Captive Agents: Thinking of Starting an Insurance Agency? Read This

Being a captive agent is a great way to start a career in insurance. You get to know the industry, learn the ins and outs of your job, and dive deep into the products offered by a single carrier. But after a few years selling for only one carrier, many captive insurance agents wonder if they should start their own agency.

Maybe they find that their carrier’s policies aren’t adequate to meet their clients’ diverse needs. Maybe they’re frustrated by the limited commissions they’re able to earn. Maybe they’re itching to do their own thing.

If any of those speak to your experience as a captive insurance agent, this article is for you. In it, we’ll explain the benefits of starting an insurance agency as a franchise owner, both for you and your customers.

What WE Insure Offers Franchise Owners

WE Insure was founded by a 20+ year veteran of the insurance industry who began his career with a national carrier. That insider experience informed how WE built our franchise program, which is structured to empower agents to deliver the best possible products to their customers while spending their time on the most rewarding (and revenue-generating) activities.

WE franchise owners get access to…

• 100+ carrier partners: We’re committed to making sure you have access to the products you need to help your customers manage their unique risks.
• Policy servicing team: From data entry and front-end underwriting to mid-term policy changes and renewals, our corporate team handles servicing so you can focus on sales.
• Accounting and reconciliation team: Easily track commission statements for you and your producers – without all the paperwork.
• Carrier administrative support: Our dedicated team handles licensing, contract management, password management, compliance, and auditing. You can focus on customers knowing things are working well in the background.
• State-of-the-art IT infrastructure: Enjoy an innovative phone and customer management system, plus a full team of IT professionals to help you if something goes wrong.
• Marketing support: From consulting to digital marketing support to an in-house print shop, WE help you get the word out about your agency.

The result of all these resources? Running a WE franchise comes with lower operating costs than starting an insurance agency from scratch, while providing the kind of back-end support that frees up your time to focus on revenue-generating activities.

What WE Insure Offers Your Customers

No agent likes the feeling of having to turn away a customer because they don’t have the right policy. But that’s often the reality for a captive insurance agent.

Or maybe you’ve had the experience of telling your friends and family not to buy policies from you because you know they can get more appropriate coverage (or more competitive rates) elsewhere.

When you operate a WE franchise, you’ll be able to serve more customers and meet more of your existing customers’ needs, from pet insurance to health insurance to homeowners insurance. What's more, we’re constantly expanding our carrier partnerships so that you can offer your customers as much choice as possible for the policies they need.

This lets you and your team become a trusted partner to the people you serve, which makes for more rewarding customer relationships.

Consider Your Alternatives before Starting Your Insurance Agency

Of course, opening a WE franchise isn’t the right course of action for everyone.

Franchise owners are business owners, and that means you’ll have to operate more independently and with less oversight than you do as a captive agent. While our systems free you up from a lot of the business maintenance work you’d have to do as an independent agency owner, you’ll still be responsible for establishing yourself in your community, strategizing your agency’s growth, and growing and managing your team.

If you’re considering starting an insurance agency, though, those are likely challenges that appeal to you. If that’s the case, we strongly encourage you to consider becoming a WE franchisee.

Learn More about Joining the WE Team

If you’re ready to find out how to start an insurance agency as a franchise owner can power a whole new direction of career growth, fill out this form. Someone from the WE Franchise team will be in touch with you to answer your questions and talk about your opportunities.

For more information about what it’s like to operate a WE franchise, check out our insurance franchise FAQs.