A Tale Of Two Agents
Captive Agent
An agent
working exclusively for a single firm. He or she is obliged to submit
business only to that firm, or at least give that firm first rights of
refusal on the case.
Captive agents that are non-established are
usually paid on a combination of salary and commissions earned from selling
the policy contract. Also, the firm usually provides its captive agents
with an allowance for office expenses as well as employee benefits such as
pensions, life insurance, and health insurance.
The
established captive agent is usually paid exclusively on a commission
basis. This type of agent will tend to have more in-depth knowledge of
that firm's policies, however, he or she will hardly ever be equipped
to offer the industries' best price on any particular product
offering.
Independent
Agent Broker
Simply said, independent agents are appointed to sell
policies from many insurers. The agent is independent from all the
companies thus, the independent agent's responsibility is solely focused
on evaluating the client's needs and the pricing of the product
chosen.
While searching for the
brokerage market's best place for a
client's business, independent agents pay all their own expenses and
keep their own records and earn their income from brokerage commissions on the
policies they sell.