Agent leader renews vow to defend incentive pay

The leader of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America has promised agents his group will vigorously defend incentive pay and contingent commissions that have come in for criticism by some attorneys general.

Citing the controversy of incentive pay paid to agents, Alex Soto, president of IIABA, pledged his association would continue to defend contingent commissions and incentive pay “whether in the court systems, state legislatures or in the halls of Congress and, importantly, in home offices of insurance companies that are partners of ours.”

Soto maintained that such profit-sharing is “proper, it is legal and it is used in every facet of commerce to reward excellence.”

Soto also said that if insurers insist upon disclosing to buyers what they pay their independent agents they should also disclose other expenses. He said if insurers require specific disclosure of agents’ pay, the public should also be informed about the remaining “89 percent in home office expenses,” including the cost of marketing and advertising, the cost of settling claims, and “what the CEO and top 10 officers make.”

Soto made his remarks during IIABA’s annual legislative conference and convention last month in Washington, D.C.