New Agent Looking for Independent Agent to Mentor Me

[insurance4me]

Hello,

I am new to the forum but have reading this forum for several months. I am located in Southern California and am looking for a independent agency that can mentor me. I am new to the insurance business and am looking to work out of my home office part-time. I currently hold a Fire and Casualty license and a Life agent license. I would like to build a solid web based business but need some guidance. Since I am new the E&O insurance is almost impossible to obtain and I would like access to different insurance carriers. I already looked into Superior Access and was not impressed. Any ideas or suggestions I would greatly appreciate.

Thank you.

 

[anteater]

Sorry I can't offer to help, as I'm new to the insurance industry myself, planning to get my P&C license next week. I'm curious though, what do you mean by E&O almost impossible to obtain? Does the cost make it too prohibitive for you, or are they not willing to take a risk on a newbie?

What was it about SuperiorAccess that turned you off? Have you looked into SmartChoice? It seems like those are the only 2 options for selling personal lines that will be available to me as a newly licensed agent with no prior insurance industry experience. I just spoke to a SmartChoice representative, and he mentioned that through them you can buy E&O for around $1,300.

Good luck in finding a mentor!

 

[insurance4me]

Thank you for the information. The problem with Superior Access is that they do not let you bind your own policies, everything goes through Superior Access and you do not work directly with the underwriters. I want to bind my own policies. I used myself as a test case for Superior Access to search rates on homeowners and auto policies. The auto only returned 2 carriers and the homeowners returned 1 carrier. Both premiums were double what AllState, Nationwide, and Mercury had quoted me. As for the E & O, I have been quoted from 3000 to 5000 for a new agent. I guess what I mean't is "its expensive," rater than I cannot find an E & O carrier to cover me. I did look at the Smart Choice web site, from what I understand you are purchasing a franchise. Does anyone know how much the franchis purchase price is?

 

[anteater]

You're not required to purchase a franchise with Smart Choice, they also have a program for independent agents. Unlike Superior Access they let you bind your own policies, and you will be directly appointed with the carriers. But they take a bigger chunk of your commission than Superior Access. And as an inexperienced agent, I would be only appointed with one preferred carrier to start with. Another negative is that when in the future I decide to leave Smart Choice, I would have to wait 2 years before I could get directly appointed by that carrier again. What am I supposed to do in the meantime if this was a carrier that I write a lot of policies for?

So I have to decide whether binding my own business is worth making several percentage points less on commissions.

 

[insurance4me]

I spoke with Smart Choice yesterday and they offer a good opportunity for agents that are already in the field or those who already have a agency. I do not have a store front office and am working from my home office. Smart Choice will not allow you to work from a home office you have to have some type of business office.