How to Get Appointed with Insurance Companies: You Need 3Things
Before I worked with Firefly, I tried to get carrier appointments on my own. While I knew Firefly was a great company, I also thought that if I could get the carriers on my own, I might make more money.
However, I quickly learned that to get an appointment on your own, you have to know the carrier’s requirements. Every carrier is different, but below are three key ideas of what most carriers will ask when going through the appointment process entirely on your own.
Alternatively, you could take a shortcut to getting direct carrier appointments with ALL of Firefly’s carriers in your state (without any per-carrier production requirements). See more details at the end of this article.
1. A Track Record of Growth and Profitability
When seeking insurance company appointments, keep in mind that carriers are generally looking for growth that is profitable. And, they’ll want to see at least three years of your reports to verify it.
A common problem is that you can’t show profitable growth if you don’t have production and claims reports. If you have worked with at least one carrier for enough time and have the records to show for it, they will want to see that your book generated an underwriting profit for that period.
Note that your growth and profit over time can have an impact on the way a carrier views you. A $1 million book after three years makes a better impression than a $1 million book after 15 years.
2. A Business and Growth Plan
Even if you can demonstrate a solid, profitable experience, adding a carrier will change the dynamics of your agency. Carriers know this, and they want to see how you’ll generate more business overall with them.
For example, if you have a $500,000 book of business with two carriers—$250,000 per year, per carrier—this makes a good impression. But new carriers want to be sure you have a plan to grow beyond that $500,000 total if they appoint you. They’re not looking for stagnant agencies that just shuffle customers from one carrier to another.
It may feel daunting, but once you make that commitment, you must follow through and grow.
3. A Production Commitment
After you present your growth plan, you will have to agree to a production requirement with the insurance carrier. It will usually be a 1 to 3-year goal. Two things to be aware of upfront:
- Many companies have separate production requirements for commercial vs personal insurance.
- Getting a carrier does not necessarily mean that you will get every line of business that they offer.
Production requirements are typically universal, but they limit the number of carriers you can get appointed with. This is due to the cap on how much business you can write in any one year.
New requirements can also increase stress in your agency because you have to balance your customers’ best interests against your carriers’ requirements for more premium. For this reason, be cautious when getting appointments with multiple insurance carriers. Adding more insurance companies before you reach your production goals with current carriers will jeopardize your existing or future appointments.
Two Additional Considerations:
When learning how to get appointed with insurance carriers, don’t forget these two important practices:
1. Obtain E&O Insurance
You will need to have errors and omissions insurance. E&O insurance is designed to protect professionals against claims of negligence or inadequate work in their services. This isn’t usually difficult to do, but it’s worth noting.
2. Book of Business to Roll Over
A book roll is a process where an insurance agent transfers multiple policies from one carrier to another. If you have the ability to do a book roll, you’re likely to get more attention from carriers. In some cases, a carrier might insist you roll a book to them in order to get their appointment. Even then, they will probably not take all of the accounts.
Make sure that the book you want to roll will need to have a history of profitability. Otherwise, no carrier will want it.
Getting Insurance Company Appointments: The Bottom Line
In short, to get appointed with insurance carriers you need to know what they want, and you have to deliver some big commitments to them.
With most insurance clusters or aggregators, the principles are the same, but a little more flexible. The bar for experience will be lower, and the production requirements will probably be lower, too. But, the limiting principle of production requirements vs the number of carriers you get still applies.
Also, note that commercial and personal lines will still be separate with some carriers.
Direct Carrier Appointments with Firefly
When you join Firefly as an independent agent, it’s easy to get direct carrier appointments with our entire roster of carriers.
Not only will we get you appointed with ALL of our carriers, you won’t have to worry about per-carrier production requirements.
Get more details and contact us by visiting the “Grow Your Agency” page.