Most know that Florida's homeowners' insurance market is poles apart from other lines and other states. For agents, one of the more challenging differences with a landscape dominated by domestic carriers and managing general agents (MGAs) is the appointment decision- making process. Specifically, what type of appointment should be made? Limited or regular, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. takeouts only or new business,  other options? Then there is the critical question of whether the partnership will produce a result satisfactory to the carrier, the agency, and ultimately the agency's customers.

Some may recall a time when agency appointment decisions were based on the three Cs: competitiveness, contract, and commissions: Is the product competitive from both a price and coverage standpoint? Is the company's contract acceptable? Are the commissions adequate to provide a reasonable return on servicing the business?

Before Florida's residential property market relied almost exclusively on mono-line domestics, there was also a fourth C: compatibility. From the standpoint of automation and workflow, was the company a good fit?

For independent agents, such compatibility issues were dissected and improved through national projects such as the Agency Company Organization for Research and Development (ACORD), the Insurance Institute for Research (IIR), and the quest for Single Entry Multi-company Interface (SEMCI), and were jointly pursued by agent members of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA), Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, and national and super-regional carriers. In the 1970s and 1980s, FAIA lead the way with its Manifesto projects and functional cost studies, all designed to help lower costs for both partners and improve independent agent competitiveness with direct writers.