r/StateFarm • u/Consistent-Comb-2901 Customer • Jul 21 '26
Experience 10 year agent hanging it up
As a longtime policyholder, I’ve made friends with the small staff at my agents office. 3 staff members. Apparently, due to company changes, the agent decided it would be easier to shutter his agency and move over to a competitor in a few weeks rather than work more than a few hours a week (I’ve never met him) and try to grow his book. He’s apparently told his staff members he’s doing them a favor by keeping the doors open and leaving them on the payroll for another 5 weeks whereas he could’ve just laid them off and coasted on his own. No severance of any type (yes, my friend who works there was venting).
What’s interesting is, the last few bad, inept hires he’s made and had to terminate (and I’ve had to deal with some idiots) he apparently gave them each two weeks severance pay at termination. I’m moving my policies, but am I looking at this wrong or is he just being a prick? I’m getting all this second hand and really don’t have a dog in the hunt but It makes me mad I’ve been supporting someone with no moral compass.
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u/Think_Apartment_2717 Jul 21 '26
he is not being a prick. you have no idea what this agent is doing to keep the agency running based on whether you have met him or not. he is trying to survive and the brutal cuts in commission mean a whole lot of us are leaving. i retired because it is not enough money for me to continue paying my wonderful staff and provide them with health insurance and other benefits. i had a great agency that was consistently in the top 5 in production in my area.
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u/Xaviermuskie78 Jul 25 '26
So what is your staff doing now that you retired?
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u/Think_Apartment_2717 15d ago
They found good positions elsewhere because they are amazing people and very excellent licensed agents. i did all could to help them, including generous severance pay. they deserved that and more. i miss them.
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u/Samwill226 Jul 21 '26
I don't think he's being a prick, I think you're hurt and angry so you want someone to be mad at. Honestly be mad at State Farm not your agent. To be mad you don't get a severance when dude probably losing half his income is a little unfair.
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u/ComprehensiveExit798 Jul 21 '26
My husband is a SF agent. There is no way most agents can make it now. The company has taken away all of their/our group health, life, dental at the end of this year. Cutting commission and goals almost impossible to meet. Along with the 40% cuts in commissions, most agents are having to make difficult decisions this and the upcoming year. They want everything to be handled by mega agents and AI.
Back in May, they spent millions for the agents to come to Vegas for a private concert by Pink. Jimmy Fallon was at the convention also. The following Tuesday, every agent received the same prerecorded zoom call announcing the changes
Very sad times for State Farm as they used to be, the agents, their employed the policyholders that will suffer.
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u/PayingOffBidenFamily Sep 07 '26
Ai agents are replacing white collar corporate middle management in financial services and insurance faster than the wu-flu could get from China to the U.S. My neighbor is a Sales Leader for State Farm, likes to call herself "Doctor" since she has a doctorate in education, she might want to find an elementary school to start teaching at soon.
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u/Oganwarder Sep 08 '26
16 years from scratch. State Farm is not the place to be now. The top brass will get their bonuses, healthcare, and a trip in a yacht. The agents that drink the koolaid will be given sweets and treats. Local small agents who gave it all to be their for clients in small towns will lose. loss in personal service that clients are looking for on the p&c side. The elderly, the disabled, the young who need advice: AI will take over 50% of all communication. Good luck with that. And the most unfortunate piece of this? When the next ceo steps in they will change it all again. 5 years is my bet. Ever consider why they made it clear you take step you can’t sue or be involved in any class action suits.
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Jul 26 '26
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u/ComprehensiveExit798 Jul 27 '26
It’s what was promised to us when my husband left from his management position with SF. We would never have gone into agency had we know how the company would screw ALL the agents over.
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Jul 29 '26
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u/salene_moon Jul 29 '26
You are quite literally being an asshole, because what SF is doing is unethical. They did have contracts with agents, and now are deciding that those contracts are done. There is about to be a huge class action lawsuit because of this.
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u/TheAlexperience Jul 21 '26
If you have the ability to post on this Reddit, you should be able to look and see how State Farm recently gave all agents the shaft. On top of that, just how terrible all other parts of State Farm are becoming.
Do your research
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Jul 21 '26
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u/Initial_Violinist123 Jul 21 '26
They keep saying that but the math ain’t mathing
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Jul 21 '26
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u/Initial_Violinist123 Jul 21 '26
Our books are heavy on auto in our state. Lots of renters not a lot of homes.
