Insurance Wholesalers -Question

[Boxer3246]

I just received my General Lines license (2-20, Florida), and one of my class instructors mentioned Hull & Co. They basically do every kind of insurance on earth, for 10% of the commissions. The client is mine, as they dont deal with customers, just agents. From my understanding they have a quoting system, and may do some of the underwriting on site. Everything seems cool but they want me to be licensed for 1 yr, and I only have my license 1 month. Plus have $1M in E & O, which is a little more than I would like to pay for at this point, but is OK if I had to.

I am looking for a similar type company to funnel my commercial/some residential Property & casualty business thru. I am located in the Ft Lauderdale area. Although I easily found a very large list of similar type companies, it would be great to get a recommmendation from someone out there in insurance cyberspace.Thanks

 

[somarco]

Hull is an intermediary with access to domestic and surplus lines products. I believe they handle extra-ordinary risks that are usually shunned by traditional carriers.

 

[Boxer3246]

I may be looking for MGA, managing general agent or Wholesale insurance broker. Primarily for commercial, but if the offered property & auto, that would be great. Ideas are appreciated.

 

[INSwebsites]

Boxer -

I'm not an agent, but I've worked with AgentSecure (InsureZone) as a web developer and I've known their President for several years. They are a P&C insurance wholesaler. They offer both an offline and an online comparative rating service.

www.agentsecure.com

Thanks,

Michael

 

[djs]

I've used superior access at www.sais.com They will sign you up if you have the E&O coverage, though I'm not sure if they cover Florida.

They have a good selection of carriers for BOPS / general liability / home / auto, etc. You won't have binding authority, which may or may not make a difference to you, keeping in mind, they are pretty quick in turning around an app. You own the client, no problems in getting released when you want to. Actually, they don't even deal exclusively, you can use them for risks that the carriers you have direct appointments won't take, which is what I use them for.

You really need to know what markets you want to work first. If you want to go after aviation, it's a different answer than inland marine, which is a different answer than construction, which is a different answer than auto repair facilities, etc, etc.

My advice, if you want to start with commercial, and are just starting out, focus on small retail. It's easy, you can write them pretty rapidly, not huge premium, but it's an easy way to get your feet wet. You'll pick up workers comp along the way, and then small group health or individual health. After you do that for a short time, you'll get a better sense of what direction to move in for your area.

(retail includes office space, so like doctors offices, dentist offices, software companies, insurance offices, etc, etc. Very easy to write, underwriters don't yank your chains so hard, you'll learn what to look for).

Avoid general construction contractors. They are a plague to the new insurance agent. Artisans (electricians, plumbers, etc) you can usually do, but the general contractor will eat up all your time to only find out that you can only place them with the same carrier they already have.

And yes, you will need $1M in E&O coverage. Not much getting around this especially for commercial (not a good idea in any case). For budgeting, plan between $4K - $6K, depending on your area. You might find it a little cheaper, not much.

Dan

 

[warrenins]

Burns and Wilcox is a good MGA to start with. I think some of the other guys gave you some good suggestions about Agent Secure and www.sais.com. Go to Roough Notes.com they have a tone of MGS's listed. As far as E&O, most are going to require it

 

[warrenins]

Oops, a ton of MGA's

 

[cptgrp]

Anyone else with experience with Agent Secure? I've used Superior Access in the past but their customer service was terrible. I was getting thrown around account reps like a hot potato.