Jump Start your Agency
Congratulations on starting your own Independent Insurance Agency! You’re in good company! With over 450 agents in the PGI family, we all welcome you to independence and agency ownership.
It doesn’t matter if you’re brand new to the industry, or you’ve been in it for a lifetime, owning an agency can be both exciting and challenging. Below you will find 10 fundamental KEY/NEXT STEPS to start out on the right foot to operational success. This document also includes links to invaluable resources that will come into play throughout the life of your agency; not just the initial stages.
(These tips are simply meant to help with administrative organization in your first week. The information provided is meant to serve as a resource road map; it is not all inclusive, and it is subject to change. This document does not provide tax or compliance advice, but is intended to help point you in the right direction as you structurally set up your agency.)
Top 10 Steps to Jump Start your Agency
- Register Your Business
Registering your Business is an important initial step to set up your agency successfully. Without a registered business you may be ineligible for certain licenses that might otherwise give you an edge on the competition.
● You will need to register your business to create a distinct legal entity.
https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/register-your-business
● Obtain your Tax ID https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/get-federal-state-tax-id-numbers
- Get Your Agency License
An Agency License will assist in obtaining access to Insurance Carriers (certain companies require an agency license for an appointment)
An Agency license will give you a greater marketing advantage using your registered business name.
Apply for an Agency License here: https://www.sircon.com/
- State Affiliation
Any individual licensee who represents an agency or acts on its behalf must have their individual license associated with the agency’s license by means of affiliation. Below are a few states where that will need to occur, please check your state statutes and regulations at your state DOI website to see if this needs to occur in your state:
-Arkansas
-California
-Colorado
-Idaho
-Illinois
-Kansas
-Kentucky
-Louisiana
-Maine
-Massachusetts
-Michigan
-Missouri
-Montana
-Nevada
-New Mexico
-Ohio
-Oregon
-Pennsylvania
-Texas
-Washington
*This applies to Non-Resident Licenses as well
*If you have an affiliation with a previous agency you must request to be unaffiliated.
https://www.sircon.com/ComplianceExpress/ServiceRequests/IndvAsscMntn.jsp?nonSscrb=Y&sscrbid=9999
- Document & Track Your Producers
Affiliation also applies to any sub-producers within your agency in the states above.
You will need to send Premier ( Licensing@pgiagents.com ) copies of licenses for any agent producing under your agency.
Contact your trainer to add additional EZLynx users for your producers – this is necessary to track their production under your Agency.
- Get to Know Your State DOI: Laws, Statutes, Regulations, Bulletins, and Forms
What is the Department of Insurance?
Insurance is regulated at the State level, and each State has its own insurance department suited to help people like you. Each department is tasked with one overarching duty: regulating insurance for the protection of consumers. To that end, the State DOI establishes and enforces rules & regulations pertaining to the industry. Licensing of insurance companies and agents is one of the many regulatory functions of the State DOI.
Use the following link to look up your state DOI information & website, as there are state-specific laws and regulations you will need to adhere to https://content.naic.org/state_web_map.htm
- Non- Resident Access
If you are planning on doing business outside of your resident State you will need a non-resident license. PGI will be able to help you in almost all circumstances as it relates to geographic expansion.
To apply for a non-resident license: https://www.nipr.com/nrl_states.htm
- Charging Broker Fees in your State
We get this question all the time, and in short, we point agents back to #5.
What are agency fees or Broker fees: A broker fee is a fee in addition to premium and commission that is charged by retail and wholesale insurance brokers and that ultimately is paid by the insurance buyer. Such fees are subject to two overriding rules:
· They must be fully disclosed to the insurance buyer and
· They must be reasonable.
· Only certain states allow Broker fees. Fees may be subject to specific state insurance regulatory restrictions where permitted.
· Some Preferred Carriers are not keen on the idea of charging fees, so check with them as well.
Consult your state DOI to find out if you are eligible to charge Broker fees.
https://content.naic.org/state_web_map.htm
- LexisNexis
What is LexisNexis? In Layman’s terms, LexisNexis is the database carriers use to get information on a customer. The most frequently used information is C.L.U.E, MVR, and an Insurance score. Because carriers use the LexisNexis database you will be privy to confidential consumer information as you quote and bind policies for carriers. For this purpose, you will most likely need to fill out the LexisNexis application below so that the carriers can allow you to quote and bind in their systems.
● LexisNexis is a 3rd party vendor for Insurance companies. They leverage more than 10,000 data sources; providing the largest base of public and proprietary information available on the market today.
● LexisNexis provides a system for agents to access credit bureaus in order to receive an individual’s credit report. That score is systematically calculated to help assess risk. This data also provides an insurance score.
● LexisNexis also developed the C.L.U.E. database to provide insurance companies loss history information for private passenger automobiles.
A Lexis Nexis Node ID is required for agents to access C.LU.E., MVR, and Insurance scores. To apply for Lexis Nexis, an additional email will be sent to you with complete directions.
- E&O Coverage & EZLynx Users
Please familiarize yourself with the E&O coverages and EZLynx user costs and specifications stated in your contract.
- Update Your Listings, Branding, & Codes
Make sure that any branding from previous agencies or captive companies is removed from your online and physical locations. Company Representatives will be coming to meet you. They don’t want to walk into and probably won’t walk into a Farmers/ State Farm/ Allstate office.
Update your Agency listings with search engines & online services or hosts such as Google, Linkedin, or Facebook, as well as public records, phone books, referral services etc. Company Representatives will be looking at your online profiles. Now is a good time to clean that up.
Confirm that your access to carriers through previous agencies or brokers has been terminated in full if necessary – as this can significantly slow down your appointment process under PGI’s codes.