Advice on Opening my Own Agency. Which Way Do I Go??

[EagerForIA]

First off, I want to thank everyone for the plethora of knowledge and support that you provide on this site. I've been lurking on this forum for about a year now but have never set up an account and posted anything.

I think I am finally ready to get start but just don't know which way to go. The problem with reading this forum are the many conflicted opinions.

A little background on me.. I've currently live in Maryland and am planning to move to Georgia in the near future and start my own agency. I have been working for a State Farm agent for the past 10+ years and have been in the aspirant program for about 1 year now. I am licensed in P&C and L&H in MD, DC and VA. I have been averaging about 80 policies per month and around $60k-$70k in annualized premium. I used to write a lot of commercial lines but SF has really backed off of a lot of commercial stuff so I don't really seek that business out as much anymore but would like to under my IA. I am scared to death of going the State Farm route and this forum obviously solidifies this fear. Again, I've been working for an agent for 10+ years but I've never opened/run my own business. I feel like I'm running around like a headless chicken and I haven't even gotten further than researching/thinking about doing this.

I would really like to go the independent route and would really just like some advice and/or links on information to help me make my decision and get started. What I can't really decide on is to go straight IA or go with a cluster. Is a cluster a must when just starting out? From what I have read on here, it seems that it's next to impossible to get appointed with the bigger standard P&C companies on your own. Would my 10+ years experience with a captive company be enough?? I know a fair amount about the industry in the MD/VA/DC area but know nothing about the GA area. What are the best companies in the GA area? Any pointers/advice/contact that anyone on here could share to help me out?

Again, thank you in advance for any help at all!

 

[Schwetty]

I think your 10 years of experience will be very helpful for you getting appointments with a cluster or direct.

Good Luck to you!

 

[Jazz10]

You write 80 polices per month! That is impressive, if you can do that on your own I think you will do quite well for yourself.
How did you write that much business each month?

 

[EagerForIA]

I think your 10 years of experience will be very helpful for you getting appointments with a cluster or direct.

Good Luck to you!

Thank you for the response! Is that what they look for when you are applying for direct appointments though? Are there other things that would help my case even though I've never had my own book of business?

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You write 80 polices per month! That is impressive, if you can do that on your own I think you will do quite well for yourself.
How did you write that much business each month?

Thank you for the encouragement! I am currently writing that much business solely from referrals. Mostly from dealership but also from current clients. I would say only about 10% of them are added policies from current clients.

 

[Jazz10]

I come from a mortgage background as well as Life insurance and am now in P&C. It always amazes me that companies will not appoint agents who want to write business for them!

I would think that they would want as many aggressive agents as they can get to expand their business!

Good luck in your search but with a track record of 80 policies a month you should not have an issue getting someone to take notice.

 

[VolAgent]

I come from a mortgage background as well as Life insurance and am now in P&C. It always amazes me that companies will not appoint agents who want to write business for them!

I would think that they would want as many aggressive agents as they can get to expand their business!

Good luck in your search but with a track record of 80 policies a month you should not have an issue getting someone to take notice.

I thought that as well. The reality is, there are a lot more moving parts with P&C and a lot more ways for the agent to screw up. Also, a lot more service work. If the agent disappears on a life policy, not such a big deal. If the agent disappears on an auto policy, that can really matter.

 

[EagerForIA]

I come from a mortgage background as well as Life insurance and am now in P&C. It always amazes me that companies will not appoint agents who want to write business for them!

I would think that they would want as many aggressive agents as they can get to expand their business!

Good luck in your search but with a track record of 80 policies a month you should not have an issue getting someone to take notice.

Thank you Jazz10. I guess they don't want every Joe Schmoe out there writing policies for them without being experienced enough.

To be clear with everyone, my 80 policies a month is a combination of auto, fire and a little bit of L&H. Just wanted to clarify that I'm not necessarily writing 80 households per month. No one gets out without getting multi-lined on SOME kind of other product.

 

[DJAJ]

If you can show production reports with those numbers I am sure you will have a change to get appointed with some carriers. Having said that, the Rep might say, "Hey you've done well in MD with your contacts but how does that translate to GA?" So make sure you have a game plan for that. Also SF does well with the "I am at the dealership and need a policy" but not sure how many IA carriers do. The ones that write Non Standard in MD like Progressive or Victoria or Dairyland are not competitive. So if that is going to be your market make sure to go after a carrier that will be competitive.

 

[insurance1822]

My concern is you're moving away from your existing referral network & will have to start a new one.

 

[indienoise]

If you can show production reports with those numbers I am sure you will have a change to get appointed with some carriers. Having said that, the Rep might say, "Hey you've done well in MD with your contacts but how does that translate to GA?" So make sure you have a game plan for that. Also SF does well with the "I am at the dealership and need a policy" but not sure how many IA carriers do. The ones that write Non Standard in MD like Progressive or Victoria or Dairyland are not competitive. So if that is going to be your market make sure to go after a carrier that will be competitive.

The good news is, in the southeast the carriers that are competitive for this crowd are pretty easy appointments. Provided you're not in a super loss prone area like Atlanta.
The bad news is, with high loss ratios and fraud problems in this market for states like GA, it's very volatile. The cyclical nature of the market is super accelerated, and you will often find these carriers imposing binding restrictions or flat out moratorium while they wait for their next rate increase to take effect. Or carriers leaving the market altogether. You have to remain on your toes, and that's not even taking into account the difficulties inherent with the client demographic.

The thing with standard/preferred carrier appointments, they want to see more than just production, they want to know if the business you write is profitable. They want reports, and that's something you won't get from your captive carrier/agency. Unless you can somehow get P&L's before you leave.

Btw, in georgia, if you want to beat state farm on standard auto, talk to Haulers.