Nancy-Not sure how you don\’t get it. If you lead with price and do not include coverage or the quality of the carrier with your client, then if and when there is an uncovered claim you stand a greater risk of having an E&O suit. Price IS important, but you better make sure that your insured is properly covered first, and then get him or her the best price you can.
instead of worrying about the minimal price hike you take on your e&o take control of your business and stop selling price which will enable you to stop selling your lower commission companies which will lead to bigger profits cancel your progessive type low commission appointments and any other company that wants you to work for peanuts
most of the comments i see are from insurance agents, we know that the cost of the insurance we sell is based on the risk of that individual compared to the law of large numbers (insur 101, as someone put it earlier)…
fm the days of llyods of london to today, we still are taking risks and calculate the $$$ for that risk…
if you think it\’s bad here, think of the malpractice coverage that have been rising and putting doctors out of business or move to a different state because of the cost…
so where does the risk go? again, just like a consumer, you have to shop for the quality of the product w/the price that fits our needs and budget…i am happy to say i work for a company that believes in its employees and pays for it (not sure whom they use or the cost)…
finally, remember we are insuring folks for the various activities from autos, cars, homes and etc. if they shop as a consumer, why should we not shop as a company for the same reason?!
We are paying more for E&O because the companies are paying claims on agents that have losses, some of these are agents that are posting on this blog and some is due to the character of the agent and the risks they are willing to take in business.
It is probably a good thing that more E&O carriers do not pull credit checks on the principals or the rates may go up more. Face it folks we have customers that good and bad and we have fellow agents that are good and bad, this is not to say that you are bad if you have an E&O claim. If these agents don;t understand why the E&O rates are going up I am glad they are not my agent.
It would be impossible to cancel contracts with companies that offer lower commissions, especially for agents along the gulfcoast and Florida, since most of these carriers are chopping commissions or sticking them with HUGE non commissionable fees. I just wish that more companies thought of agents as a good resource and a profitable partner instead of a way to cut expenses by lowering commissions.
Having reviewed the previous comments, some of which are very pointed and others very immature, I find my self wondering the size (premium volume or review) of these agencies with $2,500 and $4,500 APs.
One of the best things we can remind our clients of is that we are consumers also. We, too, are affected by the insurance cycles along with them. And they should feel confident we take the same due diligence reviewing their policies, coverages forms & carriers as we do our own.
This is only a profession if we all act like Professionals. It’s a shame the Attorneys General like Spitzer et al don’t think of us as such. They have taken the actions of a “corrupt” few and painted us all with the same brush, and the Carriers are “rolling over” to accommodate them. Oops, I’ve moved to another issue.
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Nancy-Not sure how you don\’t get it. If you lead with price and do not include coverage or the quality of the carrier with your client, then if and when there is an uncovered claim you stand a greater risk of having an E&O suit. Price IS important, but you better make sure that your insured is properly covered first, and then get him or her the best price you can.
instead of worrying about the minimal price hike you take on your e&o take control of your business and stop selling price which will enable you to stop selling your lower commission companies which will lead to bigger profits cancel your progessive type low commission appointments and any other company that wants you to work for peanuts
most of the comments i see are from insurance agents, we know that the cost of the insurance we sell is based on the risk of that individual compared to the law of large numbers (insur 101, as someone put it earlier)…
fm the days of llyods of london to today, we still are taking risks and calculate the $$$ for that risk…
if you think it\’s bad here, think of the malpractice coverage that have been rising and putting doctors out of business or move to a different state because of the cost…
so where does the risk go? again, just like a consumer, you have to shop for the quality of the product w/the price that fits our needs and budget…i am happy to say i work for a company that believes in its employees and pays for it (not sure whom they use or the cost)…
finally, remember we are insuring folks for the various activities from autos, cars, homes and etc. if they shop as a consumer, why should we not shop as a company for the same reason?!
We are paying more for E&O because the companies are paying claims on agents that have losses, some of these are agents that are posting on this blog and some is due to the character of the agent and the risks they are willing to take in business.
It is probably a good thing that more E&O carriers do not pull credit checks on the principals or the rates may go up more. Face it folks we have customers that good and bad and we have fellow agents that are good and bad, this is not to say that you are bad if you have an E&O claim. If these agents don;t understand why the E&O rates are going up I am glad they are not my agent.
It would be impossible to cancel contracts with companies that offer lower commissions, especially for agents along the gulfcoast and Florida, since most of these carriers are chopping commissions or sticking them with HUGE non commissionable fees. I just wish that more companies thought of agents as a good resource and a profitable partner instead of a way to cut expenses by lowering commissions.
More than my 2 cents worth
Having reviewed the previous comments, some of which are very pointed and others very immature, I find my self wondering the size (premium volume or review) of these agencies with $2,500 and $4,500 APs.
One of the best things we can remind our clients of is that we are consumers also. We, too, are affected by the insurance cycles along with them. And they should feel confident we take the same due diligence reviewing their policies, coverages forms & carriers as we do our own.
This is only a profession if we all act like Professionals. It’s a shame the Attorneys General like Spitzer et al don’t think of us as such. They have taken the actions of a “corrupt” few and painted us all with the same brush, and the Carriers are “rolling over” to accommodate them. Oops, I’ve moved to another issue.
Contact me in the 4th quarter of 2007 to discuss whether or not a new coverage is available for release. it will revolutionalize insurance agents E&O.
I would really like to see what you have.
Thaniks,
Eric