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Goosehead vs McDade
Two independent brokers, built two different ways. What Goosehead says about itself in its own filing, what this desk does differently, and how to get the most from whichever one you choose.
The answer
Both are independent brokers, and both can serve a Texas family well. Goosehead built a national network, with the read done by the agency owner, the carriers managed by the company, and the service handled by a centralized team. McDade is one Houston desk that does the read, keeps your file after bind, and adds no agency fee on personal lines. The difference is who holds your file next year and what sits on top of the price. Either desk can serve you well. Know which one you are choosing.
Credit where it is due
We think highly of Goosehead. Whataburger is one of the best things about Texas, and it is still, at heart, a Texas company. Building a brand that holds together in every state is rare, and Goosehead did it with a brokerage. Friends of ours are happy there, strong producers who built real relationships with realtors and mortgage lenders and help new homeowners close on time. The model lets an owner build a sales book while the company handles the service, the marketing, the vision, and the carrier relationships, and for a producer who wants that it is one of the best places in the industry to start, because Goosehead can get a new agent appointed with carriers that are selective in a region. Goosehead even has a carrier of its own. Elevate is a reciprocal exchange formed with SageSure, owned by its policyholders, and sold only through Goosehead agents, writing homeowners and flood in Texas. That is a real advantage, and we do not have it. Few companies build a national brokerage that holds together. Goosehead did.
Two ways to build a brokerage
Here is the whole difference in one place, Goosehead in the words of its FY2025 10-K and McDade in ours. Read the rows as a job description for each desk. Where the work sits is where the difference lives.
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Goosehead, in its own filing
- The read
- The agency owner or their team, with a Digital Agent that builds the bundle
- Carrier access
- Managed by the company, over 200 carriers nationally
- Service after bind
- All policy fulfillment and servicing handled by a centralized service team across four service centers
- The pay
- The owner keeps 80 percent of first-term commissions and agency fees, and 50 percent of every renewal
- The fee line
- Agency fees, separate from commissions and charged directly to clients, a revenue line in the filing
- The file next year
- The network
- What it is
- A national network, serviced centrally
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McDade, in ours
- The read
- A licensed Texas agent on this desk, contract to contract, before you bind
- Carrier access
- The desk's own relationships, 50+ top Texas carriers we know well
- Service after bind
- The same desk that placed you
- The pay
- The carrier's commission, inside the rate it filed with TDI, the same desk on year one and year ten
- The fee line
- None on personal lines, including personal flood and surplus lines home
- The file next year
- The same desk
- What it is
- One desk that keeps its promise
Where the pay sits
Goosehead owners are paid more to start a policy than to keep it, and the filing says why. The company takes 20 percent of first-term commissions and agency fees and 50 percent at every renewal, and in return its centralized team handles all policy fulfillment and servicing, so the owner's time goes to new referral partners. That is the design, it is in the filing, and it works for them. On this desk the renewal is the relationship, and the people who placed you are the people who keep you. Where the pay sits is where the attention goes.
What a franchise owner keeps, in Goosehead's own filing
In the filing's own words
“All policy fulfillment and servicing is handled by our centralized service team,” which the filing says allows “our agents to focus virtually all of their time on cultivating new Referral Partner relationships.” “The majority of our new accounts are sourced by referral sources tied to home closing transactions.” And to its credit, “We do not compensate Referral Partners for leads.”
Fees are not commission
A household came to us from a franchise desk with eight policies, the auto, the home, an umbrella, an ATV, and the landlord policies on their rentals, and an agency fee on every one of them. Close to a thousand dollars a year in fees, before a single claim. They wanted a desk that would know them. We placed the primary home with a carrier that liked the risk more, raised the coverages, and put money back in their pocket. Then they signed a broker of record letter on each of the other policies, and because this desk adds no agency fee, the price on each one dropped by the fee on day one. At worst, they saved the fees. Fees are legal in Texas, and Goosehead's filing counts agency fees among its revenue. That is the nature of the model. We just do not think there is a place for it in a long-term relationship. Commission is inside the price. A fee is on top of it.
