Blog

Selling an insurance agency is a significant decision that requires careful planning and execution. If you’re considering selling your agency, you aren’t alone.

As independent insurance agents, we face competition from all sides. The battle for business is tougher than it has ever been. The same old strategies won’t yield the same reliable results. Growth requires a new approach. 

Discover how insurance agents can thrive in the challenging hard market by leveraging the advantages of independent agency partnerships, E&S markets, and innovative solutions provided by Smart Choice's Express Markets division. Explore the key factors driving premium growth and the diverse range of carrier partners in five vital insurance segments, including non-standard auto, artisan contractors, and niche markets, to secure policies and opportunities even in turbulent times.

If you’re partnered with, or have ever considered partnering with an agency network, alliance, aggregator or cluster, you have – no doubt – had to evaluate what it’s going to cost you and your agency.

Discover the challenges and opportunities facing the U.S. private auto insurance industry in 2023. Learn how independent agents can thrive despite rising inflation, supply chain issues, and increasing premiums. Explore strategies to succeed in this evolving market and maximize your agency's growth and profitability.

You want to grow your agency and you know you could – if only you had more help. Hiring new team members is an expensive and complicated next step, and fortunately, there’s an easier way to grow before you reach that point. With our Smart Start programs, you can access the support you need to expand your personal and commercial lines business without the time and expense of recruiting and adding payroll.

Moving into 2023, independent agents who wish to grow will have to adopt different mindsets than in the past. As carriers continue to tighten risk guidelines, implement cancellations and rate hikes, and reduce appointments, they will look to partner with growth-oriented agencies.

The beauty of being an independent agent is that you’re often aligned with a number of carriers and partners who have done a lot of work for you, versus only having access to the carrier you work for as a captive agent.

Mark Brandt, VP of Commercial Lines at Smart Choice, sat down with Andy Wittgren, Director of Select Sales at Cowbell Cyber, for a Q &A on the state of cyber insurance today.

Independent agents are all too familiar with how challenging it can be to find success. Over the years, insurance networks have emerged as a prime way to help independent insurance agencies find their footing, connect with carriers and achieve their goals.

Hard Market and Rate Hikes: If you’ve been in the industry for any length of time, you know it’s cyclical. We are currently experiencing a hard market unlike any other we’ve ever experienced as we exit an unprecedented (at least in our modern lives) pandemic. Supply chain issues, labor shortages, inflation, inventory shortages – they’re all contributing to alter our industry’s delicate balance. 

The last three years may have forever changed the future of the insurance industry. Changes that had been taking place in an industry historically slow to adopt technology were forced to accelerate during the unexpected pandemic of 2020.