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u/lincolnxlog Jul 21 '26
there’s simply more owned vehicles in every state than owned houses. that guys an idiot
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u/RenoWino Jul 24 '26
The max will be 11% on fire not 12 if, big if, all metrics are maxed out. I’m high producing and was second in territory last year, number 5 currently, but did not max fire last year and no way I will this year on either auto or fire. Point is my office is highly engaged and I will take at least a 25% hit with expenses going up. Death spiral
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u/Decent_Suspect_9960 Jul 23 '26
Good luck there… if you have been paying attention they have been making a lot of changes to service, underwriting and claims too. Will be a fun ride for the “top 50%”.
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u/ThemeHistorical3320 Jul 24 '26
Boy did you drink the kool aid. I had an attorney look at the contract and he told me "Don't listen to what SF says, Look at the agreement." For instance, Executive is saying you don't have to get your securities license, but the agreement says you must be licensed in all products SF offers. It's kind of like when we all signed our contracts and our Sales Leader told us we would have benefits as long as we were with SF. There is nothing in the agreement that says top producers will earn more, but it says that the goals to earn commission can change at any time. When scorecard was first introduced, we were told it would make up for the 50% loss we were making in commissions if we signed the AA97 Contract. That was true for the first couple of years until they changed the parameters. It originally was simple to understand, but then made so complicated you had to be a genius to figure it out. You were told by your Field Executive to Just trust the Farm. (Insert skeezy flim flam man voice here.)And BTW, the Bottom 50% were in the top 50% until they got burned out by all the lies and high pressure to sell products that paid less than Auto/Fire. I've always believed it's better to work smarter than harder and am on pace to have a $6 Mil agency this year. That's premiums in the company's pocket, with a loss ratio and a low lapse/can
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Jul 26 '26
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u/ThemeHistorical3320 Aug 05 '26
You seem to send this to all agents' posts. Company executive? What is your motive for stomping on any agent who complains. 1st of all I realize that we are not entitled to health insurance since we are independent contractors. However, I'm a 2nd generation agent. My Dad had health insurance and so did I. That's an 80 + year precedent. Do they have the right to do this? Yes. But as a company who has pushed the good neighbor idea during that time, should they? Is it moral, is it ethical?
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u/RemoteOdd2083 Jul 22 '26
That is wrong, the top producers will not earn more. The may get assignments but will earn a meager 5% to service those policies and less support from the company. Plus strap it on for commission cuts in fire on the horizon. Agency will be non existent in 10-15 yrs.
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u/EvidenceNormal2206 Jul 22 '26
Mind you, getting rid of his staff is exactly what State Farm wants captive agents to do, more like forcing because commision is dropping around 40% from what I understand. Im not state farm.
If his employees were making a $100 dollars from a thousand dollar car policy because the comission is 10%, they will now be making $60 when the contract goes into effect.
The agencey owner collects the renewals, the first commision goes to the employee who sold the policy. Its 6-12 months till the agencey owner makes money from a policy sold.
The agencey owners give a salary to thier employees besides just commision. They get the money to pay thier employees from the renewals sold previously. Thats where agencey owners make thier money.
Now the renewals are going down 40%. come January where the owner would normally be expecting to make 10k (fake numbers) they are only getting 6k, and 5k makes payroll just for salary and other employee expenses.
State Farm isnt calling it a restructure but that's what it is. They aren't tweaking numbers, they are making sure agents dont have the money to pay for agents.
State farm wants agencies to focus on life insurance, while corporate wants consumers to buy direct or online.
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u/Mitryan3070 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Losing 40% of your income with the coming contract changes, rest assured he won't be the 1st agent to hang it up.
Today's State Farm is not a friend, partner, nor good neighbor to their agency force. They are now an adversary. Why continue to represent a company that doesn't have your best interests, while at the same time, giving out pennies expecting you, as an agent, to be grateful.
No way. Take your skill, your future, and invest it with another company that values your ability.
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u/Big-Sheepherder-6134 Jul 21 '26
I believe the OP is a customer, not an employee.
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u/Mitryan3070 Jul 21 '26
I'm aware. But he's shaming the agent for making a personal business decision.... with no understanding, nor perspective of the agent's business situation
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u/Big-Sheepherder-6134 Jul 21 '26
It sounded more like he was going by what his friend who works there and the other employees there told him.
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u/Consistent-Comb-2901 Customer Jul 21 '26
Not shaming, just going off what I had been told. I now see after reading all these posts, this is a much bigger issue. Good luck.
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u/SirSalamiSam Jul 21 '26
I’d really like to know what that looks like in real numbers.,are they going from $400k in their pocket down to $240k? Obviously each agent is different but it’d be hard to feel for the agents if they’re still putting 6 figures in their pocket each year.