What Texas requires when a desk charges you a fee
Commission is set between the carrier and the agent before your price is ever run, inside the rate the carrier filed with TDI, and it does not move your premium. A fee is added on top. Under Texas Insurance Code 4005.004, a desk that charges you for placing a policy and also earns a commission on it needs your documented acknowledgment before you buy, with a description of how that commission is computed. Ask for both in writing. The only fees on our policies are the ones surplus lines carriers set for themselves. None come from this desk.
Access is not appetite
Over 200 carriers is a real number, and it is a national one. Some carriers on a national list do not write the Gulf Coast at all. Some write Texas and stop a county short of Houston. Some write Houston and still say no to the roof, the year built, or the distance to the water. Access to a carrier is not the same as that carrier wanting your house, and a quote is the only proof. The same is true on this desk. Of the 50+ top Texas carriers we know well, the read tells you which ones want your house this year, and you see the three that do. Access is a list. Appetite is a quote.
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200+
On the list
A carrier the network represents somewhere in the country. The number on the website.
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Fewer
Writing Texas
Licensed and open here, with a Texas appetite of its own and its own hurricane rules.
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Fewer still
Open near the coast
Still writing a Houston ZIP after the distance-to-water rules, the roof rules, and the year-built rules.
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Your quote
Wants your house
The carriers that will quote this house, this year, at a price you would sign. The only number that matters.
The four questions, both desks
The four questions from Are All Insurance Brokers the Same? work on any broker. Here they are, answered for both desks, with the follow-up to ask before you bind.
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01Are you independent or captive?GooseheadIndependent, a franchised network, in its own filingMcDadeIndependent, one Houston deskAsk before you bindBoth pass. The next three decide.
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02Do you charge fees on personal lines?GooseheadAgency fees, separate from commissions and charged to clients, in the filing. The amount is the agency's callMcDadeNone, including personal flood and surplus lines homeAsk before you bindAsk for the fee, and the commission acknowledgment, in writing.
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03Will you read my actual policy language?GooseheadThe agency owner or their team, with a Digital Agent that builds the bundleMcDadeA licensed Texas agent, contract to contract, before you bindAsk before you bindAsk who read it, and what they changed.
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04Will you tell me to stay where I am?GooseheadAsk, and listen for the stayMcDadeAbout 40 percent of the time we tell homeowners to stay with their current carrier, and sometimes even with their current agent, because that is the right answer for the familyAsk before you bindAsk when they last told a client to stay.
Ask both desks the same four questions. Compare the answers in writing.
How to get the most from either desk
If your Goosehead agent is local, walked you through the policy, and will be the one you call when a car changes or an ID card needs swapping, stay. That is value, and it is the whole point. Each Goosehead agency is allowed to run its desk its own way, and many run it well. Whichever desk you choose, the same few asks get you the most from it, and the first one is the one that matters. It is purely value. If the desk you have delivers it, stay.
If I need a car changed or an ID card swapped, will it be you? Who will I call?
Get the most from your Goosehead agent
- Ask for the agency owner's name, and who takes the service call after bind.
- Ask for any fee in writing, with the commission acknowledgment Texas requires, and what the fee buys.
- Ask whether Elevate quoted your house, and if not, which carrier did and why.
- Ask for the declarations page before closing, and read the wind and hail deductible as a percentage of the dwelling limit.
What you get from this desk
- A licensed Texas agent reads the quote you already hold, line by line, before you decide anything.
- No agency fee on personal lines, so the price you see is the price.
- The people who place you are the people you call next year, by name.
- A plain answer, including stay with your Goosehead agent when that is the right one.
What happens when you send it
You want one thing from this page. To know whether this desk would change anything for your household, and to hear it plainly, including when your Goosehead agent is the right call. Here is the whole path.
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Free
Send it
The Goosehead quote and the declarations pages you hold today, through Compare Coverage or by email to contact@mcdadeins.com. An office or virtual appointment works too.
