Hello all,
I posted yesterday regarding some questions I had as a newbie to the agency side of the insurance arena. Now, during my research, I have come up with a few more and am hopeful that I will get some of the same great feedback I got yesterday. In researching today, I am having difficulty finding out exactly how to go about getting appointed by companies to write. I have found a company called Accord that has agreements with many companies to write business. Is anyone aware of any other companies that I could check out similar to this? I have also researched a company called Brighway Insurance which does franchising. If anyone is aware of anything smiliar to this, that would be great as well.
Thank you for your help!
Kent
Research
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simiinsuranceguy
- Insurance Journal Addict
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:44 am
Re: Research
Kent, I have some bad news for you. Acord is not an Insurance Company, rather they are a Company that provides standard insurance applications that has most, if not all of the information Companies need to provide a quote. You will become very familiar with the Acord applications in the years to come.
Now, to the point of obtaining appointments. When I started my Agency 10 years ago, I simply called the Insurance Company that I was interested in, asked for the Marketing Dept., spoke to someone in that Department and told them of my situation and that I was interested in writing insurance for them. In some cases, they gave the appointment right away. In other cases, they asked for much information and it took a few months to be approved. And, in some other cases, they declined to offer an appointment due to the fact that I could not promise to write a certain amount each year, or just because I was a newbie. So, just get on the telephone and start talking to marketing Reps.
One final thought is that it may be to your advantage to join a "cluster" of Agencies that secure appointments from many Companies that you will have access to (NIA in CA, Insurance Noodle, etc.)
Good luck!
Now, to the point of obtaining appointments. When I started my Agency 10 years ago, I simply called the Insurance Company that I was interested in, asked for the Marketing Dept., spoke to someone in that Department and told them of my situation and that I was interested in writing insurance for them. In some cases, they gave the appointment right away. In other cases, they asked for much information and it took a few months to be approved. And, in some other cases, they declined to offer an appointment due to the fact that I could not promise to write a certain amount each year, or just because I was a newbie. So, just get on the telephone and start talking to marketing Reps.
One final thought is that it may be to your advantage to join a "cluster" of Agencies that secure appointments from many Companies that you will have access to (NIA in CA, Insurance Noodle, etc.)
Good luck!
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simiinsuranceguy
- Insurance Journal Addict
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:44 am
Re: Research
Just read your other posting on this site regarding your experience. As an Underwriter, did you never see an Acord application?
Re: Research
We dont process paper applications here at my current position or use Accord for any of our applications. Our apps come over they system electronically. I spoke to a guy yesterday from Accord and yes, I understand they provide standard applications. The guy I spoke to stated that they also get appointments from companies and work to set up independents with those appointments. Generally speaking, the guy said for a small monthly fee, they will get you an initial 8-10 appointments.
Re: Research
ANother suggestion is to investigate Wholesalers you can do business with. There are some that provide "Retail" markets on a wholesale level. Concentrate on placing business with that wholesaler and more specifically, one or two carriers. When you have a large enough book, follow the other posts and contact the marketing rep from that carrier.
Where are you located? I may be able to point oyu in the right direction.
Where are you located? I may be able to point oyu in the right direction.
Re: Research
Also if you know what type of business you are wanting to write you maybe ableto find a wholesaler who has a niche product that will appoint you specifically to chase that line of business. Any idea what types you will be focusing on?