Have to sell insurance book of biz?

$200,000 in premium, is only about $20,000 in income. That's NOT MUCH.

Does he OWN that book? Does he have the RIGHT to sell it? He'd have to sell it to an agent that ALSO has that contract. Depending on the loss ratios for the book, $20,000 to $40,000 is fair.

There are a lot of factors that need to be considered to value a given book of business. First, the premium is not as important as the commissions earned. The price you will receive will be based on a multiple of the anticipated commissions. That multiple can range from 1 to 2 times commission.The multiple is going to reflect what the buyer expects to receive in commissions after the sale. The buyer's valuation will take into account: How much of the business will be retained if your husband is no longer the agent? As your husband has only written the insurance for one year it is a negative. The quality of the book of business. Is it a book of non standard auto or a book of upscale homeowners insurance?) Does the book of business consist of accounts with multiple policies for each customer or is it a random group of policies? The buying agent will have a better chance of retaining the customers if they have two or more policies. Another measure of quality would be the loss ratio of the book. Has it been profitable? Is the book concentrated with one company? Or is the business spread out over several companies? Does the buying agent represent the same companies so that the business can be "rolled" into that agent's existing book of business or will the buying agent have to remarket each account. Obviously you are going to get the best price when all of the above factors are beneficial to the buyer.

Your husband is better off finding another agency to work for and sending out Broker of Record letters to move his book from the previous agency to the new agency. If he sells his book, it more than likely that those clients will try to find another agent. People don't like doing business with someone they don't know. Agents with a book are employable. He just needs to find an agency to hire him. He should keep copies of all of his current clients so that he can contact them when he leaves his employment. Make sure he doesn't have a non compete clause in his contract. If he does, he will not be allowed to contact those clients until after the clause expires. I'm surprised they are letting him sell his book. Check his contract and make sure what the stipulations are.