Carriers for a Courier

[Scottyj]

so I have a guy who 1099 contracts with a decent size courier here in SLC. He drives a van and needs a csl auto of 100k ( i told him he needs more but he wont listen) and 10k worth of cargo coverage. I have written a decent number of truckers but his needs do not really fit the program with many of my carriers who write truckers so I am forced to look elsewhere. I first tried Progressive but they came in about 500 more than National Casualty so I may stick with them but, Burns & wilcox wants to place his cargo in the E&S markets and I would rather not since I will have to collect the full premium on that one to protect myself if he ends up cancelling down the road.

He has had a quote with farmers and they want about $2500 with a down payment of $300. My quote comes in at $2100 but because of the lloyds policy on the cargo I am forced to require him to pay the Full cargo policy premium of $685 plus the $125 for the commercial auto. So all is good in the department of the guy wanting to buy but he says he wont have the money till next thursday and that his employer is requiring the policy be in force by monday. I have told him binding the policy now puts me at great risk because if he were unable to pay or decided to go elsewhere that cargo policy would be on me to pay and that unfortunately, I dont know him well enought to be comfortable with that.

I feel like this guy is already stretching me a bit, I already told him I charge a minimum broker fee of at least $400 on these policies I write through B&W but that I would waive it for the first policy term.

So I am wondering, are there any admitted markets I am skipping over that I may have access to her in Utah that I have not considered. We are a PIIB member which comes in handy time to time, and also have direct appointments with Travelers, Zurich, Allied, CNA, AmTrust, The Hartford, Firemans Fund... and several others who have already told me no way...

Please help !

 

[Guest]

You might actually be able to put this on a PL policy, classified as Business use, depending on how many stops a day he makes....

If you write him somewhere, else, premium finance it, so his 25% is paid upfront.

BUT, if it were me, I wouldnt write this dude, not with those low limits.......

I just reread your post, I definately would run from the dude since he doesnt have money right now.....tll him to hit the friggin road.......

 

[djs]

I'd have to agree. I know its tough to walk away from this, but needing coverage on Monday for a hamburger on Tuesday (hopefully, I'm not the only one old enough to get that reference) is a huge red flag.

Lets look at the problems you listed, much less the ones you don't know about....
- No money, but will have it someday.
- Excessively low limits for commercial vehicle
- New in business??? (I assume since he doesn't seem to have existing coverage).

Since this is a courier, chances are you can't place it with a PL policy, thats usually exactly what they don't want. As far as I know, Farmers wouldn't touch this, but you are in a different market. This implies to me that the Farmers agent has probably misquoted the policy. I could be wrong and Farmers is evolving, but couriers are a unique thing that most carriers don't want, unless they really want them.

He is a lapse, or a flat out cancel waiting to happen. Not sure I'd spend a bunch of time worrying about this one.

Dan

 

[Scottyj]

sounds good guys. I told him this afternoon that NO MONEY = NO Policy but about 15 Minutes later he left me a message saying "well maybe I could get the money together to make it work" so I was considering revisiting tomorrow morning but, you two have given me just the feedback I needed now that I think of it you are right, I will not revisit it and continue my daily prospecting in the morning rather than waste it on this yahoo... thanks for the voice of reason guys. I appreciate it... I am the only producer from my agency out here so its not like it was when I was back in cali i could have just got up from my desk and talked it over with my bro and his partner but since they are 700 miles away this forum has been a huge help.

 

[HomeService]

I used to be a courier for about 15 years, and I'm now a P&C agent. I even owned my own courier company. I got commercial insurance through State Farm at the time. No cargo, though. I wanted cargo. The policy specifically excluded my two wheeler dolly for some reason. I guess there are a lot of claims with the dolly. Also, a few of my clients wanted me to get commercial liability, and I never did.