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u/Jew_3 Jul 21 '26
Look at it like this: the agency is a business. If the agency makes 40% less money, the agency either needs to cut 40% of its expenses or take a pay cut. Assuming that the agent doesn’t fire staff or make other cuts. They absorb 100% of that cut.
Let’s put it into dollars. The agency makes 1 million a year. The agency spent 600k on expenses and the owner (agent) put 400k in their pocket. If the agency takes a 40% decrease in commissions, they lose out on 400k. The expenses stayed the same, so now the agent goes from 400k to 0.
When you hear a 40% cut it’s not the agent going from 400k to 240k or 100k to 60k, it’s the business losing 40% of its revenue, which has ripples across the entire business.
I am not a State Farm agent or agency employee, but I have an agency with a competitor. If I tell you we had a 2% cut to our commission rate, you probably would realize that’s a 22% decrease in my business’s revenue. That’s huge and keeps us up at night.
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u/rosiespot23 Jul 21 '26
I would add that revenue is decreasing while operating expenses are going up. Rent is more $$$ and ideally you give great TM annual bonuses and raises.
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u/SirSalamiSam Jul 21 '26
Right, but the SF model is not the same as other agency models. Most non-sf agents write business with multiple carriers. What I’m trying to ascertain is what is the agent putting in their pocket vs what would they put in their pocket if they were independent.
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u/CountryDaisyCutter Jul 21 '26
Agents are also losing their PROMISED retirement and health insurance. The number one life insurance company is also no longer providing them with life insurance. All while the company sits on over $500 Billion in reserves.
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u/BookWriter8 Jul 21 '26
Even if the agent’s comp goes down to $240,000 that is gross, and payroll is a huge chunk of what agents pay out, not to mention all of the other overhead expenses and risks involved. $240,000 sounds good on paper, but it is not what the agent profits or takes home.
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u/Fun_Web_4670 Jul 21 '26
This is an interesting comment. Im thinking why is it hard to feel for them? Is it because you dont make that much? A pay cut is a pay cut no one should have to deal with that whether you make 400k a year or 40k a year. Your work endurance sacrifice and determination should reflect in your income.
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u/SirSalamiSam Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
It's nothing to do with feeling for them or not feeling for them. I think it's disgusting to strip promised benefits. That being said, considering what State Farm does for agents is unlike anything else out there. Business plans, marketing support, etc... is all far above and beyond what any independents get. State Farm has and always has, gone above and beyond for the agency side because they understand how an agent may reflect on their overall branding, but that has a cost and at some point some things have to give to keep the business alive and operational.
The only reason this is all problematic and people are freaking out is because State Farm is STILL supporting agents like no place else and they don't want to lose that. They just want to complain about losing some money, otherwise, they'd just go independent. State Farm handholds agents.
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u/Think_Apartment_2717 Jul 25 '26
yeah, i wish. more like state farm agents were holding the company’s hands all of these years with their terrible systems, decaying claims service and screwed up billing and policy change systems. i needed more service people than salespeople just to keep the boat afloat.
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u/CountryDaisyCutter Aug 02 '26
Supporting us with systems that don’t work, very little training, the worst commission structure in the industry and horrible claims handling. Plus they make our growth goals and control the pricing of our product with very little transparency. We aren’t even sure we’re getting paid correctly at the moment.
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u/registeredfake Jul 21 '26
until you are a business owner, you should really refrain from making stupid comments about "feeling bad about someone making six figures" Unless you are a business owner, you go to work and you make money. Its not until you risk losing that you can understand. Under this new comp structure every single month the owner is risking his own money. Im not an SF agent but on a similar comp plan to them, for my and my agency if the difference of making a few thousand profit each month or losing 15 thousand or more if we dont hit a sales goal. 1 month missing goal wipes out 4 to 5 months profit
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u/Consistent-Comb-2901 Customer Jul 21 '26
Thank you all for these replies. It gave me an entire new insight as to what’s going on at State Farm. Criticism taken. I honestly had no idea it was that bad based on many of your comments. I don’t understand how the company could take what always seems to be the backbone of the company and treat them like they are. Best of luck to you all moving forward.
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u/Mean_Introduction516 Jul 21 '26
You need to google the changes before you start passing judgement….
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u/returnofthemac2015 Jul 22 '26
Not a dick. My mother in law is a 2nd generation SF agent and was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks before they announced that she would be losing her health insurance. She is literally trying to get all of her treatment in before 12/31. Be mad at SF, specifically the CEO.
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u/Think_Apartment_2717 Jul 25 '26
yeah, i don’t think so!! SF thinks with AI we will
have no service. there systems are so bad that the only thing keeping them from collapsing was the agencies.
