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Arbor Compensation Policy
Important Information About Our Compensation
As an independent insurance agent or insurance broker, we are able to offer you excellent service and competitive prices because, in most situations, we can access insurance coverage from more than one insurance company. Our agency is committed to operating in an open and transparent way.
Commissions For our efforts, we are compensated primarily by commissions paid by insurers. The amount is based on the commission schedules established individually by each insurance company, not by us, and is typically calculated as a percentage of the premium.
Additional Commissions and Other Compensation Our agency is eligible to receive various forms of incentive compensation, including contingent commissions and other forms of supplemental compensation. This incentive compensation is based upon a variety of factors that may include the volume, growth, profitability, and retention of business we place or other performance measures established by the individual insurers with whom we do business. If our agency does not meet the criteria set by any individual insurer in a given year, we will not receive any incentive compensation from that carrier for that year.
It is usually impossible to know at the time we place any individual policy whether that policy will contribute to, or detract from, our potential eligibility for future additional compensation from any insurer.
Policy Fees In a minority of circumstances, usually with larger or difficult to place risks, insurers provide a policy quote that does not include agent's commissions. In these instances, a separate fee is negotiated with you. In such instances, fees are disclosed and itemized on our billings. In some instances, where the commission paid by the insurer is inadequate to cover the cost for the service, a separate disclosed and itemized fee is charged. In such instances, our agency will itemize and disclose the revenue it receives via policy commissions, and that portion it receives via itemized fees. Also, our agency charges and is paid fees for services other than policy placement. These other services may include risk management, engineering, or premium financing. Premium financing fees are typically paid directly by the premium finance company. Other such fees are separately itemized and billed to the client.
Independent agents, including our agency, operate in highly competitive environments. Independent agents and other sellers of insurance compete with each other based on price, product, service, additional business services provided, and the financial stability of the underlying insurance carrier. We work hard to serve our customers. We hope that providing this information is helpful. Thank you for your business, and please let us know whenever we can be of service.