Commercial Truck Agent Job Offered Info Needed

MedleyMotoCo1

New Member
1
I work for a Private Lender who has a residential rental property business, and a finance business.
He finances commercial trucks and cars.
Recently I was offered "promotion" of sorts. Basically, he will pay for me to undergo a 2-20 licencing course and subject to my passing and aquireing the licence he will hand over his insurance portfolio to me for management.

He has an interest in having me set up an agency dedicated to issuing policies for his financed commercial trucks. He and his partner in the truck dealer business sell roughly 250 trucks a year, he says they will mount an office for me at the dealership local and send all their clients my way.
They claim with semi trucks that policy premiums range between 12-24k with a 25% profit margin. He wants 50% of the gross and control over the insurance accounts. In return I pay nothing to set up the office space and occupy and get free advertising.

I have concerns. Is it possible for me alone to handle 250 policies a year? And are the numbers they present realistic. How does commercial truck insurance writing work?
 
5 work days a week. 50 weeks a year. 250 work days per year. 250 truck policies per year. Yes, it is realistic to write that much business. One you start writing these on a regular basis, it will become very easy. But, there is more to this story, and it sounds like he is either unrealistic, or dishonest.

First off, if he is selling 250 trucks a year, you won't write all of them. Many of the people buying trucks will already have an agent they want to go to, a brother, mom, cousin etc. who they want to go with. Many of these people will also already have trucks, and just want to add it to their existing policies. This is the first part of the story that does not add up. You would be lucky if you sold 200 per year out of the 250. Very lucky.

Each year you will have more and more policies to manage. The first year you will have 200, but then you will sell another 200 next year, and while some will drop off, others will remain. Next year more, and more and more, etc. You will have to handle renewals, changes, claims, etc. etc. Can you juggle all that and continue to sell? I don't know if I could, but I definitely wouldn't try. It's hard to do sales and management. Some people are good at managing (csr) some people are good at sales. Few people are good at either, and very few can do, and manage both. The best scenario is where there is a producer, and a csr.

Next, the sales. Yes the premiums could be $12-$24k, but 25% profit? That sounds fishy. Normal commissions are 15%. I have seen 20% on bops, but never commercial auto. There may be a bonus from the carriers too, but 25% seems unrealistic. Where did he get that number? The same place he got the idea that all his customers would buy his insurance, I assume.

Finally, what happens when he has a down year? How will you make income if he only wants you on his portfolio? You still need to pay your bills.

This may be a good opportunity, but there are many things that need to be ironed out.
 
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