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On our desk
We read contract to contract
Every fee comes out of the comparison first, so price is price. Then every carrier we run has to beat the policy you hold on the contract before it may beat it on price. Comparing apples to apples does not work, because we do not sell fruit.
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Your call
You get one of three answers
Stay, adjust, or move, with the reason in writing, and stay includes staying with your Goosehead agent when that is the right answer for the family.
Hold both quotes to the contract. Then decide.
I just would rather own something different
I love Goosehead. I have friends there who are happy, great producers who built real relationships with realtors and lenders and help families close on time, and the company earned every bit of its scale. McDonald's is an amazing franchise model. I just would rather own something different. My goal in opening McDade Insurance was to have control, and the ability to make sure the promises we make are delivered upon. A franchise model limits that. Period.
Charles McDade, LUTCF
Questions readers ask
I have a Goosehead quote. What should I check before I sign?
Four lines. Any fee, in writing, and what it buys. The carrier's name, and whether it is Elevate or a national carrier writing Houston. The wind and hail deductible as a percentage of the dwelling limit, next to the all other perils deductible. And the name of the person you call after bind. If all four read well, you have a good quote and a good desk. If any one is blank, ask before you bind, or send it to us and we will read it with you.
Does Goosehead charge fees?
Goosehead's own filing defines agency fees as fees separate from commissions charged directly to clients for issuing new policies, and counts them among its revenue. Whether your policy carries one, and how much, is set at the agency and shown before you buy. In Texas, a desk that charges you for placing a policy and also earns a commission on it needs your documented acknowledgment first under Insurance Code 4005.004. McDade adds no agency or brokerage fees to personal lines policies, including personal flood and surplus lines home.
Who services my policy after I buy from Goosehead?
In the filing's words, all policy fulfillment and servicing is handled by a centralized service team across four service centers, so agents can spend their time on new referral partner relationships. Your agent may still take your call, and many do. Ask before you bind who you will call next year, and whether it will be a name or a number.
What is Elevate, and can I get it without Goosehead?
Elevate is a reciprocal exchange formed with SageSure, owned by its policyholders, and sold only through Goosehead agents, writing homeowners and flood in Texas. We do not have access to it. If Elevate is the carrier that wants your house at a price you would sign, that is a real reason to stay, and we will say so.
Can McDade quote the same carriers as Goosehead?
Some of them, and we do not claim all. We run the 50+ top Texas carriers we know well, and the read tells you which ones want your house this year. A carrier on a national list may not write the Gulf Coast at all, so hold both quotes to the contract and let the carriers that actually quoted decide.
What is the difference between a commission and an agency fee?
Commission is paid by the carrier to the agent out of the rate the carrier filed with TDI. It is set before your price is run and does not move your premium. An agency fee is charged to you on top, separate from the premium, and it is the agency's choice. Ask for every fee in writing before you bind.
Sources worth opening before you decide
- Goosehead Insurance, Inc., Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, the business description, the royalty fee terms, the agency fee definition, and the service model
- Goosehead Insurance homepage, the 200+ carriers line and the Digital Agent
- Elevate Insurance, FAQs, the Goosehead-exclusive carrier formed with SageSure and owned by policyholders
- SageSure and Goosehead partner to launch Elevate, SageSure, November 8, 2022
- Texas Insurance Code 4005.004, Disclosure of Compensation, read on texas.public.law
- How do I find an insurance agent or company?, Texas Department of Insurance, updated December 11, 2025
- Home insurance guide, Texas Department of Insurance, updated June 1, 2026, the rates line
The purpose is to help the reader ask better questions before claim time.
See what each desk would change
Two independent brokers. One contract. Hold both quotes to it.
Send the Goosehead quote and the declarations pages you hold today. A licensed Texas agent reads them contract to contract with every fee pulled out of the comparison, and tells you plainly when your Goosehead agent is the right call. We translate the contract before you sign for another year.
The audit is free. The decision is yours. No broker fees for personal lines clients.
