Buying an insurance agency in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

• Most clients renew every year, and the agency can show you the numbers by line of business.
• Several policies per household or business. A client with home, auto and umbrella coverage in one place is much less likely to leave than one with a single auto policy.
• A spread of carriers, so one cutting commissions or leaving Florida doesn't gut the book.
• Commercial accounts spread across many businesses, not a few large ones that a competitor could take in one meeting.
• Licensed customer service staff who handle renewals and changes without the owner.
• Every client, policy, carrier and renewal date recorded in the agency's management software.
• Carrier contracts in the agency's own name that can survive a sale.

• Commission statements from each carrier for three years, matched to the agency's books.
• Renewal rates by year and line of business.
• Florida homeowners policies. In recent years carriers have pulled back or left, and many policies have shifted into and out of Citizens, the state-created insurer of last resort. Know how much of the book depends on that market.
• Each carrier contract: who owns the book, how it can be ended, and whether a sale needs consent.
• Errors and omissions insurance, and any claims that the agency failed to arrange coverage it should have.
• Agreements with producers (the agents who sell for the agency): whether they can take or solicit clients if they leave.
• Carrier bonuses, which can swing widely year to year.

• How many clients renew each year, and has that changed?
• How much of the book is Florida homeowners coverage, and how much is with Citizens?
• Who's your agent in charge, and will they stay?
• Which carriers must consent to a sale, and have you talked to them?
• Under each carrier agreement, who owns the book?
• How much of your commissions come from your ten largest clients?
• Have you ever had an errors and omissions claim?

This region covers Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Baker and Putnam counties: Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Macclenny and Palatka. Jacksonville merged with most of Duval County in 1968, which makes it the largest city by land area in the lower 48 states.

The economy leans on logistics, the Navy and financial services. Logistics runs through JAXPORT, major rail lines and the meeting of Interstates 95 and 10. The Navy has Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport. Insurance and health care matter too. St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1565, and Amelia Island draw steady tourism. Trucking and logistics firms, the building trades, medical practices and home services all fit this market.

Northeast Florida is less seasonal than South or Southwest Florida, with fewer winter residents and more year-round employers. Direct hurricane landfalls have been less common here than on other parts of the coast, but storms still bring flooding along the St. Johns River and the beaches, so check insurance costs and flood zones.

Military families bring skilled workers and working spouses into the labor pool, though they also move on when orders change. St. Johns, Clay and Nassau have added the most new homes, and companies serving those suburbs have grown with them. Georgia is close, and some companies here serve customers across the state line. Work in Georgia may need Georgia licenses, so ask how much revenue comes from there and who holds those licenses.