Agent Survey

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Federal Crop Insurance Program – Delivery Cost Study Survey

OMB #### - ####
OMB Exp. Date

Dear Federal Crop Insurance Agent:
The Risk Management Agency (RMA), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
has contracted with KPMG LLP (KPMG) and Campos Inc (Campos) to conduct a study
of the costs of delivery of the Federal crop insurance program. An important goal of the
study is to better understand the costs that insurance agents incur in the process of selling
and servicing Federal crop insurance policies. Accordingly, you have been randomly
selected from a nationwide group of Federal crop insurance agents to participate in the
enclosed Survey, designed to collect such information.
Please answer all questions within the Survey. We estimate it will take you
approximately 30 minutes to complete it. All Survey responses will remain confidential
and anonymous to the extent permitted by law.
Please respond to the Survey by [Date]. We prefer that you complete and submit the
Survey online through the secure Campos website www.FCIPagent.Campos.com, using
the following password [PIN] to log-in when prompted.
However, if you would rather take the survey off-line, you can also mail the Survey to
Campos using the enclosed pre-paid envelope.
We appreciate your assistance in providing this information that will help RMA to better
understand the costs crop insurance agents incur in selling and servicing Federal crop
insurance policies. If you have any questions or you need assistance in completing this
Survey, please contact Russell Stammer at rstammer@campos.com.

Sincerely,
United States Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency
KPMG LLP
Campos Inc

Federal Crop Insurance Program
Insurance Agent Cost Survey
In this Survey, all questions asked are specifically related to your activities and costs incurred in selling and
servicing Federal crop insurance policies for crops harvested in Calendar Year 2011. Please provide your best
estimate for each question.
SECTION 1: Demographic Information
1.1 Gender:

1

Male

2

Female

1.2 Age: _______ years
1.3 What is the highest level of education you have completed?
1 Less than High School
2 High School Graduate/GED
3 College Graduate
4 Advanced Degree
SECTION 2: Background Information
2.1 In which region(s) did you sell Federal crop insurance for crops harvested in 2011? (Please mark all
regions that apply)
South

1

Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas

Northeast

2

Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia

Midwest

3

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Ohio
Wisconsin

Plains

4

Kansas
Nebraska
North Dakota
Oklahoma
South Dakota

Mountain
Colorado
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Utah
Wyoming

5

West

6

Alaska
Arizona
California
Hawaii
Idaho
Oregon
Washington

Please indicate the percentage of your premiums sold in each region:
(Note: These should sum to 100% of your premiums)
________%

________%

________%

________%

________%

________%

2.2 Approximately how many years have you been in the Federal crop insurance business? ______ years
2.3 Do you sell Federal crop insurance part-time 1 or full-time 2? (Note: For the purposes of this
Survey, part-time is defined as < 35 hours per week and full time is defined as 35 hours or more)

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2.4 Please classify yourself as one of the following:
Independent Agent (An Independent Agent works for himself/herself and may or may not
be affiliated with an insurance agency)

1

If you are an Independent Agent, please answer the following questions:
i.

Are you an agency full or partial owner?

ii.

How many part-time and full-time agents do you employ to help sell the Federal crop
insurance policies? _____ part-time agents and _____ full-time agents

iii.

How many administrative staff personnel do you employ?
_____ part-time staff/employees and _____ full-time staff/employees

2

1

Yes

No

Sub-Agent working for an insurance agency (A Sub-Agent works for an insurance
agency(ies) or an Independent Agent)
If Yes: Are you an agency owner or partial owner?

3

2

1

Yes

2

No

Captive Agent working for an insurance company (A Captive Agent does not own his/her
business but works for an insurance company)

2.5 In addition to being an agent, do you also classify yourself as an agricultural producer?
1 Yes
2 No
SECTION 3: Policy Information
Note: If you are an Independent Agent who employed sub-agents in 2011, please report the information
below for both you and all your sub-agents. For agents who sold Federal crop insurance policies in
multiple regions, please report the information related to the Federal crop insurance policies you (and
all your sub-agents as applicable) sold in 2011 across ALL regions.
3.1 How many producers did you sell Federal crop insurance to for crops harvested in 2011?
producers

_______

3.2 How much Federal crop insurance gross premium (policyholder premium plus the subsidy premium)
did you sell for crops harvested in 2011? $_____________
3.3 How many hours do you spend on selling and servicing Federal crop insurance policies in the average
work week? _______ hours
3.4 How many weeks do you work on selling and servicing Federal crop insurance in one year?
_____ weeks (See Question 3.9 for major activities associated with selling/servicing Federal crop insurance)
3.5 Please indicate the percentage of your time spent selling and servicing Federal crop insurance in each
region. (Note: These should sum to 100% of your time spent selling/servicing Federal crop insurance)
South
________%

