Allstate Agent Inside Car Dealership Good or Bad?

[mattupthehill]

Allstate in CA is all Indemnity. Prior insurance doesn't give you a better rate. There is an agency in, I want to say, the Riverside area that is in a car dealership and they write a lot of new business. In CA, Allstate's rates aren't great but not horrible either.

Now if you are writing a lot of less than 3 years driving experience with tickets and/or accidents than yes that will be an issue.

Personally, if I was a car dealership, I would start an independent agency. You can write a lot more business because of the access to carriers. Maybe the car dealerships are taking advantage of the scratch agent incentives then plan on flipping the books, or maybe they aren't thinking long term?

$40 and item plus $2400 is not a bad starting gig. If you can write 1 policy a day, you should be ok.

 

[insurance1822]

If I were your grandpa I would say don't pursue personal lines insurance (big picture here.) Might not be bad to get experience & a license. If you're going to stay the insurance route then you need a plan to own an agency, or work w/ a commercial agency for commercial experience.

You're entering a dying field.

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If I were your grandpa I would say don't pursue personal lines insurance (big picture here.) Might not be bad to get experience & a license. If you're going to stay the insurance route then you need a plan to own an agency, or work w/ a commercial agency for commercial experience.

You're entering a dying field.

 

[madikane]

If I were your grandpa I would say don't pursue personal lines insurance (big picture here.) Might not be bad to get experience & a license. If you're going to stay the insurance route then you need a plan to own an agency, or work w/ a commercial agency for commercial experience.

You're entering a dying field.

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If I were your grandpa I would say don't pursue personal lines insurance (big picture here.) Might not be bad to get experience & a license. If you're going to stay the insurance route then you need a plan to own an agency, or work w/ a commercial agency for commercial experience.

You're entering a dying field.

Why would you say it's a dying field?

 

[adjusterjack]

The Allstate owners family owns the car dealership.

Isn't it enough that car dealers are liars and thieves?

That combination is a guaranteed kiss of death.

For you.

Stay away from it.

 

[Brianj]

P&C only agencies will struggle. Rates always change and then what? You dont have any other options. Having come from captive agency to now Independent agency, it is worlds better. More options equates to more sales!

 

[indienoise]

Plain and simple, a captive agency won't make it in that environment. Been there, done that.

Loss ratios? Well I'm 30 months in to my IA located in a dealership and most of my LR's are in the 30s. Always some bad apples but if you approach this business model smart, you can make money. The fact will remain, though, to go from barely making a living on your revolving door 300kish premium book to making a tidy prodit, you'll have to somehow market like any other agency.

 

[CaptiveBroke(r)]

Isn't it enough that car dealers are liars and thieves?

That combination is a guaranteed kiss of death.

For you.

Stay away from it.

I agree.

In NYC, many of the agents are in family owned dealerships. They seems to be flourishing while the typical Allstate agent is regimented to stricter risk decision grid.

If one didn't know any better, you would think these dealership agents were having different MMG than the struggling Allstate agents trying to still build their books, which have drastically diminished in the last 5 years.