SIAA Vs SmartChoice Vs Insurance Noodle

[jhuang]

I am looking at the P&C markets as well. Being that I have zero P&C premium, this is terribly hard to start off.

Here's what I got from Superior Access (Just talked to them today).
Select Plan Benefits:
· Includes all plan benefits above
· Select Plan commissions of up to 75% base carrier commission on new personal lines business, and up to 60% on renewals
· Select Plan commissions of up to 60% base carrier commission on both new and renewal commercial business
· Direct access to Underwriters
· Discounted licensing services
· All for only a $65 month to month agreement

Superior Plan Benefits:
· Includes all plan benefits above
· Superior commissions of up to 100% base carrier commission on new personal lines business, and up to 80% on renewals
· Superior Commercial commissions of up to 70% base carrier commission on both new and renewal business
· FREE continuing education credits
· All for only a $110 month to month agreement

Superior Access will accept E&O from uniteddefendco. Please search the thread on this for they are not an AM Best rated carrier.

I am still weighing my options for Insurance Noodle, they want AMBest A- E&O carrier which may cost $2k-$3k. However, their fee to be their agent is only $200 per year. I am not sure what their commission structure is but it seems they are more geared toward the commercial agents with personal lines.

I need something with quick bind authority for most of my market will come from real estate agents and loan agents.

Anyone else have other options they can share?

 

[CaptiveGuy]

I need something with quick bind authority for most of my market will come from real estate agents and loan agents.

Anyone else have other options they can share?

You don't have binding authority with Superior it takes up to 24 hours even for personal lines. The problem with Smart Choice is you may not get a preferred carrier appointment with no experience.

I have no experience with Insurance Noodle but they seem to be much more economical.

 

[jhuang]

Yeah...Superior Access bind isn't what I want from what I read in the forums. I was hoping someone can shed a light on Insurance Noodle though.

 

[CaptiveGuy]

Insurance Noodle from what I've heard is better for commercial lines. Still no binding authoirty though.

SIAA, Smartchoice, and Iroquois are the only ones I'm aware of with binding authority.

 

[JCK818]

try superior access. In my opinion its the best you get for the money. YOu don't have to invest much and you get lots of perks.

 

[pecosins]

I am looking at the P&C markets as well. Being that I have zero P&C premium, this is terribly hard to start off.

Here's what I got from Superior Access (Just talked to them today).
Select Plan Benefits:
· Includes all plan benefits above
· Select Plan commissions of up to 75% base carrier commission on new personal lines business, and up to 60% on renewals
· Select Plan commissions of up to 60% base carrier commission on both new and renewal commercial business
· Direct access to Underwriters
· Discounted licensing services
· All for only a $65 month to month agreement

Superior Plan Benefits:
· Includes all plan benefits above
· Superior commissions of up to 100% base carrier commission on new personal lines business, and up to 80% on renewals
· Superior Commercial commissions of up to 70% base carrier commission on both new and renewal business
· FREE continuing education credits
· All for only a $110 month to month agreement

Superior Access will accept E&O from uniteddefendco. Please search the thread on this for they are not an AM Best rated carrier.

I am still weighing my options for Insurance Noodle, they want AMBest A- E&O carrier which may cost $2k-$3k. However, their fee to be their agent is only $200 per year. I am not sure what their commission structure is but it seems they are more geared toward the commercial agents with personal lines.

I need something with quick bind authority for most of my market will come from real estate agents and loan agents.

Anyone else have other options they can share?

I work with other agents to write business they can't and split commission. I can set you up as subagent to bind coverage if needed. We can discuss it if you contact me at [email protected].

 

[HBIFSguy]

Avoid SIAA like the plague.

