Californians for Fair Auto Insurance Rates has gained enough support to place a voter initiative on the June 8, 2010 ballot, aimed at rewarding drivers who have had insurance for some time to be eligible for a “persistency discount,” even if they change carriers, the Secretary of State certified. Continue reading "Californians To Vote On Auto Insurance Persistency Discount"

Some of the services offered by Ganis Consulting include Buyer and Seller Representation. If you own an insurance agency and want to sell it, you can hire us to do all the heavy lifting. We’ll conduct a summary valuation, put together a profile, contact our 500+ buyers on our buyers list and help you obtain the best price and terms for your agency. We’ll negotiate on your behalf, advise you every step of the way and most importantly, keep the transaction confidential. Continue reading "When Buying or Selling an Insurance Agency, Use all Resources Available"

Does your agency own it’s own Domain Name? A domain name is the address used for your website such as www.ganisco.com or www.google.com. You can purchase your domain from sites like godaddy.com or a number of others. Once you have your own domain, you can use it for your website address and your email address. Many insurance agencies we speak with have a website, but still use yahoo, gmail, or hotmail instead of their website address.  Continue reading "Use Your Insurance Agency Domain for Email Addresses"

Many Agency Owners would love to refer to a neutral 3rd party for advice on various projects in their agencies such as advertising, recruiting, payroll, marketing, workflow, accounting, sales training, customer service training and other functions in their agency. As an insurance agency owner it’s difficult to solve some of the daily problems and focus on the big picture because you’re in the middle of it everyday. Continue reading "Consulting Services are Available for Small and Large Insurance Agencies"

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued proposed regulations for Pay-Drive (Usage Based Auto Insurance), and is accepting public comments on the proposal until 5 p.m., Thursday, July 9, 2009.

According to the Commissioner, “Insurers frequently rely on consumers to provide their own estimates of the number of miles they drive annually. Continue reading "California Insurance Commissioner Seeks Comments on PAYD Auto Insurance"

There may be no industry in this country experiencing consolidation at a faster pace than the insurance agency business.  Since 1990, the total number of independent insurance agencies has shrunk by more than 20%, but smaller agencies have disappeared at nearly double that rate.  So where have all the agencies gone and what does it mean for today’s agency owner?  Continue reading "The Impact of Insurance Agency Consolidation"

We’ve written on numerous occasions how unbalanced the ratio is of insurance agency buyers compared sellers. Other than Insurance Agency Consulting, the number one reason clients contact us is to BUY an Insurance Agency. Since there are so few sellers in the marketplace this may be the best time to sell your insurance agency. Continue reading "Commercial and Personal Lines Insurance Agencies for Sale are in Demand"

State Farm’s 3.3 million California auto insurance policyholders will soon see a decrease in their premiums, as the California Department of Insurance approved an 8 percent, $219 million rate cut. Continue reading "State Farm to Cut California Auto Insurance Rates"

Mercury General reported net income in the first quarter 2009 was $96.7 million compared with net loss of $4 million for the same period in 2008. Included in net income are net realized investment gains, net of tax, of $50.7 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared with net realized investment losses, net of tax, of $59.9 million for the same period in 2008. Continue reading "Mercury General Reports Implements Salary Freeze, 7% Workforce Reduction"

Insurance agency owners who are considering selling their agency, are obviously very curious about the price they can sell their agency for.  It’s the single most asked question of Acquisition Brokers like Ganis Consulting, “How much can I make if I sell my agency?”  Continue reading "The Price of Your Insurance Agency: Do the Math"