Farmers Insurance - Giving Up Being Independent for Support

[newbyagent]

No longer. They are strictly captive. Read the contract, ask the district manager. I did look at it at one time before I realized how bad it was.

The older agents are allowed to do outside business if Farmers turns it down. But as you said, still doesn't do you much good with life.

Thanks for the clarification. I stand corrected.

 

[wfs]

what if you could have all the support of being captive and stay independent? I am asking because I use to work @ Farmers the commissions were very low 40% on life 10% on p&c. The only support they gave was a subsidy the first few years and that wasn't much. I now work with a group of indies where you get all the support you need, the commissions are high and you have training 3 times a week. I did not like Farmers when I was there. I just kept thinking in the back of my mind that I could do a better job for my clients etc...They aren't bad or anything just to be their product lines
are not competitive.
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I want to learn the P&C business with one of the big guys. I am now leaning towards State Farm - the agents in my area have all been pretty successful. Independent is ultimately the place to be, but for now, I'm probably going to choose SF or Farmers to get me going in the P&C world...

The SF plan with the bonus is better than Farmers - even though Farmers has higher commissions. Plus having a choice of starting with a $1M book or a monthly premium builder ($8K/mo up to 5yrs) if starting from scratch is something that Farmers does not offer. In either case, I am paying for an office, staff, etc... I might as well pick the one that is going to give me the most startup cash and incentives. SF is clearly the winner. Plus an $18K 1st year signing bonus and a $12K second year bonus. Farmers gives you a 24 month $2000/mo "draw".

What to do, what to do... We will see... I'm not even an approved candidate yet, but I did pass their limra test - not a real shocker though...

 

[proadvisors]

yeah go state farm.

 

[Sodyman]

what if you could have all the support of being captive and stay independent? I am asking because I use to work @ Farmers the commissions were very low 40% on life 10% on p&c. The only support they gave was a subsidy the first few years and that wasn't much. I now work with a group of indies where you get all the support you need, the commissions are high and you have training 3 times a week. I did not like Farmers when I was there. I just kept thinking in the back of my mind that I could do a better job for my clients etc...They aren't bad or anything just to be their product lines
are not competitive.
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I was at pfs many years ago. I am indie now and worked at farmers before it is not the way to go IMO

Are you just an agent with proadvisors or are you the fmo? I have been doing life/health for over 7 years and am adding p&c and am looking for the right connections to the top carriers. Any suggestions?

 

[wfs]

I may not go with either Farmers or SF. I may choose to add a company like Smart Choice to my arsenal so that I can do P&C in addition to my life biz. After viewing their site, I really like what they have to offer an independent agent - I didn't know that existed until a few days ago.

This is starting to seem like a better option to me... I'm in no rush to jump in and make a decision...