-----there are no contract-specific details listed here as per the required non-disclosure agreement------

About 3 years ago, my was interested in joining the SIAA. I cannot express how glad we are that we did not. After more than a month of submitting applications and documentation multiple times And countless errors and delays, I canceled my membership before it officially began. My company (and I for that matter) had the worst time with them. First the initial price to join changed 3 times (varying severely) before I got anything in writing. When I finally did get something in writing, it was not at all what we had agreed on. There ended up being multiple versions of that too. Every piece of paper I received was different than explained. Many things in the contracts, agreements, commissions & contracts were not only ambiguously worded, but in their favor as well. Weather looking into a short or long term contract, both had wording that my lawyers cautioned me on as open-ended or continuing past the stated contract timeline. Even some were "insinuations of permanent obligations" open to a court to decide weather or not they would be indefinite. Their contracts bind you to their payment schedule even if your business goes bankrupt. If you're incorporated, they require a personal guarantor so that person would still be liable for payments after corporate dissolution.

Aside from concerning contractual grey areas and zero ability to keep track of paperwork, they were even worse with customer service! While setting up services with them, they offered (as a good faith gesture due to their delays and lack of action) to set my agency up with access to their carriers so we could begin quoting out and selling policies. Keep in mind, without a contract or official paperwork of any kind I would essentially be handing them my clientele in the hopes that they would pay me based on nothing but a verbal agreement and on a mostly undisclosed percentage(no complete commission structure). Not to mention had I taken them up on this, it would in no way be acceptable by any carrier.

WORSE STILL..... They provided the access (via a ratings engine they used) regardless. I quoted myself to get a feel for the system, and only 1/3 of their carriers actually worked. Talked to their 'Tech Support' (1 person), found out that they don't do business with a handful of those companies and never had a resolution for the rest. When I inquired as to why not with the 'higher-ups' the response was, "Well, I'm not sure, and, frankly, it isn't very high on my priorities list."

After that, I canceled our appointment to finalize our contracting. Luckily For my company, I discovered all this before I was committed to working with them. With this many issues, I have no doubt that the agency which was handling membership is to blame, not the SIAA as a whole. Just the same, the fact that they would let a group like this manage anything more than a popsicle stand speaks volumes about them. At the end of it all, VERY steep fee structure, combined with terrible service & downright rude behavior, I cannot advise anyone to pursue a business relationship with them. Would not wish them on my worst enemy, let alone my business.

Went with Smart Choice and have been happy with that decision since.

 

[xrac]

Avoid SIAA like the plague.

-----there are no contract-specific details listed here as per the required non-disclosure agreement------

About 3 years ago, my was interested in joining the SIAA. I cannot express how glad we are that we did not. After more than a month of submitting applications and documentation multiple times And countless errors and delays, I canceled my membership before it officially began. My company (and I for that matter) had the worst time with them. First the initial price to join changed 3 times (varying severely) before I got anything in writing. When I finally did get something in writing, it was not at all what we had agreed on. There ended up being multiple versions of that too. Every piece of paper I received was different than explained. Many things in the contracts, agreements, commissions & contracts were not only ambiguously worded, but in their favor as well. Weather looking into a short or long term contract, both had wording that my lawyers cautioned me on as open-ended or continuing past the stated contract timeline. Even some were "insinuations of permanent obligations" open to a court to decide weather or not they would be indefinite. Their contracts bind you to their payment schedule even if your business goes bankrupt. If you're incorporated, they require a personal guarantor so that person would still be liable for payments after corporate dissolution.

Aside from concerning contractual grey areas and zero ability to keep track of paperwork, they were even worse with customer service! While setting up services with them, they offered (as a good faith gesture due to their delays and lack of action) to set my agency up with access to their carriers so we could begin quoting out and selling policies. Keep in mind, without a contract or official paperwork of any kind I would essentially be handing them my clientele in the hopes that they would pay me based on nothing but a verbal agreement and on a mostly undisclosed percentage(no complete commission structure). Not to mention had I taken them up on this, it would in no way be acceptable by any carrier.

