Insurance Agent Forum

[todd02]

So there is a Farmers agent that is using a software program he has created to do junk mail teasers for home owners insurance rates. Basically he uses 3 typical discounts, Credit score, burglar alarm, and new client discount. Then he takes the homes value and uses the software to create a "customized" quote. As long as the customer has a burglar alarm and top tier credit score the teaser rate is correct.

Now with my question. Does anyone know or has anyone seen a software program that can search the web (apprasial district sites) for home values so I can create quotes extremly fast? Any ideas to point me in the right direction? Or anyone have some constructive ideas on how to customize the software??

[warnerins]

A good place to start

Cole - Official Cole Directory - Coles Reverse Criss+Cross Directory - XDates - Marketing Tool

[todd02]

Has anyone every got the rate filings and tried to figure out how to calculate a premium??? OMG! I have no clue where the begining of this thing is. I'm not a math idiot, but its like a top secret code that you have to de-scramble. Any help where to begin in this math circus would be GREAT!

[dcorrp]

That agent is probably creating his data in Microsoft Excel. All you need to quote a house is square feet and year built, which are both found in public records. That agent has found the average cost of insurance per $1,000 and is using that equation to mass market. If you know a little about excel this should be easy to do. The hard part is using mail merge to convert the data into Microsoft word so you can print out your mailers.

[djs]

I've written a similar quoting package to what you are describing. In fact, I do something similar (should say 'did' something similar, haven't mailed quotes out in months).

A lot of this depends on what tools you have. For me, I took public record info, ran it through a reconstruction cost estimator to develop a dwelling value, than ran this through a quote engine, captured the premium, printed the letter and off they went. The entire process took about 20 seconds, or 3 quotes a minute.

In California, credit is a non-issue, so that doesn't come into play at all. I did the standard discounts (not burglar alarm) such as home/auto. My goal was to have a pretty honest quote, but, not everything is perfect.

I used to get a decent response out of these mailings. The response rates dropped significantly this year, so I've backed off. It's probably time to start them up again.

Depending on the state you are in / the county you market to, the trick is finding public record info in a format that works. As Tim pointed out, you can get xdates with Cole, but they don't provide (at least not as an export) the square footage, bathrooms, year built, etc, for the house. I use Haines, way more expensive, but it gives me exactly what I need.

Dan

[dcorrp]

DJS,

I just wrote you a long PM and when I hit send it deleted averything..... I guess you need 10 posts before you can PM someone.

I was wondering what part of California your in. I also work for Farmers, I'm up in northern Ca. You have been around longer than I have and I was hoping to ask you some questions. It would be great if you PM'ed your email over to me so I could pick you brain about a few things.

Thanks!

[briko3]

There's a guy near me that does this for apartment complexes. Much easier to know how much renters insurance is for an apartment complex than homeowners. Gets your foot in the door for auto, too I would imagine.

[SeaDeezKnots]

Originally Posted by warnerins

A good place to start

Cole - Official Cole Directory - Coles Reverse Criss+Cross Directory - XDates - Marketing Tool

What has your experience been like with this software?

[agent C]

Briko,
Could you share a little bit more info on what your friend does for renters to cross sale for auto insurance.