Is there a "good" way or "bad" way to fire a client?

[Y.L. Prinzel]

Insurance agents are just that "agents' of the insurance company, not the p/c. As such there are certain acts an agent must perform in the carrying our of his fiduciary responsibilities towards a p/c. These acts MUST conform to the insurance company's policies and procedures, one of which is a compliance letter approved by the company. Additionally, proof of service(delivery) must accompany the letter so sending the letter certified, return receipt requested is also a good idea. If you cannot prove the date you formally informed your p/c then the p/c can sue you and through you as agent the insurance compnay in the event something goes awry.

Most companies have these compliant letters. Some places call them Letter of Release, Letter of Intent, Letter of Transfer, etc. If this is not handled correctly you could open both yourself and through your agency status the companies you represent to litigation. This of course will raise your E & O insurance through the roof.

Since our advisors are contractors and the clients were considered theirs rather than ours as a B/D, it is a little different. However, we still had a compliance approved letter that we sent out to ever client--so there was always a paper trail that they had been notified of the change with some sort of compliance approved communication.