WORSE STILL..... They provided the access (via a ratings engine they used) regardless. I quoted myself to get a feel for the system, and only 1/3 of their carriers actually worked. Talked to their 'Tech Support' (1 person), found out that they don't do business with a handful of those companies and never had a resolution for the rest. When I inquired as to why not with the 'higher-ups' the response was, "Well, I'm not sure, and, frankly, it isn't very high on my priorities list."

After that, I canceled our appointment to finalize our contracting. Luckily For my company, I discovered all this before I was committed to working with them. With this many issues, I have no doubt that the agency which was handling membership is to blame, not the SIAA as a whole. Just the same, the fact that they would let a group like this manage anything more than a popsicle stand speaks volumes about them. At the end of it all, VERY steep fee structure, combined with terrible service & downright rude behavior, I cannot advise anyone to pursue a business relationship with them. Would not wish them on my worst enemy, let alone my business.

Went with Smart Choice and have been happy with that decision since.

Thanks for a very informative detailed post. Sounds like you made the Smart Choice!

 

[Sales71]

Avoid SIAA like the plague.

-----there are no contract-specific details listed here as per the required non-disclosure agreement------

About 3 years ago, my was interested in joining the SIAA. I cannot express how glad we are that we did not. After more than a month of submitting applications and documentation multiple times And countless errors and delays, I canceled my membership before it officially began. My company (and I for that matter) had the worst time with them. First the initial price to join changed 3 times (varying severely) before I got anything in writing. When I finally did get something in writing, it was not at all what we had agreed on. There ended up being multiple versions of that too. Every piece of paper I received was different than explained. Many things in the contracts, agreements, commissions & contracts were not only ambiguously worded, but in their favor as well. Weather looking into a short or long term contract, both had wording that my lawyers cautioned me on as open-ended or continuing past the stated contract timeline. Even some were "insinuations of permanent obligations" open to a court to decide weather or not they would be indefinite. Their contracts bind you to their payment schedule even if your business goes bankrupt. If you're incorporated, they require a personal guarantor so that person would still be liable for payments after corporate dissolution.

Aside from concerning contractual grey areas and zero ability to keep track of paperwork, they were even worse with customer service! While setting up services with them, they offered (as a good faith gesture due to their delays and lack of action) to set my agency up with access to their carriers so we could begin quoting out and selling policies. Keep in mind, without a contract or official paperwork of any kind I would essentially be handing them my clientele in the hopes that they would pay me based on nothing but a verbal agreement and on a mostly undisclosed percentage(no complete commission structure). Not to mention had I taken them up on this, it would in no way be acceptable by any carrier.

WORSE STILL..... They provided the access (via a ratings engine they used) regardless. I quoted myself to get a feel for the system, and only 1/3 of their carriers actually worked. Talked to their 'Tech Support' (1 person), found out that they don't do business with a handful of those companies and never had a resolution for the rest. When I inquired as to why not with the 'higher-ups' the response was, "Well, I'm not sure, and, frankly, it isn't very high on my priorities list."

After that, I canceled our appointment to finalize our contracting. Luckily For my company, I discovered all this before I was committed to working with them. With this many issues, I have no doubt that the agency which was handling membership is to blame, not the SIAA as a whole. Just the same, the fact that they would let a group like this manage anything more than a popsicle stand speaks volumes about them. At the end of it all, VERY steep fee structure, combined with terrible service & downright rude behavior, I cannot advise anyone to pursue a business relationship with them. Would not wish them on my worst enemy, let alone my business.

Went with Smart Choice and have been happy with that decision since.

Wow this is a 2 year post and It was used as your first. SIAA is a fine organization about 4,000 Members/Affiliates to date. Maybe its you!

 

[ins4u2]

We have been with siaa for about 18 months now. There are pros and cons. It sounds like ur problem isn't with siaa, but with the master ( local) agency. Our master agency had been established for over a decade, and had all there stuff together.

Still pros & cons to siaa, just wanted to add my 2 cents