But the most valuable asset insurance agencies “own” are personal relationships with customers. Accountants call it goodwill. It is literally the “good will” that a customer has towards a company. That was the problem at Allstate v. Sidakis. In that case, Allstate argued that the defendants had recruited Allstate clients in violation of a non-compete clause. Allstate even submitted signed statements from clients who claimed they had been requested. But the accused denied this, and the court found that the conflicting testimony was a de facto outcome for the trial. [8] In addition to an appropriate analysis based on the size of the space and over time, the court may consider other factors that weigh on the interests of the Agency and the interests of the manufacturer, such as the situation of the worker and his family; if the worker is disabled or disabled, if he forces him to give up the job for which he is best trained, the duration of the worker`s employment and the reason for the end of the employment relationship.

It`s good for lawyers. Not necessarily good for insurance companies, agencies and agents. They are already spending a lot of money on all these ads. Of course, there are differences between insurance companies over the years of financial capacity, claims processing and price. But the coverage they offer is fairly standardized. It is therefore only a slight exaggeration to say that insurance agents, particularly independent agents, sell a largely fungible commodity. The departed producers very frequently object to their prohibition against holding the former employer to account: 1) The client has the right to go to any agent he chooses, and 2) The customer`s relationship is with the producer, not with the agency – the agency would probably lose the client anyway. This creates a legal problem for insurance agencies that want to protect their assets. The law protects the information of an insurance agency in different ways: business secrecy law, application of confidentiality agreements, the “Fiduciary Duty Lite”, due by an employee. The duration of an appropriate non-competition clause will therefore be only two years (two full extension conditions) and a maximum of three years (including partial conditions after the worker`s dismissal and two conditions of extension after the fact).

A worker who works with a current non-compete agreement must give the employer sufficient time to re-establish relations with the client with another employee.