Exclusivefocus Summer 2012.pdf - National Association of ...

letters to NAPAAYou’ve done it again. You put togethera great convention and helped agentsmore than you know. And we know theactual convention is just the tip of theiceberg. You two are so dedicated, and weare lucky to have you at the helm.Thank you for inviting us to presentour ideas to the group and for includingus in every activity. You have been sogenerous to us. It was like a wonderfulvacation with the perk of learning waysto improve what we do. It was an extremelyPOSITIVE meeting.We love you both and look forward toour next get together!because it was an operations act, not anagency act. All the examples I sent incame back with the same answer.My question is: if this theory holds,should our commission stay the same ifoperations did endorsements to lower apolicy premium?This is such a scam. I am asking you topublish this scenario, and to encourageagents to submit WSRs to Agent Compto inquire at least about their homeownerpolicy commissions. I am so angry thatwe have to take our time to explain theserate increases to our irate customers andwe are not compensated for it.Editor’s response: Thanks for writing.NAPAA has heard from lots of agents overthe past several months who have echoedyour sentiments. In response, NAPAAmounted an email campaign on May 7th toadvise the agency force that it had created anonline petition to address the issue. The ideawas to garner enough support to present itto the Allstate Board of Directors, whichwe did in a letter to the Chair of the AuditCommittee on May 17th, just days beforethe shareholder meeting on May 22nd.NAPAA’s letter to the Audit Committee canbe found elsewhere in this issue of Exclusivefocusmagazine (see page 18).I am an Allstate agent who complainedto management about the bigdrop in commissions in December andJanuary. Naturally, I did not hear fromanyone, nor did anyone bother to lookinto my case.Another agent and I spent hours andhours in commission auditing and checking.We concluded that the auto commissionwas too complex to audit. However,the property commission was relativelyeasy, and we discovered that a wholebunch of policies were UNDERPAID!When we brought it up to management,they simply asked us to submit aWSR to contact Agent Comp. Since wecould only inquire about one policy at atime, we submitted a whole slew of them,asking why we were underpaid. The answerwe got was such a scam. I am surethat all agents, at least in my state, havebeen ripped off.Here’s a typical homeowner’s policyexample:2011 coverage was $100,000. Premiumwas $500. Commission $50. The 2012Renewal: coverage increased to $120,000.Premium went up to $700, but the commissionis still at $50, when it should havebeen $70. The explanation for the shortage?Commission on the increased coverageis not payable because the coverageincrease was due to a company endorsement,not an agent endorsement. Agentcomp stated that agent did not earn itpresident’s letterContinued from page 6.NAPAA Conference is one of our most valuable benefits of attendance. The ideas andinformation derived by attending the conference are just immeasurable. The cost benefitanalysis of the Conference Cost versus the Cost of Knowledge Gained from ourspeakers just can’t be measured. For a complete list of conference speakers and contactinformation, please contact NAPAA Headquarters via email at HQ@napaaUSA.orgor by phone at 877-627-2248.Our conference vendor line-up this year was just outstanding. The following companieswere in attendance. Take a moment to review their websites and if you’re in themarket for any of their products or services, please contact them and be sure to mentionthat NAPAA sent you!• Capital Resources – www.capitalresources.com• The Woodlands Financial Group – www.TWFG.com• Agency Support Network of America – www.asnoa.com• BGI Marketing Systems – www.BGImarketing.com• Smart Choice – www.smartchoiceagents.com• IHT – www.ihtagency.com• Hartford Flood – dale.ensminger@thehartford.com• Premier Group Insurance – www.ThinkPremierFirst.com• InsureZone.com – www.insurezone.com• Insurance Quote Exchange – www.iquotex.com• The Kindness Revolution – www.thekindnessrevolution.net• Legally Mine – www.legallymine.orgSoon we will be working on next year’s conference and I hope you’ll plan to join us.We will be seeking innovative speakers and vendors who can offer fresh ideas to helpyou grow your Allstate agency.If you’re a member, thank you from all of us in the NAPAA family. If you’re not amember, please join NAPAA/OPEIU Guild 17. Not only does it pay to belong, youowe it to yourself and your family to help build the only organization dedicated 100%to your well being and success. Remember, our goal is 10,000 members; let it startwith you. Thank you in advance for your support.8 — Exclusivefocus Summer 2012