Unable to Contract with Carriers

[Tahoe Ray]

In my experience if an agent has some bad stuff but discloses it he’s worth contracting. If he discloses nothing and stuff turns up, you don’t want him. He has not changed. He’s just trying to slide past and screw over a new victim.

I’m sure there are exceptions. But that has definitely been my experience.

When an agent tells me about bad background stuff, I tell him to type up an explanation letter and to be sure to explain how you have made changes that this won’t happen in the future. Works almost every time.

Yep. And a lot of agents will already have that letter written and submit it with their contracting. After a few carrier appointments, they know the drill.

 

[PrivClientSG]

Thanks is advance for any guidance. I am a licensed health/life agent based in Florida with just under two years in the field. I have had some success working with a IMO selling health products but little with Life.

As an independent broker I have had some difficulty getting appointed with couple of the core carriers that my current Life IMO works with. Consequently, I am only able to offer a fraction of the products that other agents sell within our IMO. I am currently appointed with 2 of the 4 core carriers. I have been declined several times for appointment with the other two based on my background check - nothing serious (fraud, violence, etc.) As I understand, it was my exclusion of past offenses on my initial contracting applications. Unfortunately, my upline instructed me not to include said information on the applications and the carriers declined my appointments.

So here is my question: What options (if any) do I have to get contracted? Can I
1. Submit a policy app as a co-agent with an agent already appointed?
2. Submit new application to be contracted as a business? Meaning to say change my license from an individual to business entity.
3. Do nothing- I'm "SOL"

I would never, ever lie on a contracting application. If anyone, your upline, a brokerage outfit, whoever, tells you to do so, find a new one. Once you lie, and you get declined, you cannot unring that bell. You don't know if they are doing upper, lower, or whatever type of background check(s). You've already been declined several times. That's now out there. Period. If you are asked, now what? I don't know if submitting an application with another agent will resolve your problem. I would personally contact the licensing people, talk to them, ask them if something/anything can be done -- a letter of explanation for example, or a conditional or probationary appointment, something. Anything. Trying to play games with this -- sure, initially you might pull it off -- but in the end, it rarely works out well. Good luck!