Questions about joining Siaa to get carrier access.

[insuranceforever1]

Good evening everyone,

I am excited to announce that I will be opening my own insurance agency in New York, and I am considering joining SIAA for carrier access. I have a few questions, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me with the answers:

1. Are there any monthly fees or startup costs associated with joining SIAA?
2. What commission rate/split does SIAA offer?
3. If I receive a direct appointment from a carrier, will SIAA assign insureds to me, allowing me to receive 100% commission moving forward?
4. Is there a cap on the commission split, or will SIAA take a percentage forever?
5. If I decide to leave the network after a year, will there be a buyout or exit fee that I need to pay?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences and insights. I appreciate any guidance you can provide.

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

Good evening everyone,

I am excited to announce that I will be opening my own insurance agency in New York, and I am considering joining SIAA for carrier access. I have a few questions, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me with the answers:

1. Are there any monthly fees or startup costs associated with joining SIAA?
2. What commission rate/split does SIAA offer?
3. If I receive a direct appointment from a carrier, will SIAA assign insureds to me, allowing me to receive 100% commission moving forward?
4. Is there a cap on the commission split, or will SIAA take a percentage forever?
5. If I decide to leave the network after a year, will there be a buyout or exit fee that I need to pay?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences and insights. I appreciate any guidance you can provide.

1) Both
2) There's a tiered % of your overall commissions. I'm not gonna say what they are.
3) If you have direct appointments you're the agent of record; all commissions go to you. You're responsible to report your commissions to SIAA and pay them their cut.
4) That'll depend on your master agency.
5) Oooooooh yeah. Make sure you read their agreement very carefully. If you're planing on leaving in a year, SIAA isn't a reasonable option.

 

[Matthew Labb]

SIAA is going to be more expensive than most networks you join.

Because they have so many different master agencies, nobody in this thread is able to tell you what you'll find in your contract - there's dozens upon dozens of them.

SIAA has a long commitment on the contract, I've had agents tell me their contract has up to a 13 year vesting period on the book of business. Its not easy to leave.

They are a good fit for some but not all. For someone starting from scratch, brand new - I wouldn't recommend them. Like someone else already said, if you are already planning to leave in a year, SIAA is a bad place to call home.

Grab a contract and read it. They will have you sign an NDA I believe?

When we send out our contract to perspective member agencies in our network, I don't get an NDA signed - and I always advise the people show an attorney before joining us.

Nobody wants to get it wrong when picking a network, but if you are going to get it wrong, make sure you can leave without turning your entire agency upside down and starting over.

 

[marindependent]

They will have you sign an NDA I believe?

Yuck!

 

[Matthew Labb]

Yuck!

most every network does!

We don't. We encourage people to show our contract to an attorney actually

 

[Gulliver]

Check the Agency Collective before joining.

 

[Paul Schmidt]

I have been a SIAA Member in KY for 15 years and when I moved to SC and opened an Independant Agency I again joined SIAA. This is my 6th year here. I am PRO SIAA, because of the extra comp you can get with the companies they and you represent. I can not tell you about the Master agency you would join in NY, however they all run pretty close to the same.. You can negoiate anything in the agreement including early departure. SIAA as well as your Master agency will have a lot of tools to help you get up and running. I knew no one here in SC when I opened the agency and in 3 years me and my partners had a 3.5 million book. I have since sold my part out to the partners and opened my own agency, again with SIAA. Yes you do pay them a small fee for the P&C premium you put on the books, however there are so many bonuses and overrights both on a National & Local level, that we have gotten more from the SIAA than what we have paid them. If you would like to call me my website is www.sccompleteinsurance.com 843 310 8886..I strongly recommend them. They are the largest aggrator in the industry..

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

I have been a SIAA Member in KY for 15 years and when I moved to SC and opened an Independant Agency I again joined SIAA. This is my 6th year here. I am PRO SIAA, because of the extra comp you can get with the companies they and you represent. I can not tell you about the Master agency you would join in NY, however they all run pretty close to the same.. You can negoiate anything in the agreement including early departure. SIAA as well as your Master agency will have a lot of tools to help you get up and running. I knew no one here in SC when I opened the agency and in 3 years me and my partners had a 3.5 million book. I have since sold my part out to the partners and opened my own agency, again with SIAA. Yes you do pay them a small fee for the P&C premium you put on the books, however there are so many bonuses and overrights both on a National & Local level, that we have gotten more from the SIAA than what we have paid them. If you would like to call me my website is www.sccompleteinsurance.com 843 310 8886..I strongly recommend them. They are the largest aggrator in the industry..

Seconded. I definitely got more from being with them than I gave.

 

[Paul Schmidt]

Good evening everyone,

I am excited to announce that I will be opening my own insurance agency in New York, and I am considering joining SIAA for carrier access. I have a few questions, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me with the answers:

1. Are there any monthly fees or startup costs associated with joining SIAA?
2. What commission rate/split does SIAA offer?
3. If I receive a direct appointment from a carrier, will SIAA assign insureds to me, allowing me to receive 100% commission moving forward?
4. Is there a cap on the commission split, or will SIAA take a percentage forever?
5. If I decide to leave the network after a year, will there be a buyout or exit fee that I need to pay?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences and insights. I appreciate any guidance you can provide.

As a 20+ year member I will answer these question for you.. This is my experience with SIAA as yours may be different..
1) yes there is a start up fee each Master Agency sets that I believe.. They will finance that for you also.. Yes you have a monthy report you do that tells you what you need to pay them, it is on a decending scale the more you write in commissions the less % you pay...
2) Mine is 100% commissions on all companies I write... if your master agency writes the business for you then it is different..
3) You will always receive 100% on all your business, you will have to file a monthly report and give your master agency their small cut.. Transparency, the Bonuses I receieve annually ALWAYS are more than what I have paid my Master Agency...
4) As long as you have a contract with them I believe you will pay your monthly fee to them, BUT remember the more the commissions you report the % owed to the master agency goes down..
5) yes and if that is so I would not join siaa..Not sure why you would want to leave though..
6) not asked but have been with two different master agencies one in KY and one in SC and in both cases I could negoiate their contract including startup fees...