IMO for Life/Health and IMO for P&C

[hexp23]

I have been doing alot of research regarding whether or not it is necessary to sign with an IMO for Life/Health and P&C. It seems more necessary when talking about Life/Health, especially related to commissions and assistance with understanding and selling policies. I have several questions:

1) If it is an absolute must to sign with an IMO, can I sign with an IMO that is based outside of Florida?

2) Does where the IMO is based affect my ability to sign with them?

3) Do you all recommend signing with an IMO for P&C?

4) Can someone, or several of you, differentiate and provide some contacts to some Life/Health and P&C IMO's?

5) If an IMO is supposed to be a 'specialist' or provide training, should I be looking for an IMO with many appointments with carriers? Or fewer carriers so I can be sure they know what they are talking about?

6) Can someone provide some examples of carriers that WILL NOT appoint me (a newbie) if not through an IMO?

--
Thank you,
Hiram

 

[ozmo]

Trying to keep this one alive. I am looking for advice on finding a good IMO or GA in California for Health/Life. I would be coming from being captive with one dimentional product and hoping to be able to sell more and better options with access to training, support and technolgy. I don't image you should expect your GA too provide any quality leads, but sense I am making this a wish list, lets throw that in too.

What is the actual differenc between IMO and GA?, and what is reasonable for an agent to expect? Any recommendations out there?

Thanks>>>.

 

[IndyAgentIDTMY]

I have been doing alot of research regarding whether or not it is necessary to sign with an IMO for Life/Health and P&C. It seems more necessary when talking about Life/Health, especially related to commissions and assistance with understanding and selling policies. I have several questions:

1) If it is an absolute must to sign with an IMO, can I sign with an IMO that is based outside of Florida?

2) Does where the IMO is based affect my ability to sign with them?

3) Do you all recommend signing with an IMO for P&C?

4) Can someone, or several of you, differentiate and provide some contacts to some Life/Health and P&C IMO's?

5) If an IMO is supposed to be a 'specialist' or provide training, should I be looking for an IMO with many appointments with carriers? Or fewer carriers so I can be sure they know what they are talking about?

6) Can someone provide some examples of carriers that WILL NOT appoint me (a newbie) if not through an IMO?

--
Thank you,
Hiram

I'm not aware of any restrictions on the location of the IMO, but don't quote me on that. The main thing is to find an IMO that has decent commission structures and a variety of products that you can offer in your area (and that offers a no-questions-asked release if you choose to go elsewhere).

That being said, IMO's are not necessarily the best choice if you are green and need lots of training and support. They tend to provide higher contracts based upon production, but are not always big on the training and support side. If you need this, go with a local GA who can provide all of the above.

Meanwhile, search the Forums for more info as there are many IMO's and GA's mentioned for Life and P&C.

 

[coccoc]

I'm not aware of any restrictions on the location of the IMO, but don't quote me on that. The main thing is to find an IMO that has decent commission structures and a variety of products that you can offer in your area (and that offers a no-questions-asked release if you choose to go elsewhere).

 

[padthaiforlunch]

I have been doing alot of research regarding whether or not it is necessary to sign with an IMO for Life/Health and P&C. It seems more necessary when talking about Life/Health, especially related to commissions and assistance with understanding and selling policies. I have several questions:

You do not need to use an FMO to contract with health carriers.

1) If it is an absolute must to sign with an IMO, can I sign with an IMO that is based outside of Florida?

Yes.

2) Does where the IMO is based affect my ability to sign with them?

No.

3) Do you all recommend signing with an IMO for P&C?

Not my area. From what I understand, P&C carriers will take you direct if you have a large enough book of business.

4) Can someone, or several of you, differentiate and provide some contacts to some Life/Health and P&C IMO's?

It depends on what you want. Do you need training, or someone to walk your cases through underwriting? Or do you want a high commission. It's kind of like cheaper, better, faster: pick any two. But with most FMO's it's pick one.

5) If an IMO is supposed to be a 'specialist' or provide training, should I be looking for an IMO with many appointments with carriers? Or fewer carriers so I can be sure they know what they are talking about?

I want my FMO to give me options.

6) Can someone provide some examples of carriers that WILL NOT appoint me (a newbie) if not through an IMO?

Pretty much any life and annuity carrier will require you to go through an FMO, even if you are experienced.

--
Thank you,
Hiram

You're welcome.

 

[insuranceexec]

You do not need to use an FMO to contract with health carriers.


Yes.

No.


Not my area. From what I understand, P&C carriers will take you direct if you have a large enough book of business.

It depends on what you want. Do you need training, or someone to walk your cases through underwriting? Or do you want a high commission. It's kind of like cheaper, better, faster: pick any two. But with most FMO's it's pick one.

I want my FMO to give me options.

Pretty much any life and annuity carrier will require you to go through an FMO, even if you are experienced.


You're welcome.

Perfectly said.

 

[Thatguy]

I have been doing alot of research regarding whether or not it is necessary to sign with an IMO for Life/Health and P&C. It seems more necessary when talking about Life/Health, especially related to commissions and assistance with understanding and selling policies. I have several questions:

1) If it is an absolute must to sign with an IMO, can I sign with an IMO that is based outside of Florida?

2) Does where the IMO is based affect my ability to sign with them?

3) Do you all recommend signing with an IMO for P&C?

4) Can someone, or several of you, differentiate and provide some contacts to some Life/Health and P&C IMO's?

5) If an IMO is supposed to be a 'specialist' or provide training, should I be looking for an IMO with many appointments with carriers? Or fewer carriers so I can be sure they know what they are talking about?

6) Can someone provide some examples of carriers that WILL NOT appoint me (a newbie) if not through an IMO?

--
Thank you,
Hiram

I hate to burst some of previous people's bubbles but here goes

1) Yes
2) SOMETIMES. The location of the IMO CAN affect your ability to sign with them. The glaring example of this is the state of New York. If you live in the state of NY (Which I suspect you do not since you asked about FL, but I wish to mention it anyways) then you could be very limited to the IMO that you can contract to write. Only IMO that are properly licenses and contracted can do business in certain states.

In addition to this, some states require corporate appointment to earn override while most do not. There are some IMO who will not recruit in TX, UT, CA (and a few other I can't remember) because they do not have a corporate license. Most states allow agencies to operate in that state as a non-resident without a corporate license, although some do not. IMO who do not posses non resident corporate license in those state cannot contract you in those states. Perhaps this is a semantic issue, but I just did want to clarify that the location of the IMO can matter, albeit most of the time - it does not.

3) Not my area, I don't know. As I understand it, most carriers in the P&C world will not sign you unless you have XXX amount of experience, and/or a book of business

4) What type of products do you want for L&H, and what are you looking to receive from the IMO in addition to the product?

5) Most IMO are going to have a variety for you to choose. However, there is such a thing as "too much" carriers. If an IMO takes contracts with every carrier in the world, it is likely they are spreading themselves too thin.

6) Can't think of one definitively off hand, although one comes to mind quickly: Lincoln Heritage. Some of the BCBS may not appoint unless through an IMO either. That being said, MOST of the ones that do appoint direct, will ONLY offer you street level at BEST. You can call John Hancock directly, and they will offer you a contract, but you'll get about 80-85% at best.

 

[Insexpert1]

P&C===> Is a whole different ball game than life!
Start with one and specialize one product even in that one category!
For example;If you pick life insurance--Start with Term or FE : Make money on one and cross sell others until you have made enough money to be self sufficient.

 

[ins4every1]

thatguy: thx for the post.