Brand new agent in CA

Just my non P&C agent 2 cents.

I get call regularly from clients asking me if I have a California P&C that will write their home.

The last three I spoke to, two established captives and one established independent.

Captive #1 - trying to find an exit strategy, laying off some staff.

Captive #2 - working his book on Medicare and Life. Getting his CSRs Life licensed. is consistently a top Life writer for them. I insure a couple of his family and a lot of referrals he couldn't do. He is opening an office next door for his newly Life licensed independent son.

Independent - in the East Bay. Sold the P&C side and Life and Medicare only now.

Good luck.
 
I just a swerved your question with another new agent. Personal Lines is a tough market right now and by all means take a position with an established agent so you can earn as you learn. Personal Line commissions range from 8%-15% of the premium. Do the Math. How many dollars do you need to survive each month? If you want $2000/month you need to sell $20,000 in premium or 3-4/week easy. You will find that you run out of friends quickly.
 
I just a swerved your question with another new agent. Personal Lines is a tough market right now and by all means take a position with an established agent so you can earn as you learn. Personal Line commissions range from 8%-15% of the premium. Do the Math. How many dollars do you need to survive each month? If you want $2000/month you need to sell $20,000 in premium or 3-4/week easy. You will find that you run out of friends quickly.

I appreciate the feedback. So basically, I think the consensus is that I need to join an existing agency until I can figure out what the heck I am doing.
 
really? that doesn't make any sense that they can't choose who they buy insurance from but I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Writing a new policy to replace an active policy could cause client to lose longevity credits, maybe accident forgiveness, maybe different insurance score & maybe new accidents or tickets found.

Sure, you could attempt to do AOR(agent of record changes, but that won't be new production & it may or may not be allowed by some carriers. AOR is not a business plan to grow a book of business & will be little to no income on a handful of policies.

I think you may want to research all the overhead costs of how much a PC book costs to run. This will give you an idea of how many new policies you need to write to cover overhead.

Just looked at my sons books for month of January. His overhead of 4 CSRs & 2 producers along with rent, utilities, overhead, taxes is $55,000 for January so far.
 
I just a swerved your question with another new agent. Personal Lines is a tough market right now and by all means take a position with an established agent so you can earn as you learn. Personal Line commissions range from 8%-15% of the premium. Do the Math. How many dollars do you need to survive each month? If you want $2000/month you need to sell $20,000 in premium or 3-4/week easy. You will find that you run out of friends quickly.
Yup, and that math assumes no overhead & getting most of the commission if working under another agent depending on how much of the new & how much of the renewal commission be passed on from the agency principal
 
Yup, and that math assumes no overhead & getting most of the commission if working under another agent depending on how much of the new & how much of the renewal commission be passed on from the agency principal

Allen, thank you for your input. Again, I have no idea where to start or if this is even viable or from a return on sweat equity (time).
Are there any companies that pay you to learn on the job or a draw type of program?
 
Allen, thank you for your input. Again, I have no idea where to start or if this is even viable or from a return on sweat equity (time).
Are there any companies that pay you to learn on the job or a draw type of program?
historically there had always been alot of the captive companies like Allstate, Farmers, State Farm, Liberty, Farm Bureau that would do that. But most of them have transitioned to business "ownership" where you invest up front or at least have out of pocket costs up front. Plus, I would be surprised if they even appoint new reps in CA.

I would maybe rely on the other forum members that operate in CA.

You could look up independent agencies in CA & see if any are looking for additional sales producers, but make sure you read any & all contracts you sign about going into competition later or non-piracy of clients, etc
 
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