New Options Available For Your Insurance Agency
Most insurance agents and agencies could consider themselves small businesses. Thanks to the recent CARES act, signed into law by the President on Friday, March 27th, there are four new funding options available to small businesses. These are temporary but necessary programs established to support businesses affected by Coronavirus. We’ve gathered a bit of helpful information for your agency to consider.
So, What’s the Government Doing Exactly?
Here it is in a nutshell. They are offering:
1. A Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – expanding one of their traditional loan programs and forgiving businesses for retaining employees
2. Economic Injury Disaster Loans – providing up to $10,000 advance loan if your business is facing temporary difficulties
3. SBA Express Bridge Loans – allowing businesses to get a quick $25,000 if they have a current SBA Express Lender relationship
4. Debt Relief – affording financial reprieve to small businesses
Here it is, in less of a nutshell.
Where to Start
When our friends at Broker Buddha reached out to let us know they developed a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) resource, we were excited to share it with you! Not only because it’s backed by a fellow InsurTech leader, but because this is one of the primary loans independent agencies should apply for. It benefits small businesses who have focused on keeping their employees on payroll – we love that.
When it comes to the PPP, the 31 pages of guidelines are just the start. Our best find for an overview is on Marketplace, where they dive into some major details like who can apply, where to apply, and some basic terms of the loan. They also emphasize that you should apply ASAP since there is a funding cap.
The application can be submitted “to any SBA lender or any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating,” according to Janet Nguyen with Marketplace. But those institutions haven’t made it easy.
I’ve Got Friends in “Loan” Places
Thankfully, Broker Buddha did make it easy. They designed an entire PPP Loan Smart Form application to make the process “easier and far less time-consuming for businesses to complete.”
Their resource makes it simple to apply for this loan, and includes instructions throughout the process – something the original PDF application did not provide. They also offer this service free to all agencies, even those not using the Broker Buddha platform.
We highly recommend your agency apply for a PPP Loan if you have prioritized keeping your team employed. Using the free access Smart Form to apply will simply make that experience better!
