Insurance Clusters Monopolizing the Market? Help!

[InsuranceBrah]

So I'm coming from the life and health side looking to enter P&C. Got my license easy enough. However now I'm sitting on it with no appointments. getting with other independent agencies is near impossible and wouldn't allow me to stay truly independent on the life side. So naturally me being tired of shackels on my ankles decide to take the hard route and strike it on my own. I know it's not going to be easy. But better than depending on idiots that can't return my calls to process business for me.

Anyhow, Now I'm stuck trying to get carrier appointments. I know full well it's nearly impossible without a network, so that's the route I go.

Smart choice has virtually no carriers in michigan so that's out.

Michigan agency Partners through SIAA aren't appointing agents and only work with mass mutual.. In other words they told me to screw off unless I want the *** who won't return my phone calls processing my business for a chunk my my commission.

So now I'm in the process of contacting iriquoi group. I fell however that if this doesn't work out I'm screwed. How the hell do you get off the ground if you can't get appointed and clusters are acting like monopolies by making agreements with other companies to keep people out of the market?

So yeah this is my little rant, but I need some help here. I've got my license, domain name, software, LCC coming in, and still trying to get some darn appointments.

 

[hesse]

https://couriagents.com/

have no knowledge of them other than an agency across the street has them and they advertise in magazines.

best of luck

 

[insurance1822]

There's a guy on this forms who runs Premier Group Insurance. He'll be on this thread soon. He'll point you in the right direction.

What do you mean the SIAA branch responsible for your territory "aren't appointing agents and only work with mass mutual."


Shawn M. Walker
Vice President
Premier Group Insurance
www.PGIAgents.com
720.335.3799

 

[InsuranceBrah]

There's a guy on this forms who runs Premier Group Insurance. He'll be on this thread soon. He'll point you in the right direction.

What do you mean the SIAA branch responsible for your territory "aren't appointing agents and only work with mass mutual."


Shawn M. Walker
Vice President
Premier Group Insurance
720.335.3799

I mean exactly that. They told me they aren't appointing any new agents. And said "it would be one thing if carriers were appointing" to which I replied "Isn't that the entire point of your organization?.

They have an agreement with the GA of Mass Mutual Southeast MI that runs Preferred planning partners. So it would be more correct to say they have an agreement with PPP. But PPP is somewhat used for outside business in the career agency. So in other words I'd be independent with the ability to brand myself, but at the expense of Preferred Planning Partners eating up my commission. I'll have no binding authority, no quoting ability and would depend on my processor for everything.

It made no sense to me as I thought the entire point of SIAA and other clusters was to help agents get out of the career system.


The way I see it though I already have to give up a portion of my Commission to the cluster.

I don't know the numbers exactly So let's say 13% commission. I'll have maybe 10% after the cluster. Why the hell would I want to drop that to 7% by having another person in my upline eating up fees as a middle man. Especially if I want to appoint other agents one day. What can I offer them? 5%?

 

[Schwetty]

Even with a cluster some companies will be reluctant to appoint any agent without P&C experience.

The group I belong to has turned down a few prospective members in your situation due to lack of experience.

I would suggest looking for contracts from Progressive, any Mutual Companies in your area and a non-preferred company or two to start getting some P&C experience.

Also prepare a solid business and marketing plan to show any company that you hope to appoint with.

 

[Josh]

There's a guy on this forms who runs Premier Group Insurance. He'll be on this thread soon. He'll point you in the right direction.

What do you mean the SIAA branch responsible for your territory "aren't appointing agents and only work with mass mutual."


Shawn M. Walker
Vice President
Premier Group Insurance
PGI Agents
720.335.3799

How's the book coming along? I think it will be an interesting read.

 

[Gulfman]

So I'm coming from the life and health side looking to enter P&C. Got my license easy enough. However now I'm sitting on it with no appointments. getting with other independent agencies is near impossible and wouldn't allow me to stay truly independent on the life side. So naturally me being tired of shackels on my ankles decide to take the hard route and strike it on my own.....

Huh???

Are you saying you have to give up your life health biz in order to "land a job" at a PC Firm?


???

 

[InsuranceBrah]

Huh???

Are you saying you have to give up your life health biz in order to "land a job" at a PC Firm?


???

No.. But working at an agency means writing for them on both sides of the table. Plenty of P&C agencies write life & Health, some with dedicated Divisions for it. I've found no luck finding an agency that would appoint me just on the P&C side. It's all or nothing. In fact most P&C agencies I've talked to aren't looking to appoint any agents.

Plus I want branding freedom. I'm a fun quirky guy that plans an implementing crazy unique marketing strategies and that's hard to do when tied to someone else's brand.

 

[shawnmwalker]

InsBrah and Others,

I remember being on the carrier side and managing 6-8 reps and a distribution channel of a few thousand agents. I remember walking into a large clusters office and the agent telling me he appointed a few new agents in the Boroughs of NY and he informed me that I would be appointing them (Not asking me, but telling me)

I would not, he leveraged his book against the appointments and lost his contract.

PGI has one customer- our agents (350ish)
PGI has one stake holder- our carriers. (A lot of them)
One thing that makes PGI unique is that we come from the carrier side, so we understand their goals and objectives. We speak their language very well. (Too well) We want what they want and grow our distribution where they want to grow their distribution.

that means when they say grow here and don't grow, we, like good partners do what makes Good Business sense, knowing we will have more success delivering one of our many promises by going where they want to go.

No one wants a new agent in Michigan. The laws make it hard to term agents for bad behaviors once they are appointed, they too have PIP problems that are not getting controlled and carriers struggle in Michigan.

InsBrah your situation would be the same if you were in Miami or NYC. You are simply in a difficult spot in the US. There are few areas in the US I shy away from, MI is one of them!

Curry is a good suggestion for Michigan. (Whoever made that suggestion) But I am not 100% sure about the carrier deliverable or the training and support that you will receive that that you will desperately need.

Now to bring it all back around- Groups vary from Good, Better, Best. Maybe the group I mentioned above in my first P, was a good group, or a new group that thought it could bully its carriers into appointing in NYC. Better groups, know better, Great Groups target what the carrier wants to target and the agents in that group financially benefit for it!

 

[insurance1822]

InsuranceBrah forget P&C. Marry an old fat rich lady & call it a day.