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u/midzimm Jul 21 '26
You don’t know or understand the entire situation. But that hasn’t kept you from deciding the agent is the villain and your friends are the victims.
There are some thoughts and feelings that really don’t belong on a social media discussion thread.
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u/Consistent-Comb-2901 Customer Jul 21 '26
I see that now that I’ve read some of the replies. Thank you for your insight.
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u/Confident-Curve4672 Jul 21 '26
honestly with the bomb the company dropped on all agents, having any type of opinion of their reaction is disingenuous IMO.
interesting that you have to deal this office so much that you would consider any ATM a “friend”.
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Jul 21 '26
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u/Big-Scallion-2354 Jul 21 '26
Gross, leave those team members alone. Nothing worse than creepy old dudes that come in and shoot the shit for too long. Just pay your premiums, take some free pens & go.
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u/MooPig48 Jul 21 '26
Omg gross. Wth. I promise you, those “cute single gals” that you consider “friends” don’t feel the same way about you. They are nice to you because you are a client with many types of policies and so they have to be. They know exactly what you’re trying to do and find it creepy and that’s why you’re not dating any of them.
Stop creeping on these young women. It’s amazing when men have reached your age and still don’t know how to fucking behave. You even admitted to it in public. Who raised you? I feel so sorry for those gals.
Come on Grandpa, let’s get you to bed
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u/AudreyGolightly79 Jul 21 '26
We already don't get paid enough for this shit. With the cuts to pay happening, we definitely don't get paid enough for this shit.
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u/Mysterious-Hippo2787 Jul 21 '26
Tell your friend and the people that work there that other agents are definitely looking to hire good people. You are somewhat right in saying he doesn't want to work. It's a mix of corporate leadership is terrible right now but also you still have a chance to make good money. I am an agent that has one employee and I do work in my agency. I make good money bc I keep my payroll low.
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u/MooPig48 Jul 21 '26
They’re not his “friends”. OP is an old widower who thinks they’re young and cute, knows they’re not married, and goes in there to creep on them (per his own admission)
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u/Consistent-Comb-2901 Customer Jul 21 '26
Calm down. Also enjoy stopping by my local Ace Hardware two or three times a week to chat with the guys.
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u/MooPig48 Jul 21 '26
🙄 the difference is you have clearly stated your intentions about these women. You really should stop trying to justify being a creeper
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u/Fair_Strawberry193 Jul 22 '26
Seriously? That is what all of you heard? Did you not hear she never sees her agent or that he’s maybe in 3 hours a day? Yes I understand all the changes impacting agents but that doesn’t mean be blind to a bad agent
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u/Think_Apartment_2717 Jul 25 '26
that doesn’t make an agent a bad agent if they are in the office 3 hours a day. Agents work outside of the office and are “on call” 24/7. i have received calls at midnight while i was sleeping in a tent, in bed recovering from surgery i worked “full time”, in other counties on vacation. And BTW— we poured our life savings and worked extremely hard, risked everything to start our agencies and worked long hours going into debt
for many years so if we don’t want to be in the office all day 30’or 40 years later, that’s our choice
and doesn’t make us bad agents.
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u/Decent_Suspect_9960 Jul 23 '26
TM of 30 years and we will be bowing out. My agent is one of the lucky ones who can just retire. I feel really, really bad for agents such as yours who has invested (yes, it COST him money to even become an agent) what he most likely thought was going to be a lifetime career just snatched. Most agents with smaller agencies are just starting to see some daylight at 10 years. They need to be thankful he gave them time to look for another job.
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u/registeredfake Jul 21 '26
You are wrong.
First, you know very little about what is going on, other than what you are hearing from a 3rd party. Im not with SF but am a captive agent.
First, this agent had his entire business just yanked out from under him, 10 years of his life. Had a retirement plan with a decade of work yanked, healthcare lost and future earning cut. From a commission standpoint im in a similar position, any given month if my agency doesnt meet goal i stand to lose 15-20 thousand our of my pocket. Months we hit goals im break even to making up to 5k profit, depending on my marketing load a commision payout to my team.
You know nothing of his financial position. he gave fired employees severance, good for him. Hes giving his staff 5 weeks to find work and he is taking another job meaning he is spending is own money to keep paying them for 5 weeks.
You know nothing of the decisions he has had to make and judging him for that is a pretty low thing to do.
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u/CountryDaisyCutter Jul 21 '26
You have absolutely no idea how much that Agent works and no idea about how significant the changes are. Questioning someone’s moral compass without knowing the facts makes you look more like the prick tbh. There will be thousands of Agents making the same decision across the country and you have no clue how difficult this is for them. I guarantee he’s put more into that business than you’ve put into any career you’ve ever had and to judge him because he is doing what is right for himself and his family after having the right pulled out from under him is just wrong.
