new Department of Insurance broker fee regulations include eight major sections. Those sections, and the most important provisions of each section, are described below.
Warning: The below descriptions oversimplify the actual requirements of the regulations. Brokers are responsible for complying with the actual regulations, not merely this summary. Brokers must therefor read and understand the actual regulations.
1. APPLICABILITY
The regulations apply only to personal lines.
The regulations apply to retailers and wholesalers, though wholesalers are exempt from several requirements. \’
Superior Access\’s business practice has been to jack up broker\’s fees when a carrier notifies them that a certain product is reaching capacity. This is their way of slowing down activity on a particular product. I always felt soiled after doing business with them.
i thought they were a bunch of liars after trying to deal with them. i insisted that they refund my $200. annual fee due to lies and more lies about service or rather lack of. i have fired them twice in the last 5 years.if they have not met your expectations i would recommend to go anywhere else.i would also insist on a refund of your money.
After reading the article and everyone\’s comments I guess my question is this…why is SAIS different than any other broker that charges fees? I have not dealt with them and am basing my opinion on what has been read. Restrictions on fees applies to agents not brokers thus I do not see where any laws were broke. Maybe their fees were high but then the agent has the option to deal with them or another broker who does not charge so much. Sounds like someone is on a witch hunt. These can end up burning in areas not intended (historically speaking).
WE just had our first and only encounter with Superior Access. After paying $750 we were told we would have 24 hour access to all these companies. After over a month and tons of paperwork, we are out $750. and have access to nothing. We would recommend not wasting your time nor
money.
Superior Access has done nothing but drive more business to my agency.
This really is a matter for the courts to decide. Hartford was surely aware of this practice, and did nothing. Considering that nothing in the law prohibits Superior from charging a fee, shouldn\’t those flashlights be pointed at Hartford?
I think the \”witch-hunt\” has taken an interesting turn by reading the comments here.