Trasition to Starting an Independent.

[Timothywilson98]

Currently I'm a captive agent, I've written YTD 215 cars, 84 H/O policies and 40k in life premium. The pressure to sell life insurance is through the roof. I'm earning 4.5 commission on auto and 9.5 Comission on H/O. Same pay for renewals. Like insurance I make 12% whole and 8% term. I've been doing it for 3 years now and thinking about jumping ship. Any advice?

 

[Andle]

Can you survive on the commissions that sort of production produces? Can you maintain or increase your production outside your current captive model? In my market you need to produce a lot more than that to make any sort of living in the first 3-5 years.

Those are the questions i would ask myself.

 

[AgencyAdvantage]

Those are terrrrrrrrrible life insurance commissions. I realize you didn't include the company you work for for obvious reasons but could you tell us what it rhymes with?

 

[cottonland]

Where are you located?

 

[indienoise]

215 cars, or 215 auto policies? Big difference.
In my area, 100ish households in a year is not enough premium/ commission to live off of. Not even enough to profit from, tbh. You would take a while to earn a reasonable income.
BUT, don't sell yourself short. My first year indy, I wrote more premium than 2 years as captive. Do the math. 8-10% for business through wholesaler, 12-13% if you're with a cluster (plus contingency, if they qualify), 15% for direct markets. But renewals have trended lower. Knowing roughly what your expenses were as captive, add 200-300 a month for ams and rater that you probably weren't paying for as captive, and don't forget you can't count on any marketing co-op (but some indy carriers do offer some...just don't count on it) how much premium do you need on the books to make a profit?

 

[Timothywilson98]

I've written 215 auto policies this year. I'm currently in Louisiana, premiums tend to be higher in our state. My current comissions schedule does not generate much money. I make most of my money on bonuses. I've looked into several ams systems including, Doris, hawksoft and Ezlynx. It rhymes with neuro.