Insurance Journal Forums

My Name is Wyatt and I am a P&C agent in Lebanon, Oregon. I am currently writing a thesis on the Insurance Industry and need information on the history and current trends of the Independent Agent. Can anyone help me out?

From a historical perspective it would interesting to interview some independent agents. However, I don't think many are around who started a career or went back to their career as a independent agent after World War II. Although some agencies that are still in existence with the second generation may be able to provide some second hand stories of what is like as a independent agent after the war.

In so far as having a bibliography for your thesis you may want to contact the "Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America" (IIABA). The IIABA was founded in 1896 and may provide you with historical material and information about the current state of the independent agent, as well as, being a source for other books and publications on the subject.

The state to the north of you has a resource as well. PIA (Professional Insurance Agents Association). They can be a vast resource & potentially have many publications regarding this topic! (http://www.piawest.com/)

All the PIA's are very much involved in being proponents of our industry by helping "new blood" succeed all the while maintaining core standards set forth by founders!

What are you looking for? My Agency has been around since 1929 and I have been with it since 1976.
My father started in life insurance before WWII and joined the agency in 1945 when he returned from over seas.
He is still around and has a wealth of stories, unfortunately he is hard of hearing and a phone conversation maybe difficult.
If we can help, glad to try.

Hey Guys, thanks for the responses!
I have already contacted the PIA, and am waiting to here back from them. My father's contact with the IIABA is on vacation til the 2nd week of May, sadly.

What I am looking for is the history of the agent, from a service perspective. When did the agent we know today come about, and what was the evolution? I have a basic history of insurance itself, and one could argue that the agent started when insurance began being sold, but I am interested in the agent as the bridge from insured to insurer.

Anything at all would be helpful, this isn't a huge portion of my thesis amount-wise, but its important for me to be able to establish the significance of service provided by the agent.

Thanks again guys!
Wyatt King

Another source you should consider is Rough Notes. The magazine has been around for a long time and their past articles could be a good source of information for how agencies operated in the past. I don't know how easy it would be to access their archives but would be worth a try. Let me know if you need a contact at the company. They are based in Indianapolis.

Steve Anderson
http://www.steveanderson.com

SteveAnderson wrote:Another source you should consider is Rough Notes. The magazine has been around for a long time and their past articles could be a good source of information for how agencies operated in the past. I don't know how easy it would be to access their archives but would be worth a try. Let me know if you need a contact at the company. They are based in Indianapolis.

Steve Anderson
http://www.steveanderson.com

I agree with Steve. Any study of the American Agency System should begin (and probably end) with Rough Notes. Within those publications, you will find over 100 years of agency marketing trends, agency management trends, coverage and claim trends, carrier relationship trends and much more. You will also realize that while we are a much more efficient industry today, not all that much has changed. For those of us that have been in this industry for 40+, the Rough Notes library is as facinating as the Smithsonian Institute.

The other source mentioned is the IIABA Future One - Agency Universe Study performed every two years. This is an excellent survey, diving into the numbers and trends surrounding our industry. I am not certain how far back it goes, but it does show trends.

Good Luck!

Doug Johnston
Applied Systems