Insurance Journal Forums

Hello, everyone.

As you might know I am a GenYBroker. Very green, indeed. I welcome everyone's input.

What is the average E & O premium for a new Independent Agency coverage (1 producer)? Whose sole proprietor has no prior experience in operating an IA but has 6 years of professional experience working in another industry.

I notice that insurance ed firms promoting seminars in E&O which one can attend to get some discount (up to 10% on premiums) from these carriers Westport (now part of GE right?) or Fireman's Fund. Are these the most used or popular carriers for E&O out there?
How much is a 10 % discount? A lot . A little. $ 100 ???
B)

Thanks.

GenYBroker

GenYBroker, don't be surprised to hear premium quotes in the $5,000 range. Carriers will be hesitant to quote as well since you are new in the business. I would recommend that you talk to your states independent agency association for help as well.

The associations are of little help. I know from first hand experience. What is the purpose of an association if it cannot assist new agents in getting established? I tried PIA, BIG I, WIAA, and any other association you can think of and all refused to even quote because of "LACK OF EXPERIENCE". Call an IA that specializes in E&O and they will be far more help than the Associations. Grated premiums may be high but at least they will give you a quote. Get a quote from many as you can as E&O premiums very significantly by the IA and their agreements with insurers.


Once established then go to the Associations to save money of E&O.

<_< In my opinion, Loudmouth is giving both bad and good information, I disagree about the associations being of little help, it may vary by state or territory, but The Florida PIA can quote just about any carrier that you can get. I say this because you need to join and pay dues to an association, so you are not reaping the rewards of the association without helping pay for their expenses. By that, I mean you are already a member of your state associations, you just don't pay dues. You must join to get E&O thru them though. Unless your local or state organization is doing things that you are opposed to, they are already working for you, give them a call and get a quote, they will tell you the VAST differeneces in the carriers E&O policies and lead you in the way you should go. I would guess you are looking at a minimum of $5000 for a start up agency.
the best advise I can give is do not buy coverage based on price, you need to look at the coverage, defense cost inside or outside limit, deductible on claim and/or defense etc. :blink:

GenYbroker, where are you located? If in California, I can write a policy for you. Two recent brokers I just wrote policies for were new in business (but had experience). Total cost was about $3600 for $1M.

Rob

Thank you all for your inputs on this E&O subject.

If you have more insights on this subject, please contribute so other "green" folks like me can learn from.

B)
GenYBroker.

P.S: I'm from Anaheim, CA.

Hello, everyone.

I found a article on E&O coverage in our backyard.
<a href='http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazin ... /51597.htm' target='_blank'>Insurance Agents E&O: Are YOU Properly Covered?</a>

It has some good points that I will put on my checklist when getting my E & O coverage.



GenYBroker

Involvency exclusions for B+ or lower carriers is pretty common from what I'm seeing, depending on the company and what carrier will accept you. My opinion is to not write anything less than A- and if a company starts to slip, advise customer and offer rewrite. I've been in business for more than 5 years and I have this exclusion in my own policy. My defense costs are inside and deductible applies to both defense/indemnity. So I'm not so sure (except for any association programs) if a new agent can expect anything else until the market changes a bit more in this area

Rob

I am in the same place. I have no experience working in insurance and recently got a P&C authority added to my license (I have had the title authority for about a year). My reason for getting the P&C added was to be able to sell Pet Health Insurance to my existing customers in my dog training business. Now I can't seem to get E&O and thus can't get anyone to allow me to sell Pet Health Insurance. Now this insurance has a max benefit of $5000, so I would be willing to self insure. What do I do?

genY,

Thanks for the link