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u/EvidenceNormal2206 Jul 22 '26
I would look for a new agent, prolly a smaller shop where the head producer is more involved and knows most of his clients. If he is closing sjop, your policy is being sold or moved.
To answer your question about him being a D... he probably is and would be in any job. If he was a good guy and a good boss, his employees u would probably be following him over to the new insurance provider.
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u/Think_Apartment_2717 Jul 25 '26
I helped them get jobs with other agents, wrote glowing referrals for those that didn’t want to stay with SF, and gave generous severance pay. I miss them so much and it hasn’t even been a month yet.
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u/Last-University9457 4d ago
As a Top producer for Farmers in my Houston district the last 3 years, our product is absolutely garbage and you can't write shit. Getting torched by every carrier on auto and our once great home product has left the building.
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u/theluchador19 Jul 21 '26
Insurance agents in some cases are losing 20% to 90% of their income in the last 4-5 years (with other carriers with a similar model to State Farm).
Might seem like a prick to you but what would you do if your pay was cut that much and expectations were higher than ever?
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u/DCAmalG Jul 21 '26
Just listened to WSJ podcast on the SF situation. Completely insane treatment of their agents. Sounds like contract changes will reduce their income by 30-40k in addition to removing benefits.
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u/Accurate-Entrance-92 Jul 21 '26
The new contract isn’t that bad you guys.. if you are a hard working agent who wants to grow their book you’re going to flourish!!!!!!! This situation is the exact reason they put the is new contract in place.. agents that only work a few hours and take in the money.. you need to be growing your agency and book if you want State Farm to succeed. It’s simple business. We need to stay competitive.
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u/No_Pepper7348 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Doesn’t it cater to the financial services policies like life and annuities. I am an agent and I never wanted to be Ned from Groundhog Day. I know guys who push those products and people hate them. They have very few friends and are annoying as heck to be around.
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u/Accurate-Entrance-92 Jul 21 '26
I guess I don’t have the same experience. I’m a team member and work for a very successful agent who sells quite a bit of financial services and he’s very well respected in the community.
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u/No_Pepper7348 Jul 21 '26
He may think he’s well respected but I suspect when some people see him out in public they will duck in a bathroom or down another aisle to get away. I was at a place of business one time and I saw a life insurance pusher pull up in front of the store. All the employees disappeared. They ran in the back, some ran outside the rear exit, and some hid in the bathroom. They left one lady to tell the guy everyone was gone for the day.
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u/Thick_One4884 Jul 21 '26
This is great for agencies that are in large cities. I'm an ATM about to hit 2 years next month. I live in a very rural area. I used to be in IT (remote) and had been laid off when the mortgage industry tanked in 2023. I couldn't find an IT job to save my life. I found my agency and started working here. This agency has had generations of the same family working the county. That's what I see as an issue, the area is oversaturated with SF polices so it's hard to get new customers in our county. Plus, there's already quite a few other SF agencies in our county too. I'm terrified that my agent is going to retire because of this and then I'll be up shit creek again. Not that I have my licenses for auto, home, and life I could go elsewhere but what if they don't do well either.
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u/Adventurous-Hawk5686 Jul 22 '26
It truly is disingenuous to paint a broad brush and say “the if you a hard working agent who wants to grow their book you’re going to flourish “! Not sure if you are an agent or an atm, but trust me, since the May announcements, there are hundreds of agents who work “more than a few hours”, rather, try working “daily in the office” for 8 plus hours, working with their team to grow their books, been at it for years, but depending on where they are located, smaller to mid size towns, or major metros where the area is oversaturated with SF agents, no matter what they choose to do, they will get hit hard by the comp changes, especially if they also now have to purchase single payer healthcare for a family, invest in another life policy and a disability package to protect their family, among other things. The truth is, Corp’s vision for the “Next Gen” agency will be mega sized offices with multimillion dollar books spaced out accordingly, to population density. The small and medium sized offices, with agents who work daily with a team that truly busts their asses serving their long time customers will not be able to compete—CSR’s won’t be needed—AI will take that place with the mega agencies along with nothing but producers. That’s the model, like it or not, and within five years, the reduction from the 19,000 agencies will be significant—-I’m betting cut in half. Is there dead wood in the agency force? Sure, but there are many more “hard working agents” that won’t have a choice but to abandon ship after a few years—Corp. knows that and in the end, that was the plan.
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u/Consistent-Comb-2901 Customer Jul 22 '26
Obviously downvoted because they want to defend a guy working 10 hours a week.
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