New Independent Agent, Need Advice!

[anteater]

Hi everyone,

I received my P&C license a month ago, and signed on with Superior Access. My reasons for doing this was that they pay 100% commissions, as opposed to MGAs that take a commission split which would stack the odds against me from the start. Losing 30% of my commissions might be the difference between me making it in this field or not.

My experience with Superior Access so far has not been a positive one. Their online comparative rater, which they so highly touted, does not provide the results that one might expect. Many of the companies that they claim participate in the online rating, do not, and instead of a premium I would see a TBD and have to submit an offline quote. That would be fine, except that the turnaround time on an offline quote is over 48 hours! To top it all off, they seem to require A LOT of information to get a quote. Some of my customers have complained that they did not have to provide so much information to get insurance before. Some of it is downright invasive and doesn't seem necessary to get a quote.

So, I'm not sure what my options are at this point. If I'm going to stick with Superior Access, I need advice from someone who has been with them and made it work for him/her.

Otherwise, is there another option similar to SAIS that is good for personal lines and would take someone with no prior experience? I've looked into Smart Choice, but they're not for me. I won't enter into anything that has steep separation penalties, and they have a 2 year waiting period before I can be re-appointed with any of their carriers.

Or, does anyone know of a good MGA in the San Diego area?

Thanks in advance!

 

[money888]

Anteater,

There is a local MGA that I was suggested to me which is in the norh OC area give me an email will gladly share the contact.

 

[anteater]

Thanks, money888. Please email me at katenok at gmail dot com.

 

[anteater]

Does anyone else have any experience with Superior Access or can refer me to a good MGA for personal lines? The MGA that money888 suggested is commercial and so would not work for me.

 

[djs]

Superior is pretty easy for personal lines. I can do a car quote with made up information and it works pretty well. I'm not sure what types of information you are having difficulties with.

Quotes work 2 ways. Accurate and inaccurate. To have an accurate quote, you need to underwrite the risk correctly, in other words, you need a bit of info. I don't think you need anything more with Superior than you do with carriers directly (albeit, some carriers don't ask much, but you want a comparison, you answer many strange questions).

I don't write much personal lines on Superior, but every once in a while I try an auto quote with their comparitive rater. It works pretty well.

Dan

 

[anteater]

On auto, I agree with you, it is pretty easy. My problem lies with home quotes. Usually I'm not able to get premium indications from the most competitive insurers (despite SAIS claiming that those companies do participate in the online comparative rater). In this case, I have to do an offline quote. But I can't just get a quick and easy offline quote. They will only give me a full bindable quote, which means that I have to grill the customer for all of their information, including SSN, current insurer and policy #, home purchase date and price, all about their employer, position and years worked. People seriously resent handing out all of this info JUST FOR A QUOTE. And then having to wait 3 days for the quote!

Granted, this is usually so I can get a quote from Travelers. But for this area, Travelers tends to be the most competitive of all SAIS companies. So if I can't get instant premium indications from Travelers, I may as well not bother with SAIS.

 

[annuityseller]

I'm not a P&C agent but somewhere on this forum I heard of a place smart choice I think????

 

[williamsassoins]

I'd recommend PIIB or WIAA for a MGA, and silver plume for a rater, it's been a great success so far.

 

[mdavis]

If you're getting objections from prospects who don't want to share that info with them, I usually will tell them something like ".. I totally understand your reservation when it comes to your private info. The reason I'm asking you is because the more field underwriting I do, the more companies I will have at our disposal to compete for your business". If they still object, then you probably don't have thier confidence anyway.

 

[moeasadi]

On auto, I agree with you, it is pretty easy. My problem lies with home quotes. Usually I'm not able to get premium indications from the most competitive insurers (despite SAIS claiming that those companies do participate in the online comparative rater). In this case, I have to do an offline quote. But I can't just get a quick and easy offline quote. They will only give me a full bindable quote, which means that I have to grill the customer for all of their information, including SSN, current insurer and policy #, home purchase date and price, all about their employer, position and years worked. People seriously resent handing out all of this info JUST FOR A QUOTE. And then having to wait 3 days for the quote!

Granted, this is usually so I can get a quote from Travelers. But for this area, Travelers tends to be the most competitive of all SAIS companies. So if I can't get instant premium indications from Travelers, I may as well not bother with SAIS.

If you do any commercial line, i may be able to help each other.send me an email at [email protected]