Insurance Agent Forum

[newold]

Pardon my ignorance, I've been searching for P&C jobs these few days but have found that there are lots of job openings for life agents and Nothing for P&C agents...Why is that ??

So how do P&C agents find jobs , especially for New licensees like me, where can I look for a job...??

Appreciate very much if you can give me some directions....thanks.

[hbkmat]

Where do you live?

[fostever]

Originally Posted by newold

pardon my ignorance, I've been searching for P&C jobs these few days but have found that there are lots of job openings for life agents and Nothing for P&C agents...Why is that ??

So how do P&C agents find jobs , especially for New licensees like me, where can I look for a job...??

Appreciate very much if you can give me some directions....thanks.

The word here would be "captured." To try and be an independent P&C agent is extremely difficult. I'm sure there are some contracts out there, but they must be few and far between. You either start you own agency and sell mostly liability coverage or hook up with a bank and do property coverage. I would think you would need lot's of capital and experience. My friend who was with Allstate years ago had it out with his new supervisor and left to start his own agency. He took his book of business and switched a lot of them over to CNA and some other companies. He found out soon enough how hard it is to compete against StateFarm, Allstate, ect. He now owns many properties and is a fulltime landlord. He lasted about 2-3 years on his own. Most P&C companies are constantly advertising to recruit agents for captured positions. Life and Health is where the bulk of the independent contracts are for obvious reasons. The customer service end of L&H is minimal and the trend is for companies to hire independents to lower their own overhead by not having to offer benefits like health insurance, ect. Farmers, American Family, Allstate are always sending me e-mails from Monster because of my resume there.

[newold]

Originally Posted by hbkmat

where do you live?

I live in L.A. county, Ca.

[newold]

Originally Posted by fostever

The word here would be "captured." To try and be an independent P&C agent is extremely difficult. I'm sure there are some contracts out there, but they must be few and far between. You either start you own agency and sell mostly liability coverage or hook up with a bank and do property coverage. I would think you would need lot's of capital and experience. My friend who was with Allstate years ago had it out with his new supervisor and left to start his own agency. He took his book of business and switched a lot of them over to CNA and some other companies. He found out soon enough how hard it is to compete against StateFarm, Allstate, ect. He now owns many properties and is a fulltime landlord. He lasted about 2-3 years on his own. Most P&C companies are constantly advertising to recruit agents for captured positions. Life and Health is where the bulk of the independent contracts are for obvious reasons. The customer service end of L&H is minimal and the trend is for companies to hire independents to lower their own overhead by not having to offer benefits like health insurance, ect. Farmers, American Family, Allstate are always sending me e-mails from Monster because of my resume there.

thanks, so I'll sumbit a resume to monster, are you saying PC agents get paid by salaries and not commissions ? I'd prefer commissions because I plan to work hard, also I may want to focus on auto insurance, any suggestions ?

[djs]

There are a couple of things you can do as a licensed P&C agent. The fast start one is to call local agents around you. Most P&C agencies are looking to hire licensed individuals, and pay them either a salary or a commission, depending on what they want to do. You'll gain some great experience this way.

The other option is to call State Farm / Farmers / etc. Find a district office in your area (PM me and I can help you out here). They will set you up as an agent, through a training program, usually starting out with some sort of salary plus commissions, moving to straight commissions. You'll need decent credit to start out on your own, even working for a company such as State Farm, Farmers, or Allstate. They basically trust you with a LOT of money, and want to make sure you're good for it. Depending on how you start, it doesn't cost much to get started on your own, working for a P&C company, but it does take time and determination.

Dan

[newold]

Originally Posted by djs

There are a couple of things you can do as a licensed P&C agent. The fast start one is to call local agents around you. Most P&C agencies are looking to hire licensed individuals, and pay them either a salary or a commission, depending on what they want to do. You'll gain some great experience this way.

The other option is to call State Farm / Farmers / etc. Find a district office in your area (PM me and I can help you out here). They will set you up as an agent, through a training program, usually starting out with some sort of salary plus commissions, moving to straight commissions. You'll need decent credit to start out on your own, even working for a company such as State Farm, Farmers, or Allstate. They basically trust you with a LOT of money, and want to make sure you're good for it. Depending on how you start, it doesn't cost much to get started on your own, working for a P&C company, but it does take time and determination.

Dan

Dan, thank you for your great advice, I will call my local agencies to find out if they need PC agents, like you said only farmers or statefarm are hiring agents but they have strict standards and requirements such as you must have a good resume and have enough capital and must be exclusive to their products...etc.
Also maybe I'm wrong but to be exclusive is hard to compete especially for auto ins, they tend to be more expensive than others, isn't it ??

[djs]

Originally Posted by newold

Dan, thank you for your great advice, I will call my local agencies to find out if they need PC agents, like you said only farmers or statefarm are hiring agents but they have strict standards and requirements such as you must have a good resume and have enough capital and must be exclusive to their products...etc.
Also maybe I'm wrong but to be exclusive is hard to compete especially for auto ins, they tend to be more expensive than others, isn't it ??

This may be a shock, but price is probably only 25% of the decision making process when it comes to things like auto insurance. People are very concerned about claims, support, feeling good about the company, etc. Now, if your price is 25% higher, you'll never get a deal, but if it's within reach, with a name brand recognition, you'll write deals all day long.

Here is the catch.... you have to know your product, and how it competes with other carriers products. For instance, I don't go after singles in their low 20's with one car. I don't have a competitive advantage for that market, it's all about price. I do extremely well with married couples in their 30's (and above) with a home, and a few children. Basically, I target mainstream, middle-income America. These policies also tend to stay 'put' once written, which is what StateFarm, AllState, Farmers, etc are looking for.

Give me a call (PM me for the number) and I'll give you the ins and outs of some of this.

Dan

[Alston]

Is is just as hard to break into commercial P&C?

Just curious. I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing, but always wondered if that was an under served market.

[Winter]

Originally Posted by newold

pardon my ignorance, I've been searching for P&C jobs these few days but have found that there are lots of job openings for life agents and Nothing for P&C agents...Why is that ??

So how do P&C agents find jobs , especially for New licensees like me, where can I look for a job...??

Appreciate very much if you can give me some directions....thanks.

P&C agents often are employees or captive with salary so a company has to make a decision about whether it makes financial sense to take you on. Life agents are usually commission only or at least the ads you may be seeing. If an agent makes a sale it is basically "found money" for the agency and if the agent does not make it the agency has wasted some time but that is about all. They will all moan about the tremendous training expenses and overhead that goes with taking on an agent even though they are commissioned but their risks are very low and they do not have to outlay any cash.

Winter

[bobson]

Originally Posted by djs

This may be a shock, but price is probably only 25% of the decision making process when it comes to things like auto insurance. People are very concerned about claims, support, feeling good about the company, etc. Now, if your price is 25% higher, you'll never get a deal, but if it's within reach, with a name brand recognition, you'll write deals all day long.

Here is the catch.... you have to know your product, and how it competes with other carriers products. For instance, I don't go after singles in their low 20's with one car. I don't have a competitive advantage for that market, it's all about price. I do extremely well with married couples in their 30's (and above) with a home, and a few children. Basically, I target mainstream, middle-income America. These policies also tend to stay 'put' once written, which is what StateFarm, AllState, Farmers, etc are looking for.

Give me a call (PM me for the number) and I'll give you the ins and outs of some of this.

Dan

How do you approach your target market and how do you sell car insurance? I work for an independent agency and we write policies if we have the lowest price. We can't seem to get away from price. Any advice would be grand!