What’s your insurance agency business worth? Value it in 90 seconds.
Insurance Agency businesses are typically priced on one of two earnings figures depending on size: Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) below roughly $1M, and EBITDA above. Applied to insurance agency specifically, the base multiple ranges are 2.5x–4x SDE and 6x–10x EBITDA. Where inside that range your business trades is decided by a handful of specific, buyer-visible factors.
Every input stays in your browser. The tool benchmarks each KPI against real Main Street peers in your industry, layers per-KPI multiple lifts on top of the category baseline, and shows a live range with the reasons behind it.
Since roughly 2018 the U.S. retail insurance-brokerage market has been consolidating aggressively. PE-backed platforms — Acrisure, Hub International, PCF Insurance, Alera Group, Baldwin Risk Partners, AssuredPartners, USI, and Higginbotham — deploy multi-billion-dollar bolt-on budgets each year. Commercial P&C books trade at 8–12x EBITDA (roughly 2.5–3.5x commissions) for well-run agencies with 90%+ retention and a producer bench beyond the owner. Personal-lines books price lower (typically 5–8x EBITDA) because retention economics are weaker. Optis Partners' quarterly reports track 700+ agency transactions per year — this is the most consolidated professional-services category in the U.S.
Industry benchmarks for Insurance Agency are being finalized. For an estimate today, use the general exit calculator.
What moves the multiple
The metrics buyers actually diligence in insurance agency.
Category baseline is 2.5x–4x SDE (below ~$1M SDE) transitioning to 6x–10x EBITDA above. Where inside that range a specific insurance agency business trades is decided by these operating metrics — the same ones a professional QoE surfaces on day one of diligence.
Client retention rate
Percentage of policies that renew annually. Best-in-class agencies run 92–95% overall; commercial-focused books can push higher. Every basis point of retention above 90% moves the multiple.
Commercial vs. personal lines mix
Commercial-lines commissions are worth roughly 1.5–2× a personal-lines dollar to platform buyers because of higher retention and stickier client relationships.
Carrier concentration
Percentage of revenue tied to the top 3 carriers. Buyers discount agencies with 60%+ concentration in a single carrier because contingents and market access are dependency risks.
Producer bench depth
Number of licensed producers actively writing business beyond the owner. Owner-only books materially compress multiples because the buyer inherits producer transition risk.
New-business production per producer
New commission written annually per producer. Signals whether the book is growing organically or coasting on renewal cash flow.
Deal structure norms
How insurance agency deals actually close.
Almost every insurance-agency deal above $500K in commissions structures as a stock deal (personal goodwill treatment) with a 20–30% equity rollover into the acquiring platform and a 3–5 year earn-out tied to retention. Sub-$500K commission books occasionally close as asset deals with individual producer buyouts. LOI-to-close on institutional deals runs 90–120 days. Regulatory transfer of appointments and E&O tail coverage are the two diligence items that most commonly slow close.
Recurring-revenue anchor for insurance agency: 85% of revenue is the threshold that meaningfully lifts multiples. Businesses below that trade nearer the baseline low; above it, buyers underwrite at the top of the range.
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People also ask
Valuing a insurance agency business.
How is my insurance agency valued?
The market prices in EBITDA multiples and commission multiples in parallel. Commercial-heavy agencies typically trade at 8–12x EBITDA (or roughly 2.5–3.5x annual commission revenue). Personal-lines books cluster at 5–8x EBITDA / 1.5–2.5x commissions. What lands you at the top of the range: 90%+ retention, commercial mix above 60%, a producer bench beyond the owner, and diversified carrier relationships.How long does it take to sell an insurance agency?
Optis-tracked deals typically run 4–7 months from LOI to close, faster than most Main Street categories because the PE-backed aggregator platforms have institutionalized diligence and template deal docs. The bottleneck is almost always the E&O tail-coverage negotiation and the appointment-transfer paperwork with each carrier, not the transaction itself.What drives higher multiples for insurance agencies?
In order of impact: (1) commercial-lines share above 60%, (2) retention above 92%, (3) a producer bench beyond the owner writing meaningful new business, (4) diversified carrier appointments (no single carrier > 25% of revenue), (5) low personal-goodwill dependence — the book renews without the owner personally involved.Should I sell to a national aggregator or a regional platform?
National aggregators (Acrisure, Hub, PCF) pay the highest headline prices but structure with heavier earn-outs and equity rollover. Regional platforms move faster and offer cleaner cash-at-close, at the cost of a 0.5–1.0x lower headline multiple. Owners planning to fully exit within 12–18 months often prefer regional buyers; owners willing to stay 3–5 years and roll equity capture more upside with the national platforms.Do wholesale / MGA books trade differently than retail agencies?
Yes. Wholesale MGAs and specialty distributors trade at premiums (typically 10–14x EBITDA) because binding authority + program business + carrier panels together create real barriers to entry. Ryan Specialty, Amwins, and CRC drive that segment. If you have delegated authority, expect a very different (and higher) valuation conversation than a retail-only agency.How accurate is this insurance agency valuation estimate?
It's an initial diagnostic, not a formal appraisal. The engine uses baseline 2.5x–4x SDE / 6x–10x EBITDA multiples from published Main Street M&A data, then layers per-KPI adjustments using P25–P90 industry benchmarks. What it can't see is qualitative signal — customer-relationship durability, management-team quality, regulatory risk in your niche. Use it to see where your business lands against peers, then let a specialist broker validate against your actual books before you go to market.
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Ready to talk numbers with a human
Validate the estimate with a specialist broker.
Free 30-minute consultation. Sukhrobjon (Rob) Ismoilov or a matched insurance agency specialist reviews your inputs against the current buyer set.