SIAA review for insurance agencies: fees, carrier access and book ownership
SIAA is a national alliance of independent agencies run through 49 regional Master Agencies. It helps members win appointments with carriers in their own agency's name, and places business for them until they do.
It takes startups and existing agencies in all 50 states. Fees and commission terms are set by your local Master Agency, not by SIAA nationally.
An appointment is a carrier's contract that lets an agency sell its policies. A network that holds the appointment itself has a master code, and members write under it, often on a subcode of their own listed beneath it.
A commission split is the share of each commission a network keeps. Profit sharing, also called contingency pay, is a yearly carrier bonus for profitable growth. Owning your book means the clients and their expirations, the renewal records for each policy, are yours.
- Best for
- Startups and existing agencies that want carrier appointments in their own name
- Entry fee
- Set by your regional Master Agency
- Monthly fee
- Set by your regional Master Agency
- Carrier access
- Your own appointments, with network placement until you earn them
- Startups
- Yes
- States
- All 50
Our take
SIAA fits an agency that wants its own carrier appointments rather than a long stay on someone else's code. SIAA says more than 95% of member business already sits on members' own codes, and it says you leave with your clients and carriers.
The limit is price. SIAA publishes no national fees, so you only see the cost when your regional Master Agency gives you its agreement.
Pros
- Built around appointments in your own name
- Takes startups and captive agents going independent
- All 50 states through local Master Agencies
- Profit sharing paid on your own results
- Optional tech bundle with savings of up to 55%
Cons
- No national fee schedule
- Your location decides your Master Agency
- Owned by a private equity firm that also buys agencies through Sequel
- Exit terms live in each regional agreement
Who they take
- Startups
- Yes, through its Agency FOUNDATION startup membership
- Requirements
- No minimum experience, though SIAA says most startups that succeed have two or more years of licensed P&C work. Every applicant goes through a detailed review
- Production minimums
- None set by SIAA. Carriers keep their own
- States
- All 50, through 49 regional Master Agencies. Your office location decides which one you join
- Lines
- Personal P&C, small commercial, specialty and hard-to-place risks, plus life and group benefits
What it costs
SIAA has no national price list. Each regional Master Agency, the local SIAA office that holds your membership, sets the fees and commission terms in its own agreement.
One region, VIAA (Valley Insurance Agency Alliance) in Missouri and Illinois, calls its split 90/10 without saying which side keeps which.
As of October 2026. Other regions set their own terms, so ask your local Master Agency for its full fee schedule in writing.
How you get carrier access
SIAA says more than 95% of member business is written on the members' own codes.
Your own appointments
The goal is a direct appointment with each carrier. The Master Agency helps you earn them, and once you do, your business moves to your own code.
The network's code
Until you earn a code, AccessPlus lets you place business through the Master Agency. MarketFinder covers specialty and hard-to-place risks.
- Who holds the appointment
- You, on direct appointments. The Master Agency on AccessPlus business
- Path to a direct appointment
- Yes, it is the main goal of membership
- Carriers
- More than 40 national and regional carriers
How you get paid
- Who the carrier pays
- You, on direct appointments. The Master Agency pays you for AccessPlus business
- Commission schedule
- Set by the Master Agency agreement
- Profit sharing
- The Master Agency receives it and passes it on based on your own results, with no all-or-nothing group threshold
- Bonuses
- Regional incentives plus fixed quarterly and yearly payments
Your book and leaving
SIAA says members can take their clients, commissions and carriers with them. The details sit in the Master Agency agreement, so read that before you sign.
- Who owns the expirations
- You, according to SIAA
- Carrier code after you leave
- Direct appointments are yours to keep
- Renewals after you leave
- SIAA says you leave with your commissions
- Selling your agency
- Membership does not limit your succession plans. Sequel, an SIAA company, is one optional buyer
- Restrictions
- SIAA describes no carrier ban. Exit terms are in each Master Agency agreement
Term and exit
- Agreement term
- Set by each regional Master Agency
- Territory
- Your office location decides your Master Agency. You cannot choose another
Technology, E&O and support
Technology
E&O
E&O options for startups, plus discounted cyber coverage.
Help you get
- AccessPlus and MarketFinder placement
- Growth coaches
- Training center and commercial lines boot camps
- Digital marketing playbook
- Local succession coaching in some regions
Who owns the network
- Owner
- Odyssey Investment Partners, a private equity firm, since 2021
- Buys member agencies
- Yes, through Sequel Insurance Agencies. Selling to Sequel is optional
- Runs its own retail agency
- Yes, the Sequel agencies
SIAA alternatives
- Smart ChoiceNo monthly feeNo entry or monthly fee, keeps 30% until a set commission level, then nothing
- IronpeakNo duesNo entry fee or dues, profit sharing from $100,000 in premium
- RenaissanceMonthly fee with a first-year earnings guarantee, 23 states
- FirstChoice$500 a month, per PIA associationsFlat monthly fee, your own appointments and, it says, no noncompete
- FireflyNo monthly duesWrites on Firefly's code and keeps 10%. Moving its carrier business costs 30% of a year's commission
See every option in insurance agency clusters and networks.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SIAA cost?
Each regional Master Agency sets its own fees and split and quotes them to you.
Do I own my book with SIAA?
SIAA says yes, and that members can take their clients, commissions and carriers when they leave.
Does SIAA take startup agencies?
Yes, through Agency FOUNDATION. SIAA says most successful startups bring two or more years of licensed P&C experience.
Will I get direct carrier appointments?
That is the goal. You place business through AccessPlus until you earn a code, then it moves to your own appointment.
Does SIAA buy agencies?
Yes, through its Sequel agencies, as an optional path for members who want to sell.
How we researched this review. We based this review on the terms and product pages published by SIAA, reviewed in October 2026, together with our team's experience working with insurance agents and agency owners since 2008.
Corrections
Vendors change their pricing all the time and they don't email us when they do. So if you see a price on here that's gone up, a plan SIAA quit selling or a contract term that reads different now, let us know and send the link to the page where SIAA has it. Somebody here pulls up that page and checks it before we change anything on ours.