Am I the Catch I Think I Am?

[entrep1776]

I am looking for an opportunity to sell P&C through another agency and still maintain some independence.

I would like opinions on how marketable I might be to an independent agency that focuses on P&C. I want to be able to continue to maintain my non P&C book through my own agency and want to walk away with my P&C book eventually. (I'm willing to buy my P&C book at the end of my tenure.)

I've put most of my eggs in the individual health insurance basket. That basket fell. In Connecticut insurers will neither pay commissions nor renewals on subsidized business for 2017, nor on any business written after the Open Enrollment Period.

I am losing a lot of revenue, but am still working hard servicing clients during the OEP to maintain those relationships. I have about 1,000 active or recently active clients.

On the positive side:

I have a marketing plan and marketing collateral that have worked for the individual health and MA/Med Supp markets. I believe that I can modify what I have for other insurance markets.

I know how to generate leads both on and off the Internet.

I know how to sell.

I've been an agent for 31 years and have no dings on my license and no E&O claims.

I already have a P&C license.

I have hundreds of clients who pick up the phone when they see my company name on their caller ID. I believe that most of them will let me quote their auto and homeowners. (And there is no non compete clause to stop me from doing so.)

I have enough capital to make the transition.

On the negative side:

I sold P&C in the late 80s for about 4 years, but have no recent experience.

I know a lot of stuff and I can learn more, but I learn more slowly than I did twenty years ago.

I'm sure I have other negatives that I don't have the perspective to see.

Your Opinion?

If I walked into your office and told you my story,would you leap at the chance to make a deal with me or would you roll your eyes and show me the door?

What kind of a deal am I likely to get, if any?

Where should I look?

What would make someone in my situation more marketable?

What questions should I ask the person on the other side of the table?

seems FE, term, supps would be closer to health you were doing?

Why not do FE, term, supps? vs. going into P&C?

 

[Alston]

Not sure how it was in your P&C days, but as you get back into it you'll find that auto policies are very, very well standardized. You can make very confident, clear apples-to-apples comparisons and it makes things easier for you and simpler for the client to have faith in that they're getting the same coverage. Best of luck!

I was actually trying to make that point, but apparently didn't do it well.

I know that the PAP and the HO forms make it easier to compare auto and homeowners policies than probably any other lines.

Health insurance by comparison, except to some degree HDHP HSA-compatible plans, are all over the place. You have to read each health insurance policy's outline of coverage before you can advise a client vs glancing at their auto insurance policy's dec page.