Captive Agent Information

[gainesvilleaaron]

I am a newbie to the insurance world but have a pretty good general knowledge having family involved. I have a couple of oppurtunities but not sure about the captive agent rules and regulations. If I decided to work for a company and ended up not liking it for some reason, could I get out of the captive side of it and If so,, how long would it take???? Please anyone with some information on captive agent regulation help me out..... Thank you, GainesvilleAaron

 

[Alston]

You become a captive agent when you sign a contract with a company that restricts you from selling other companies' products. The agreement will be between you and the company.

How you get out of it will be determined by your contract. You will probably be restricted from selling to their clients for a year after your contract is terminated. That scenario is typical in my experience.

 

[insuranceexec]

You can negotiate a "pre-nup". With family in the business; why are you not going to work with them?

 

[yabba]

My thoughts on being a captive agent are: it is a great place to start in the business because you usually get some sort of agent financing,in-field training,mentorship, and in some
cases brand identity from the company you represent. It can
help futher your chances of success in the first 1-3 years
with those support systems that you probably won't get
as much being an independent agent. On the other hand,
the pluses of being non-captive are having more choices
of products for the client and more underwriting flexibility,
especially for hard-to-place clients. One thing to check
out is whether or not renewals are vested with a certain
captive company as some allow for it and some do not.

 

[Vanbret]

As mentioned above, The "captive" contracts are usually in place for about a year (can't sell to those clients). I use to have one in the beginning of my career with Liberty National; I think it was a 2 year contract....

 

[hlink20]

I am a newbie to the insurance world but have a pretty good general knowledge having family involved. I have a couple of oppurtunities but not sure about the captive agent rules and regulations. If I decided to work for a company and ended up not liking it for some reason, could I get out of the captive side of it and If so,, how long would it take???? Please anyone with some information on captive agent regulation help me out..... Thank you, GainesvilleAaron

[FONT=&quot]I suggest becoming an independent broker. You will have options and more control of your business.[/FONT]