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For personal lines, what company provides the best opportunity for a new captive agent, and why?

Thanks in advance for the replies?

In my personal experience, I started off at an unnamed company as an agent. That was a bad idea because insurance can have a big learning curve.

My second insurance job was at a high risk auto brokerage (I worked at three until I found the right one!). My coworkers and I, refer to these companies as "gladiator schools", because if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. There, I learned sales. I learned techniques to use to close deals. I learned what to say and not to say. I learned how to generate leads. In other words, I learned the fundamentals.

Now, I'm working at an independent brokerage with appointments to the biggest standard markets. I'm able to have success because I learned and I practice the fundamentals of insurance sales.

I plan to branch off on my own eventually by going back to being an agent for one of the direct writers. I'll make sure that they only require the "right of first refusal".

Liberty Mutual
Nationwide
Sentry
Allstate
American Family

Hi,

When you need some decent quality leads for Auto, Home, Life & Health Insurance, feel free to look us up.

Contact me if any questions.

http://www.isleads.com
http://www.insuresuite.com

Tony
818 546 6803

<!--QuoteBegin-bchill+Jan 29 2005, 06:21 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (bchill @ Jan 29 2005, 06:21 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Liberty Mutual
Nationwide
Sentry
Allstate
American Family [/quote]
I am a small, one-person agency struggling to get a chance. I got NASD and Life, A & H, Fixed & Variable Annuities license in PA back in August, 2001. After 9/11 happened and the local economy sank with massive continuing job losses, there is no market for any insurance except that which is required by law - auto. After doing an extensive market study to try to help me decide how I can re-tool and get to the point where I can actually make a living, I found that on the conservative side, I can realistically bring in $1 million in 1st year premiums IF appointed with the right auto carrier.

Before spending around $300 to pay for the PA required pre-licensing course & exam, plus the state P & C license exam, I called two carriers I KNOW whose products I can definately market to bring in the premium volume found in my market study. I called to ask their policies on appointing newly licenses P & C agents because I was not going to go get one more license at an expense I am hard-prssed to afford that I can't use to make any money if I don't get appointed because of not being able to get the right chance. Progressive said they'd give me a chance - then AFTER getting the license, they renigged(sp?) because I am a poor, struggling self-employed middle-aged woman working out of an office in my home because I can't afford to rent office space.

I called Infinity, and same thing: no chance beccause of not having any proven suceessful P & C track record. Now here I sit w/ a P & C license, nobody willing to give me a chance. I'd like to know how they all got their chances to get where they are at: in a position to deny others trying to get started a chance. Pardon me if I am angry, but had I known that the Progressive Business Developer lied to me in the beginning about being afforded a chance upon getting the licnense, I wouldn't have bothered. I know my market region, what I can reasonably expect to sell and what I can't. the region is saturated with CFP's, big established independent commercial insurance brokers (no, they wouldn't give me a shot either) who are established and already have plenty of competitively priced P & C products to offer. My best chance was in the personal auto with either Infinity or Progressive, but I can't get a chance. I called IA&B and was told to join their Eagle Agency Program because that's the ONLy place a new P 7 C who is already independent, can get a chance. However, when I called Eagle, they won't give me a chance either because they recently changed their ploicy and mission on giving new people like me a chance. How convenient. Any suggestions here? All I want is a reasonable and fair chance so I can make a living with products that WILL sell based on their prices, which my local market will buy based on what the people can afford. What is the cost to the carriers since I am paid only commissions for them to at least give me a chance? Why can everybody else get a chance - but there's never any chance for me?

Jacqueline, I started my insurance career as a captive with Farmers. They have a great training program and I had a good run with them before leaving them in 1998.

They usually prefer to take insurance rookies and groom them but I have heard of a few experienced people signing on with them. Most likely you would have to sell auto, home & life.

Farmers does not operate in all states, check them out at http://www.farmersinsurance.com

Good luck!