Homeowners - State Farm Vs. Others

[sarabellum]

I'm trying to get a sense of how other carrier's compare to State Farm in terms of Homeowners? i.e.,

• Underwriting
• Application process
• Turnaround time
• Commissions
• Other product strengths/weaknesses

Any ideas?

 

[djs]

This may seem like a strange question, but it impacts the answer a LOT. Are you P&C licensed? Do you have P&C experience?

The reason I ask, a P&C agent wouldn't understand the concept of turnaround time. State Farm agents have binding authority, so the average home can be insured when they say it is. This also means they do the underwriting (though the company will run their own within the window of time).

Why do you ask specifically about State Farm? Are you competing against them or thinking of working for them?

Dan

 

[OCinsurance]

Don't lots of indepdent agents have binding authority? We bind many property products.

 

[djs]

Don't lots of indepdent agents have binding authority? We bind many property products.

Some do, some don't. Different lines will have variances as well. I think to be effective, an independent agent has to have binding authority, but it is not a requirement.

They may have it with some carriers and not with others.

Dan

 

[OCinsurance]

Some do, some don't. Different lines will have variances as well. I think to be effective, an independent agent has to have binding authority, but it is not a requirement.

They may have it with some carriers and not with others.

Dan

I see that many agents on here are going through aggregators, which explains why they cannot bind.
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I'm trying to get a sense of how other carrier's compare to State Farm in terms of Homeowners? i.e.,

• Underwriting
• Application process
• Turnaround time
• Commissions
• Other product strengths/weaknesses

Any ideas?

Are you asking because you are a StateFarm agent or because you are trying to make a pitch against the competition? I just sent a quote to a friend after he received one for his homeowners policy and 5 of my carriers beat them. Clearly, there are a variety of factors involved, such as location, etc, but it was certainly interesting.

 

[Texasproducer]

In Texas they have a very strong product. HO-3 including the water damage endorsement for long term leaks. Your standard here is the HO-2.

But their pricing is terrible here.

 

[markschneider86]

Most of the time it is based off of the state laws.Which means its in a lot of ways the same. Commissions very company to company, turn around is about the same, Yes, I do have binding authority on a lot of stuff.