Mike embarked upon his insurance career with employment at a small, full-service insurance agency. From there, he worked for a large auto insurance writer, and from there he was employed at a Managing General Agency. Mike’s exposure to the insurance industry during these three years proved to be an excellent foundation that led him to a Commercial Underwriting position with Pacific Specialty Insurance Company (PSIC) in 2000.
Over the course of the next decade, Mike Ramos moved his way up the ranks to the position of Nationwide Commercial and Personal Lines Director. Mike’s hard-working team increased the value of PSIC’s Gross Written Premiums from $5M to $250M while maintaining a 10-year total combined ratio of 88.2%.
Why did Mike Ramos launch YCDB?
This is a question I am frequently asked, and I am delighted to answer it. Working as the Nationwide Director of Commercial Operations for a large insurance carrier, I received many questions asking for my insight on how to get an auto dealer license, how much is a dealer license, and where to obtain a low-cost dealer bond. This was approximately around the period when the recession occurred in 2008 and 2009 and auto dealers were witnessing their bond prices triple, at best.
Of course, it had little to do with their credit, but surety carriers virtually lost millions of dollars trying to undercut each other in attempts to purchase a California dealer bond business. It resulted in an alarming game of musical chairs for surety carriers and sadly, some of them paid dearly.
Although this was an unfortunate time for used car dealers, it was a revelation for me. I tried helping by referring dealers to insurance agents whom I had known for years and thought had provided valuable customer service. But I soon discovered that their service standards and my service standards were not in alignment. It turned out that our operating standards were light-years apart. I began receiving calls from very frustrated, prospective dealers who had been ignored 2, 3, and 4 days after their referral for a quote.
The game-changer emerged when one of these insurance agents told me he not only failed to return the calls to the prospective customer I had sent him the previous week, but he had voicemails from weeks ago that had gone unanswered. This level of service was completely unacceptable to me. That is when I decided to proceed with the development of the YCDB business!
Independent Agent vs The Rest.
Instead of just working for one company with limited offerings, we represent dozens of top rated insurers. As your needs expand and change we continue to find the best carriers at the best value.
