Override math: what a ten-agent team really pays after the costs nobody counts

The recruiting math is simple: ten agents at a 15-point spread on $10,000 a month each is $15,000 a month in overrides. The real math has more lines.

Production isn't even. In a ten-agent team, two agents produce half the volume, four produce the rest, and four produce almost nothing while consuming most of your time. Plan on the top six, not ten.

Chargebacks flow uphill. When an agent's policy lapses inside the chargeback window, the carrier claws back their advance and your override on it. If the agent has left, their debt can roll to you depending on the contract. A team with weak persistency turns overrides into liabilities.

Leads. If the agency funds leads, that's a cost against the override. Many owners find the lead spend for a new agent's first 60 days exceeds the override they'll ever earn on that agent if the agent doesn't make it.

Time. Training, ride-alongs, call reviews, contracting, chasing paperwork. Ten agents is a full-time job. If you're still writing your own business, your production drops and that's a cost too.

Tools. CRM seats, dialer minutes, phone numbers, E&O for the agency.

What a healthy team looks like. Six producing agents at reasonable levels, persistency above 85 percent, leads funded by the agents at cost with the agency negotiating volume pricing, and overrides that net 40 to 60 percent of the gross after the lines above. The owners who do well grew slowly and fired fast.

What's your net override as a percentage of gross, honestly?