Northeast
________%

Midwest
________%

Plains
________%

Mountain
________%

West
________%

3.6 Thinking about the income-generating work you do, what percentage of your work time do you spend
on the following activities: (Note: These should sum to 100%)
Selling and servicing Federal crop insurance ......_________%
Selling and servicing other lines of insurance ....._________%
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Other activities ....................................................._________%
3.7 What other types of insurance do you sell? (Check all that apply)
1 Commercial crop insurance (hail, supplemental coverage, etc.)
2 Homeowners Insurance
3 Auto Insurance
4 Health Insurance
5 Life Insurance
6 Other Insurance, please specify _________________________________
7 None
3.8 What other income-earning services/jobs do you perform? (Check all that apply)
1 Financial Services
2 Marketing Services
3 Farming
4 Other, please specify _________________________________________
5 None
3.9 Please note what percent of your time selling and servicing Federal crop insurance is spent on the
following tasks. (Note: These should sum to 100% of your time spent selling/servicing Federal crop insurance)
Tasks
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.

% of time spent
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%
_______%

Consulting with producers on Federal crop insurance program
Consulting with producers on other farm programs/issues
Outreach to producers / Educating producers
Developing relationship/building goodwill with producers
Preparing producer application
Collecting production history
Preparing acreage reports
Maintaining the crop insurance contract files
Attending trainings
Monitoring market conditions
Mapping services
Training employees
Internal agency compliance
Reporting claims
Other

3.10 If you also sell property/casualty insurance, please ANSWER the following with respect to the
difference between selling and servicing Federal crop insurance vs. property/casualty insurance.
If not, please GO TO to Question 3.11.
How much more time is spent selling a new Federal crop policy vs. a property/casualty policy?
Same
1

< 2x as much
2

2x as much
3

3x as much
4

4x as much
5

5x as much or more
6

How much more time is spent servicing a Federal crop policy vs. a property/casualty policy?

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Same

< 2x as much

1

2x as much

2

3x as much

3

4x as much

4

5x as much or more

5

6

3.11 What percent of your total number of Federal crop insurance policies sold for crops harvested in 2011
came from the following crops? (Note: These should sum to 100% of the Federal crop insurance policies you
sold in 2011)

Corn................_______ %
Soybean .........._______ %
Wheat ............._______ %
Cotton............._______ %
Peanuts ..........._______ %

Fruit/Vegetables ..._______ %
Sorghum ..............._______ %
Rice ......................_______ %
Perennials ............._______ %
Other ...................._______ %

3.12 Please list the top-three crops, in rank order by premium amount, for which you serviced Federal crop
insurance for crops harvested in 2011.
1. ______________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________
3.13 What percent of your total number of Federal crop insurance policies sold for crops harvested in 2011
came from the following types? (Note: These should sum to 100% of the Federal crop insurance policies you
sold in 2011)

Catastrophic Loss Coverage “CAT” ......................................_______ %
Area-Based Plans (GRP, GRIP, PRF, etc.) ............................_______ %
Revenue Protection ................................................................_______ %
Yield-Based Plans (APH, Yield Protection) .........................._______ %
Other Plans (Dollar, Actual Revenue History, etc.)..............._______ %
3.14 Please rate the level of effort required to sell and service the following policy types on a scale of 1 to 5
with 1 being little effort and 5 being a lot of effort:
Little effort

A lot of effort

Catastrophic Loss Coverage “CAT”

1

2

3

4

5

Area-Based Plans
(GRP, GRIP, PRF, etc.)

1

2

3

4

5

Revenue Protection

1

2

3

4

5

Yield -Based Plans
(APH, Yield Protection)

1

2

3

4

5

Other Plans
(Dollar, Actual Revenue History, etc)

1

2

3

4

5

3.15 How many of your Federal crop insurance policies sold for crops harvested in 2011 were new policies?
_______ policies
(Note: For the purposes of this question, a new policy is defined as a policy where the agent must build a new
Actual Production History (APH), i.e., these new policies require more effort than a typical renewal policy)
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3.16 What percent of your Federal crop insurance policies sold for crops harvested in 2011 fell into the
following categories?
(Note: These should sum to 100% of the Federal crop insurance policies you sold in 2011)

Large Policies (Gross Premium over $8,000) ...................................._______ %
Medium Policies (Gross Premium between $3,000 and $8,000)......._______ %
Small Policies (Gross Premium below $3,000) ................................._______ %

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SECTION 4: Expenses
4.1 Please indicate your best estimate of the total percent of out-of-pocket expenses based on your average
annual gross income*. For example, if your gross annual income was $100,000 and your total travel
expenses were $5,000 during the same time, the percentage of your travel expense over your total gross
income would be 5% or $5,000/$100,000.
(*Note: Gross income is the amount you earn for Federal crop insurance prior to taking deductions)

