My own website/llc as an independent agent at a large company?

[rousemark]

I plan on buying and generating my own leads but i still need a company to actually sell insurance through. They give us a few hundred leads a month as well to keep me busy while I start working on generating my own. I was planning on using facebook and google ads to get started but just do not know the legality of it

You are selling extremely high premium coverage that is easily replaced if an independent agent comes across your business. You are also working at a much lower commission rate than you would receive as an independent. 110%-120% first year commissions with immediate vested renewals is not uncommon for independent agents, plus they can represent several companies so they can place cases that a captive agent might have to walk away from.

As for your question, if you mention AIL in any shape, form or fashion you will have it approved by their compliance dept. But, yes you can, seeking prospects without mentioning any specific company. Lead vendors do that all the time. However, being captive, you management team might call you out on it if they find out about it.

 

[Ksutton]

Where do you suggest I start? What companies? Or what to research. I have no idea what i am doing so any advice would be appreciated

I started at AIL - I did a breakdown on some differences if you are interested - Good luck -

 

[goillini52]

You are selling extremely high premium coverage that is easily replaced if an independent agent comes across your business. .

I delivered an Accendo policy today that replaced an AIL. The lady had had the policy for 7 years and I was still able to give her an extra $1,000 in face amount and saved her $35 a month.

Accendo sent the replacement forms to AIL and she had the surrender form waiting for me to look at. They included a tri fold trying to convince her to keep AIL and mentioned how much she would lose financially by letting AIL go. I'm sure they send a lot of those out.

 

[Ksutton]

I delivered an Accendo policy today that replaced an AIL. The lady had had the policy for 7 years and I was still able to give her an extra $1,000 in face amount and saved her $35 a month.

Accendo sent the replacement forms to AIL and she had the surrender form waiting for me to look at. They included a tri fold trying to convince her to keep AIL and mentioned how much she would lose financially by letting AIL go. I'm sure they send a lot of those out.

Yeah, it's hit or miss with AIL. I wrote a ton of 100k whole life policies when I sold for them. I remember door knocking these, aged, fraternal organization leads and selling a senior, 20k, final expense policy. I remember when the rates came up and it was like $120 for 20k or something and he was like "that's not bad, I'll take it" I was scratching my head. I didn't understand that these seniors really saw a value and needed FE.... That's when I started to peak into the Final Expense market. At that time I believe the AIL Rates were pretty high for FE but I had no way to compare( I wish Final Expense sales was like that every time, but that's not the case.)

Anyhow, since then I've seen a few AIL FE policies and I think they are more competitive now..... but it can be hit or miss for sure.

 

[Travis Price]

Is it legal? In my humble opinion its more of a contractual and DOI question then a question of legality.

What does your contract with your employer say?

As far as your insurance website is concerned, I would understand what your State DOI rules are concerning using business or fictious business names. If the website/business is providing 'insurance services' and you yourself have an insurance license, I would make sure that your license number is represented somewhere on the site.

You absolutely should have your own website if you plan to do anything with it. The only people that will stop it is AIL. It's not against insurance regulations or against your E&O. AIL will have an issue because YOU are the brand, THEY are not.

You shouldn't put BLAKE'S LIFE INSURANCE as that's a noncompete issue. However, if you put something like Blake Baker, Licensed Life Agent.. you will be fine.

Insurance license is always a good idea to put on your site. Google's algo puts lower priority on businesses in the financial and health sectors that don't use EAT and YMYL (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) (Your Money or Your Life) to establish credibility.

FFS, companies pay a pretty penny to freelance writers that have an insurance license because they are considered verifiable experts in their field.

I ended up diversifying my income because it was worthwhile for me to write AND write business.

My website is literally my name. I own my content and leads. If they don't want you own your lead source, bail... because you're an independent contractor (I believe) with AIL.

If I misunderstood what anyone else was saying, I pre-emptively apologize. I also could be wrong about employee vs independent contractor with AIL.

Most insurance agents, even captive ones, are still independent contractors. They can tell you that your activities are against their policy (that's in your contract or updated) but they can't tell you how to market the business willy nilly.