Iroquois Group

saieddie

Guru
100+ Post Club
Anyone had any experience with this company? Looks like getting away from them with your carriers after a few years is next to impossible. Being able to look at a new contract would be helpful, but I'm going on word of mouth right now.

What I've seen says that you can't get appointed with the same carriers for 2 years after you've terminated your Iroquois contract.
Where do the renewals go for those 2 years? Even Superior Access gives you your renewals if you choose not to renew but let the clients stay with the carrier.
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helloooo....
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I bet if I titled this thread, "Obama loves Iroquois Group", I'd get some responses.

Has anyone compared the Iroquois and Smartchoice contracts?
 
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I was really close to joining Iroquois. I think they are a great company and a good fit for some agents. The contract does contain a 2 year “non-compete” type clause with any carriers you use through Iroquois. You can move the business to a different carrier but you can’t get a contract with that carrier for two years.
I have had great success with Insurance Noodle. That is the route I went and it has paid off. I didn’t want to limit myself in the future. If you have not tried the Noodle then I would work with them first.
 
MedMal,

Was Insurance Noodle quick on binding so that it seemed seamless to your customers. I write more personal lines and didnt know if this would be an issue. Also did you consider Agent Secure and Superior Access. Superior seems to pay the highest personal lines commissions but do not know how their customer support is.
 
Inferior Access as we fondly call them around these parts ... as they are just across town from my office, left me with a less than desirable user experience. I recommend avoid.

Networked Insurance Agents and SIAA seem to be the most attractive to me. I use NIA quite a bit. For PL binding issues may be of concern to some ... I dont typically do Pl via telephone quick shop price quote - so Im not sure what thats like. I use them for Pl access for my comm'l clients where the owners needs a better carrier than say MetLife or Farmers, and Encompass is a best fit. We have just about everyone else direct.

I also have a certain UW there we use a lot for Bio Tech/LifeSciences and IT Risks who is very sharp - she kicks ass so we go to her for tuff stuff [ Chubb mainly ]. We just rolled out a few $100k from NIA into a Direct Travelers appointment - was seemless. It was merely a 2-3% buyout for 3 yrs. No Skin, and no grief for "competing".

That terminology from Iriquois is lame ... so what if I can bind faster? I want breadth of markets and the ability to roll MY book when I want as painlessly as possible ... emphasis on MY book. Geez - these wholesalers agitate me sometimes.

Most of them are glorified fax services anyways. We have to ride them like a Bull to get the risk to all the right carriers - cuz their acct execs at 75% of the wholesalers are < 2 yrs in the biz and know shine-ola about hte carriers appetites they represent. :goofy: <--- is that a tard?

Sorry - soapbox mode off ...

Uhh yea ... NIA.
 
SoCalBroker,

I appreciate the input on Iroquois and Superior Access. I didnt know if Iroquois' 2 year non compete only dealt with companies they place you with or all their companies. I am meeting with a Rep tomorrow and will update you.

That is a shame about Superior being Inferior. They have some good companies and pay out higher PL commissions than agent secure or Insurance noodle. I am going to check out NIA. I thougth SIAA was more like a Iroquois or Smart choice?
I really appreciate your feedback as I am a 20 year captive agent looking to set up my wife in an IA adn am not sure if I want to go with a marketing/cluster group, go for direct appointments and fill in with wholesalers or a combination.:cool:
 
I am also in the same boat as I am looking for a wholesaler. I am going to be doing a lot of PL auto and really need binding authority and Iriquois is the only one that offers it.

I really don't know what to do either as I am confused with all these different companies. I need top carriers, top commissions and either binding authority or a company that will help get it done quickly.
 
I am finding that these insurance marketing groups cannot guarantee you access to these companies much better than you could on your own. I am still researching it and will get back to you.:twitchy:
 
Yeah, no guarantee of getting the appointments, but they give you a much better chance than getting an appointment as a scratch agent. I don't know about Smartchoice, but if you can't qualify for a specific carrier w/Iroquois, they let you work w/a bigger Iroquois agency to help place the business(you're willing to give them a split.)

My experience w/Iroquois is that they are too rigid on the 2 year noncompete. Once appointed w/a carrier thru them, you can't get an individual appointment w/that carrier for 2 years and if you don't rewrite them thru someone else, Iroquois keeps the renewals.

At least w/Smartchoice, they give you a couple of options to leave and get an individual appointment w/their carriers. You can keep the commissions by buying back the renewals - either w/a lump sum or over time, or just accept the noncompete for a period of time.

Superior Access, InsuranceNoodle, etc look good for getting the max amt of carriers w/out alot of paperwork. No control over quoting or service work, lack of direct access to the carriers/underwriters, and having their logo/names on all paperwork are pretty big drawbacks.
 
Does smart choice give you binding authority and direct access to the carriers?
 
Direct access to the carriers? Huh?

Looks guys .. you build up a big enough book of biz with any one carrier - they'll let you roll it out of any of these wholesalers. Your XYZ Carrier marketing rep will soil themselves to get your wholesaler volume under their territory code and out from under Inferior Access.

You get 250k in premium with a company - most any of them except Mercury Ins - and they will gladly appoint you directly. You just have to pay the wholesaler their roll out fees. But you likely wont feel it cuz your New Biz bonus commission will more than cover the 2-3% roll out costs.

Focus on Travelers ... Kemper ... You can get a progressive appointment right? Foremost too?
 
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