Please report the percent of your Gross Income for expenses resulting from the selling and
servicing of Federal crop insurance for each of the following:
a. Pay and Benefits: Employee salary, commissions, benefits, and retirement
0%
0%–5%
5.1%–15% 15.1%–25% 25.1%–30% Over 30%
1

2

3

4

5

6

N/A
7

b. Rent, Equipment & Supplies: Office expenses, rent, supplies, utilities, equipment, repairs, and
depreciation
0%
0%–5%
5.1%–15% 15.1%–25% 25.1%–30% Over 30%
N/A
1

2

3

4

5

c. Information Technology: Computer software, programs, etc.
0%
0%–2.5%
2.6%–5% 5.1%–7.5% 7.6%–10%
1

2

3

4

5

6

Over 10%
6

7

N/A
7

d. Legal, Professional, Insurance, and Taxes: Legal and professional fees, license, insurance fees,
taxes, and workers comp
0%
0%–2.5%
2.6%–5% 5.1%–7.5% 7.6%–10% Over 10%
N/A
1

2

3

4

5

6

e. Advertising and Marketing: Advertising, meals, and entertainment expenses
0%
0%–2.5%
2.6%–5% 5.1%–7.5% 7.6%–10% Over 10%
1

f.

2

Travel: Travel cost
0%
0%–0.5%
1

2

3

0.6%–1%
3

4

1.1%–2%
4

5

2.1%–5%
5

6

Over 5%
6

g. Interest Payment: Mortgage interest, other interest paid on business indebtedness
0%
0%–0.5%
0.6%–1%
1.1%–2%
2.1%–5%
Over 5%
1

2

3

4

5

h. Other: Other miscellaneous expenses, casualty loss
0%
0%–5%
5.1%–10% 10.1%–15% 15.1%–20%
1

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2

3

4

5

6

Over 20%
6

7

N/A
7

N/A
7

N/A
7

N/A
7

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4.2 Did you perform any clerical/processing work for crops harvested in 2011 on behalf of the insurance
companies for which you write Federal crop insurance policies?
1 Yes
2 No
If Yes: How many hours did you spend performing this work in an average week? ________ hours
(Note: Please round to the nearest quarter-hour—i.e., 15 minutes = .25 hours)
SECTION 5: Interaction with Policy Holder
5.1 Approximately, how many times do you interact with a policyholder in one year….?
a. For a Typical (i.e., Non-Loss) Year? ........_______ interactions
b. For a Loss Year? ......................................._______ interactions
5.2 When you communicated with an average policyholder in 2011, what was the nature of your interaction
in percent of total time spent communicating with them?
(Note: These should sum to 100% of your time spent interacting with policy holder)

Face-to-face............................_______ %
Phone......................................_______ %
With a group of farmers ........._______ %
Email ......................................_______ %
Other ......................................_______ %

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Please describe _______________________

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SECTION 6: Potential Effects of Program Changes
6.1 Please indicate the potential effects the following recent RMA regulations/new program initiatives
had/will have on your costs of selling and servicing the Federal crop insurance in the SHORT-term
(within three (3) years of implementation of the respective regulation/initiative).
Recent RMA Regulation/
New Program Initiatives

Areas in which
Areas in which
Additional
Hours Reduced
Hours Imposed
(Check all that apply)
(Check all that apply)

Estimated
Hours/Month
(Added/Saved)

a. New Common Crop Insurance Policy
(Combo)

1

2

_______ hours

b. Training and Proficiency Requirements

1

2

_______ hours

c. Reporting by Common Land Unit

1

2

_______ hours

d. Personal T-Yield

1

2

_______ hours

e. Consolidation of Acreage Reporting Dates

1

2

_______ hours

f. Increased use of precision agriculture
technologies and geospatial data as discussed
in RMA Managers Bulletin MGR-11-017,
Request for Comments to Actual Production
History (APH) Potential Enhancements

1

2

_______ hours

6.2 Please indicate the potential effects the following recent RMA regulations/new program initiatives
may have on your costs of selling and servicing the Federal crop insurance in the LONG-term
(after three (3) years of implementation of the respective regulation/initiative).
Recent RMA Regulation/
New Program Initiatives

Areas in which
Areas in which
Additional
Hours Reduced
Hours Imposed
(Check all that apply)
(Check all that apply)

Estimated
Hours/Month
(Added/Saved)

a. New Common Crop Insurance Policy
(Combo)

1

2

_______ hours

b. Training and Proficiency Requirements

1

2

_______ hours

c. Reporting by Common Land Unit

1

2

_______ hours

d. Personal T-Yield

1

2

_______ hours

e. Consolidation of Acreage Reporting Dates

1

2

_______ hours

f. Increased use of precision agriculture
technologies and geospatial data as discussed
in RMA Managers Bulletin MGR-11-017,
Request for Comments to Actual Production
History (APH) Potential Enhancements

1

2

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_______ hours

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