Insurance Journal Forums

I have my NY State P&C and Brokers license and I am very interested in working for myself as an independent agent/broker for small business insurance sales. Based on my research, insurance companies will not give me an appointment unless I have an existing book. Is there a way for me to sell commercial property casualty insurance without acquiring an existing agency? For example, would I be able to sell through an insurance wholesaler?

The overwhelming majority of established people here would say to find yourself an agency that wants an agressive producer and learn the biz that way. Almost any agency will welcome such a person.

But if you're dead set on being your own boss in your own facility, then the next best advice would be to join up with an agents association in your state and take advantage of their member services and pose the question of access to them. You can also affiliate with one of the many and growing numbers of clusters available giving you access to markets.

And finally, in the current market, you're going to have to figure out a way to do things differently or better than the status quo. Merely calling yourself an insurance broker/agent and having access to markets and then cold calling every business on a main street in your area with the opening line 'maybe I can save you money' just isn't going to cut it anymore. Those much wiser than myself will advise you to find a niche and learn all you can about it and then exploit your expertise in that area, leveraging it into the ability to offer coverage and quote options as an expert, rather than just an insurance quote machine.

You're in for a grind...but good luck anyway.

Great feedback. Thanks for replying. I am interested to hear if anyone else has a differing or even the same opinion.
Also, what are the pros and cons with Agents' Association vs. a Cluster?

Check out the post "New Insurance Agency Startup Questions" previosly addressed in this forum, you will find several responses that you might find of interest. Good luck.

I am a big advocate of the cluster, alliance and network groups, these type of groups truly work for the well for the smaller agency as they arrange appointments for you and most include you in on the group profit sharing. If you intend to write preferred business, this is truly the way to go. There are well over 100 of these groups around the USA and they are essentially agencies grouping their volume together to have the clout and contingency commissions of a large agency. Also, many of these group are able to get the appointments in your agency name and there are all kinds of commission arrangements out there, depending on the group you join. If you do a search in this forum, I have written about these extensively and should find more information about them. You can also find a list of these groups as well as other start up agency information on my website.