Pros
I seriously cannot think of one. That Bad... I have been in the industry most of my professional life and this was by far the WORST experience since working at Taco Bell when I was in High School.
Cons
If you are taking over an existing book of business and never met the prior agent, you can bet that two things have happened one is that the vacancy period and the size of the book and it's renewal commissions are NOWHERE NEAR what they have told you. They have been answering the phone for at least a few weeks and have figured out which households are going to become house accounts and serviced by home office in Columbia. The office I got suckered into had been vacant for 8 months and the renewal statements showed the book on the low should have been making around $70k but it wasnt... it would have been lucky to see $25k because after they cherry picked the book, the rest of the book is considered bad business for many reasons..these guys and all insurance companies know that it will take at least 3 years for any customer to even be slightly profitable. Most people will have a claim maybe a few in those first few years. this is because Insurance co's are the only ones legally bound to pay money. the customer can quit and go find new insurance after they have a claim and shelter took a loss on you and that is why they and all other insurance Co's only want your Married, college educated homeowners with good credit and no claims history. (if you are studying for your state test, this is the Unilateral Contract ) the best question you can ask THEM is about Agent turnover and make you sure you go out in the field and ask the Agents how much of that profitability bonus they have been seeing. let's say this: If Shelter ran Las Vegas, NOBODY WOULD EVER LEAVE WITH ANY CASH. it didnt take me long to see through the .... company. with so many other companies that are willing to subsidize your initital growth period COMPLETELY, I advise that you think REAL HARD before accepting an offer.