P and C Masters: Really Own Your Biz?

[HealthGuy]

Red: And if you get the contracts direct with carriers that are not a part of SIAA, don't you have to ask SIAA for permission? And then don't you still owe SIAA a cut of those commissions? I don't know, have to read the fine print closer with SIAA in the contract. Smart Choice allows you to go direct with carriers they dont have and get 100% of the commissions, with no permission required. Please note: this is NOT a pissing match. I need real advice and good perspective.

 

[Guest]

Health, I will admit, some MA's are better than others, but mine IS awesome. So to be honest, THAT is what you have to discover, will you have a good one or a bad one?

You definately sound to be Bashing everything about SIAA and promoting Smart Choice, so I think you have already made your decision.

 

[HealthGuy]

Red: No disrespect here for SIAA...I'm trying to really evaluate the differences here. SIAA folks, am I missing something? It just seems that because your paybacks to SIAA never stop (there is no cap)..if you really grow your agency, even with the bonuses you could earn thru SIAA, the bonuses are then diminished through the ongoing fees? Its like one negates the other. I'm not in bed with Smart Choice, I'm just sorting through this contractural agreement out loud and wondering if the cap out thru Smart Choice at 15K back to them every year is a safer bet. Anybody wanna chime in?

 

[djs]

If I recall correctly, SIAA has a dimishing fee schedule. Your $275K commissions, $25K in fees doesn't really sound correct because of the diminishing schedule. I could be wrong though, I don't remember how it was structured.

To me, it would be more about the commission rates and the carriers. When I say commission rates, I mean net. SIAA sounds impressive, but you have to subtract out what you send back to them. Yes, the bonuses might be great, but they aren't guaranteed, so I wouldn't count on them to pay the fees.


Dan

 

[Guest]

Health, have you even met with the SIAA MA in your area?

 

[redsquash]

one more point about Superior Access - they do not take any bite out of personal line business/commission. They take some %age out of only commercial LOB. But again, their service sux. However, if you write enough business, may be they would respond quickly.

 

[HealthGuy]

Playing devils advocate..How can anyone run a legitimate p and c shop and go through Superior Access and not be able to bind and have good quoting and policy issue assistance? Nobody has ever answered this for me.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And yes Red Ive met the Siaa local recruiter.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Anybody on the forum been with Smart Choice in the past, and then sold your book of P and C business to somebody else? Logistically, even through you write through them, is the "sale" of your book as easy as their contract seems?

 

[infoe]

All valid questions HealthGuy...I applaud you for your due diligence. I almost always agree with what RBA says but he is an SIAA guy, and wants to defend his position on why he went with SIAA whether "optimally beneficial or NOT optimally beneficial" Only Red can truly subjectively tell you this. He may or may not feel that way but chooses to defend SIAA...I think he does "feel" SIAA is the right way to go.

Here are my thoughts...not always but usually you get what you pay for...seems to be that SIAA is the most expensive cluster out there, and are trying to demand the premium in what I would compare to the BMW OR MB of cluster's for P&C, but it seems to me that they offer the most. Do you actually get what you pay for? I'm not sure.

I would think someone would have needed to be with smart choice and left to SIAA and then gone back or in vice versa order to truly tell you which one worked best for them.

Then also take into account, how heavy or how important is p&c for them..what markets are they in...are there restrictions or is the market ripe for writing tons of business.


I did'nt add anything of value in this thread but It's intended to bump it up back to the top as I'm leaning towards going scratch with SIAA or purchasing a small book of business outright and grandfathering in the carriers (easier said than done)

I truly want to have a serious sized agency (multiples) and am trying to make the most informed decision as well.

Again all this in my situation is in South Florida....where it's damn near impossible to become appointed.

 

[CaptiveGuy]

Playing devils advocate..How can anyone run a legitimate p and c shop and go through Superior Access and not be able to bind and have good quoting and policy issue assistance? Nobody has ever answered this for me.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And yes Red Ive met the Siaa local recruiter.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Anybody on the forum been with Smart Choice in the past, and then sold your book of P and C business to somebody else? Logistically, even through you write through them, is the "sale" of your book as easy as their contract seems?

Health, I used Superior Access (still have the lower membership) while I was starting up for my first 6 months and getting my main direct preferred appointment. Preferred clients do not need to bind the same day. Most times their renewals are a month a way or they are mid term giving you the day or so to complete the quote.

Also, preferred carriers have discounts for making the policy effective a week or more in advance of the quote date. The only clients who will require same day coverage are those with no prior so those would go with Progressive or another non-standard carrier you can get on your own. Basically, you can run an agency with no binding authority but it could get annoying.

If I did not get my direct appointment I would have most likely joined Smart Choice. If you are patient, I would use Superior for a year or so build up a few carriers with $100k in premium then approach them directly.

 

[Guest]

Ok, something that hasnt been touched on.......

Client comes into your office and wants to pay a bill, you dont have access to the account, you have to call someone, could be on hold for a while, how professional does that look?

Someone calls you from the car dealership, traded a car in and cant leave until you fax over the new ID card, well, you may have to wait a while, or it could be after hours and they call, what can you do, meanwhile you lost the client because they said, lets call our guy.

There is more to it all than just binding authrity, servicing the clients is even more important,

What if someone calls in and says, I need to make my payment with a credit card, well, you dont know how much the bill is, what do you do, leave them on hold? call them back?

I am with SIAA, everything is in MY name, if you are with Insurance noodle or whatever, the policies come in THEIR name, they dont see yours. I get paid from the carriers not thru siaa, it is MY business, not someone elses.....

What if you send someone a quote, they call back and say, lets raise the limits, or change the deductibles etc.

ALso, when you quote, say you save them $100 a month, not uncommon, and you want to be a good agent and say, for $6 a month more, we can increase these limits from 100/300 to 250/500 or such, you have to call in to someone correct? I havent used those noodles, etc, so I could be wrong, but definately questions that need to be answered,

I am sure I could come up with more if you like, but maybe that will help you think about other things besides immediate binding authority