Is Personal P&C Insurance Dead?

[TexasInsuranceNow]

It seems like it's a waste of time. No one seems to value insurance anymore- all looking to save 15% or more, low limits of liability, etc. I don't feel comfortable selling those kind of policies. They will buy on price and leave next renewal. I will advise them to take better coverage and they will decline, they will get in an accident and not have enough coverage and I will be sued, etc.

For everyone in the business, if you were to enter now, would you?
And if you did enter now, would you focus on commercial and scrap personal lines?
Would you focus on life/health/financial services instead?

 

[cgreene]

It sounds to me that you aren't doing a good job of product placement. Personal lines is not dead at all. I would definitely find other areas to go with it though.

 

[insurance1822]

I get all my business from realtor / mortgage brokers. Most of them are solid people who aren't idiots like you're describing. The ones who are complete fools (who dismiss our professional opinions & treat us like 1-800 center people...) still piss me off every single time.

Focus on generating the RIGHT clientele. Dealing w/ the wrong clientele will burn you out quick.

 

[Indiana_Adam]

I am newer to commercial(1yr now) with about 3 years of P&C. I wouldn't say it's dead at all. In fact, I've read somewhere there will be a mass exodus of older agents as they retire over the next 5 years. That is great news for younger agents coming in right now, like myself. That is a huge opportunity to pick up clients' whose agents are retiring. I'm stoked. Though I am so far enjoying commercial WAY more than personal lines.

If you recommend higher limits and they refuse, have them sign a letter stating you recommended the coverage and they declined and are aware of ramifications. The minimum limits we write on personal are $100/$300/$100. If they want lower limits, they must go elsewhere as we won't write it.

 

[nyc2phi]

It seems like it's a waste of time. No one seems to value insurance anymore- all looking to save 15% or more, low limits of liability, etc. I don't feel comfortable selling those kind of policies. They will buy on price and leave next renewal. I will advise them to take better coverage and they will decline, they will get in an accident and not have enough coverage and I will be sued, etc. For everyone in the business, if you were to enter now, would you? And if you did enter now, would you focus on commercial and scrap personal lines? Would you focus on life/health/financial services instead?

You can say the same thing on the commercial end..

Contractors will use you for certificates, shoppers are looking for the lowest BOP price, more opportunities to be sued, etc.

Find the business you want by focusing on other areas. 1822 suggested realtors, I do well with networking groups such as BNI, and just know the call ins and Internet lead people are going to be the way they are.

 

[Heather]

I am newer to commercial(1yr now) with about 3 years of P&C. I wouldn't say it's dead at all. In fact, I've read somewhere there will be a mass exodus of older agents as they retire over the next 5 years. That is great news for younger agents coming in right now, like myself. That is a huge opportunity to pick up clients' whose agents are retiring. I'm stoked. Though I am so far enjoying commercial WAY more than personal lines.

If you recommend higher limits and they refuse, have them sign a letter stating you recommended the coverage and they declined and are aware of ramifications. The minimum limits we write on personal are $100/$300/$100. If they want lower limits, they must go elsewhere as we won't write it.

Hey Adam, do you loose a lot of potential business by not writing lower than 100/300?

 

[Indiana_Adam]

No. Most of our clients already have at least 100/300 If not, I'm usually able to save them $30 or $40 bucks a year and explain why they are better off with these limits than the current 50/100. The few that have state minimum or are only interested in premium aren't clients I particularly wanted to work with anyway. The majority of those are the few walk-in/call ins we get. Majority of what the agency writes is referral business or business from warm introductions. I'm really the only one in the office cold calling when time permits.

Another advantage is that I don't have a quota to hit. So it's easier to let prospects go.

 

[Heather]

That is really good Adam. I have honestly been writing any garbage I can find all summer long and I no longer do any cold calling. My assistant that I had mentioned before quit, just had her husband come in with a box and start removing her things from her desk one day. She had a problem with doing cold calling(did not want to)her warm calls were not much better, would not get any referrals from her business she did bring in. She also did not like having a quota or working beyond 2:30pm which was very hard on me having no help at the busiest times of day.

 

[cgreene]

I have never cold called refused to. I use to write a lot of garbage but when it gets slow and they cancel like crazy it hurts to bad and is not worth it.

 

[Gooner]

That is really good Adam. I have honestly been writing any garbage I can find all summer long and I no longer do any cold calling. My assistant that I had mentioned before quit, just had her husband come in with a box and start removing her things from her desk one day. She had a problem with doing cold calling(did not want to)her warm calls were not much better, would not get any referrals from her business she did bring in. She also did not like having a quota or working beyond 2:30pm which was very hard on me having no help at the busiest times of day.

I'm going to suggest a "look in the mirror" moment.

You jumped all over somebody today looking for some advice...just seems like you've got some things going on personally that may be contributing to your "lack of fulfillment"