I NEED HELP! Trying to Get Appointed with P&C Companies

[DFGL]

Hello
I have my 220 P&C license for the state of Florida for 4 years now and for 2 years was licensed in the states of MD,DC and VA. I have decided to start my insurance agency, already have my E&O policy in effect.

I am trying to get some advise here. I have contacted several auto carriers to get appointed with but have not heard back from them. Nobody said it was easy however I really need to get some clear view!!. Should I start with a wholesaler like Superior Access?? or is it possible to get appointments for example with Progressive or Bristol West??

I called the companies like safeco, travelers, Bristol, progressive and all of them ask to complete the application online, and I have found all of them ask for the three p&C carriers I have , the answer to that is NONE so I really don't know how good is to send over an application stating zero carriers appointed with!!! I also want to do commercial insurace.

Any advise will help, or if you can point me out to a company that will give me an opportunity please please let me know! I am in Southwest Florida. Thanks you very much!

 

[Jerbond]

I was in the same boat. I started with Networked, and Superior access- GA's. They are a pain to work with, but you need them to at least be somewhat competitive. I recently signed up with Progressive, but I must say, if that was my only auto carrier, I would have been out of business long ago. You need the GA's until you can build a book of business. Travlers needs i think $150K in premiums before you can get direct appointments. That's why the GA system works. Safeco, Hartford, Travelers, etc. It's better to have access to all of them, instead of having to "fit" every costomer into one carrier just to get to the goal. I would rather make $150K in premium over 5 or 6 carriers, than lose half my customers because they don't qualify. Even with all those carriers, sometimes I still can't beat a policy with State Farm, Farmers, Mercury, etc... Make sense?

 

[DFGL]

Thank you, so much for taking time to respond. I have checked out Superior Access so far they seem to be the best. I liked them because of the EZlink system rater, is it good, can you quote and bind that fast?
I don't know about Networked.
I contacted Progressive they told me the rep will contact me within 30 days, I hope she does...

 

[Jerbond]

Superior declines alot of customers on the commercial side. The EZlynks rater will save you money by not having to purchase a rater. Superior will get you up and running, and you get to keep your book. That's the big one. KEEP YOUR BOOK! in a year or two you can get signed up with Travelers or Safeco, then add another the next year, and so on. This really is a marathon business. No fast buck sprinting here.

 

[DFGL]

Thank you very much I value your ideas! and think will go with Superior Access

 

[Carlos Gil]

Where in Florida are you doing business in.

 

[FL P&C Broker]

Bristol West is non standard. Not the business I would want to go after. Leading with auto is probably pretty hard. I would recommend leading with home owners. The home owners insurance market is a mess right and it is great time to put some business on the books. It is hard to find a GA though that has the home owners carriers.

 

[FLInsa]

Recommendation: bypass all GAs and go with SIAA.

When I started I looked at all of the aforementioned GAs and then some and they were a joke. No REAL FL markets, no ownership of the books and etc.

SIAA was one of THE best business decisions I made when I started.

But like everything else SIAA has its pros and cons:

Pros: you get right off the bat a TON of high quality Florida markets such as: Mercury, Liberty Mutual, Zurich, FCCI, Safeco, Travelers, ASI, Bankers, Mapfre and more. You also own the book of business AND after you reach 50k in premium you now become directly appointed with the carriers. Not to mention you can actually quote all these markets YOURSELF online. So no waiting 3-4 days for a CSR in Iowa to look at your prospect.

Cons: initial investment fees and 15 year commitment. Which is not really a problem if you know you are what you are doing.

If you want more info feel free to pm me.

 

[DFGL]

Thank you Flinsa!

I was not able to PM you since I am new here, I will like to get additional information about SIAA, I went to the website and it's not very helpful, if you could PM me with more info I will appreciate it. Thanks

 

[AWISgroup]

Bristol West is non standard. Not the business I would want to go after. Leading with auto is probably pretty hard. I would recommend leading with home owners. The home owners insurance market is a mess right and it is great time to put some business on the books. It is hard to find a GA though that has the home owners carriers.

Arrowhead wholesale uses Fireman's Fund, Chubb, Ace, and Chartis for homes over $1mm... They don't charger broker fees and there are no premium requirements.

Call Mike G @ 619-876-4107 or email at [email protected]