Patricia,

This happened to me a few years ago.  They reassigned me by first letter of last name.  It took two guys to replace my agent.   As it worked out, I really like my new agent too.

Linda Lipscomb, Homes for Sale in Lexington TN   www.lindalipscomb.com

Pat,

Don't be too hard on Gary.. he probably has no control over how State Farm will handle his customer base.  My State Farm guy called 2 weeks ago to say the corporate side of S. F. decided to cancel all properties within 2 miles of water (any water... bay, canal, gulf, etc) in FL... gee... there's not much around my area that isn't within 2 miles of some kind of water.  He said it may destroy his business here.  Man cannot live by auto policies alone! He's gotten me through a lot, too, like a fire, 2 floods, husband's death, couple of fender benders, etc.  Gee whiz... I feel like you... abandoned!   

Patricia, this happened to me about 5 years ago.  Same reassignment per zip code.  I didn't want to switch companies and still haven't, but honest to goodness I've never spoken with the new agent.  Only the receptionist/processor.   It certainly isn't the same warm cozy feeling.

Patricia, when you decide to retire, please feel free to reassign all of your clients to me.  I'll even be happy to pay you referral fees on all the deals.  You'll just have to warn your clients that their new agent will be younger, but not as good looking.

Patricia,

A couple decades from now, there probably won't be 'phones'...parties?...Yeh, sure! :) Thanks,   Fran

I'm surprised at the number of successful agents who walk away from their business and don't realize that they have a goldmine that has value.  I met with a woman a few weeks ago who had done that and I was shocked.  Guess that is the difference in the "younger" generation of agents who realize that this is a business and has value.

Patricia - I understand. Our insurance company just reassigned clients to agents based on the letter of their last name. Fortunately, we kept our agent, but many of our clients were assigned to someone else. How can you do this? Don't relationships count? I totally understand if "new" clients are assigned by letter - no, I really don't even understand that. If I've done business for years with Phyllis and want my clients to be able to do business with Phyllis, why should that be denied just because of their last name????

Patricia - when someone you have worked with for years retires, it is indeed difficult to adjust to the new person -

Same thing happened to me when my investment advisor retired a few years ago.  They "re-assigned" me to their National Call Center, because we didn't have a big enough account for our own advisor, apparently. Well, exuse me for not being rich (yet)!!!

I have finally found a company I like and am switching everything to them, after four years of searching!

Pat, I've always found shopping for insurance to be a pain!

Hey, did you have a flute gig for Easter??

Patricia, I got this same feeling when my dentist retired, but thank goodness - the new one is so much better than the old one!  Same when my physician stopped taking my insurance - again, I like the new one even better.  Maybe you'll be lucky, too!

Patricia, I had this happen to me before, but I had to find the person that was the right fit for me.  I use a loan officer, Kasey Martin, her husband is a State Farm agent. I don't use him, but if is anything like Kasey is a loan officer he is probably great.  His name is Steve Martin, hard to forget.  He is Maryland, I don't know about DC?  I wrote a post awhile back about agents retiring and how I watched a couple "sell" their business.  I think it is an interesting subject that we don't talk about enough.

Hey, Pat -- whatever clients don't fit into Brian's zip code in DC and VA, I'll be glad to treat them with love and attention in MD (depending on zip code!).  :-)

Retirement's a way off for me as well and I haven't a clue as to how to pass the baton. Probably won't be by zip code, though.

It is sad, but I think most agents don't retire! They fade away and just disappear long before they have a chance to retire by choice or they die doing what they love. There are a few in the middle, but not very many. I've never been to a retirement party yet for an agent!