Can I sell insurance with bad credit??

[Paradigm]

Several of my clients have had good luck witha company called www.lexingtonlawfirm.com

They charge a monthly retainer but their experiance has been good

 

[Paradigm]

correction lexingtonlaw.com

 

[myinsurebiz]

The ad posted for hiring didnt say anything about needing good credit. Does anyone know if this is a requirement. I dont really care about getting advances -- they mentioned it is 100% commission anyway. Anyway, does anyone know for sure? I would think he would let me know upfront so we wouldnt even waste a time going thru an interview.

100% commission means they don't pay you any salary, etc each week - you live off the commissions earned when they receive monthly payment - OR - you can take an advance.

If you are ok with as earned commissions - why not just stay independent versus working for someone?

If you don't receive the job - ring me up. I'll get you appointed to sell Life and Health regardless of your credit. Only condition is - no felony convictions involving money or finances.

Just so you know - if you do have a complicated credit history - you may only receive up to 4 months advance for your first year.

Good luck . . .

Tom

 

[lucy1234]

thanks everyone. I checked out a few hiring ads on craigslist for farmers insurance a couple just said "no bankruptcies or felonies in last 7 years". I dont have either of those so maybe I will be ok. Some of the ads didnt say anything regarding credit --- so who knows.

 

[OHInsAGNT]

Someone will give you a real anwer eventually. I have known people with bankruptcies get appointed and felonies for that matter. Not sure about the big companies like NYL though. Obviously you need good credit to work for them.

Man Senior Advisor, with what kind of circle are you associated?

J/K

 

[OHInsAGNT]

Principal and Aig so far said no, NYL is next

What everyone is trying to say to you here is that the carreer companies won't really be an option. You're not going to be able to work for a firm. You'll have to get appointed as an independent representative of some companies an sell their products without their support. You need to be an independent agent.

 

[OHInsAGNT]

This doesn't exist for mortal beings, unless you were employed by Fair Issac, the company that has the most meaningful credit scoring algorithm, and you had access to their research.

All you're going to get are generalizations you typically can't go wrong with: keeping your utilization ratio's low, payment on time, etc., etc., etc.

That being said, for personal use, some of the credit bureau companies online offer various simulators so you can run just that, what your credit score might look life IF x, x, and x...

However, be cautioned that scores derived directly from the credit bureaus themselves are generally NOT meaningful. The only meaningful score is the "FICO" score, and that, in MY experience, runs about 100 points lower than whatever scores the credit bureaus use, as they use their own algorithms.

The answer to the question about how to have excellent credit is simple. Have a large amount of revolving credit available, but don't carry balances or just small ones compared to your amount of credit. Pay EVERY bill on time no matter what. Keep new credit inquiries to a minimum. Pay for a credit montioring service that gives you e-mail updates and unlimited access to your report.

IF YOU already have credit issues, pay them off. Get signed letters from the companies that they have been satisfied and send them to the three CBR companies. Also, send a certified letter to the headquarters of the company or collection agency stating that you just settled the account with them and you want the derogatory information updated.

 

[sodaytongal]

Hello, I'm somewhat of a newbie to the insurance boards. I had been selling misc. real estate services - title insurance - credit services - and advertising. I also told real estae CE classes. Part of our presentation was on credit scores. There is somewhat of a method to the madness. I also rep'd for credit empowerment. You can learn a lot at myfico.com. I am no expert but here are some things I learned: pull your report and clean it up. There is probably some incorrect info on there. You should have no more than 8 tradelines . . . . as opposed to opening a bunch of accounts. It's better to have 7 accounts at 30% than 1 or 2 max'd. Also 30-50% of the balance is ok but after 80% it's a strike against you. Length of accounts count to - 10 years of history with a credit card as opposed to 6 months.
It's an interesting biz.

 

[djs]

The entire "credit" industry is a complete scam IMHO. To think that you wouldn't be able to sell insurance (specifically health, life, disability, ad&d, P&C) because of poor credit is just stupefying. I can see where an annuity company would be concerned about twisting a prospect's arm to get a commission, but c'mon, the insurances??? What am I missing here?

The issue with credit, especially for P&C companies, is they give you binding authority, the ability to say something is insured on their behalf (I don't know of any health companies that do this).

This makes it easy for fraud if the companies aren't careful. Think about it, I can insure something for $1M, the house burns down the next day, the company is on the hook, even if I should have done something I didn't.

I have had many car accidents within days of issuing policies, a house burn down within a week, etc. They deserve to know that I'm reasonably reliable and am not writing these policies when I shouldn't be. Credit does have a direct relationship to responsibility.

Without binding authority, credit isn't as big an issue. Most P&C brokers don't have binding authority, so they get by with credit that isn't as good (most P&C agents still require decent credit).

As far as I know, with poor credit, you can still get appointed with almost any health carrier, no problem. Very few P&C carriers will touch you directly, though you can usually still work through an MGA, without binding authority.

Dan

 

[wrighj03]

That's crazy. I have only heard of a background check but credit score? I've never heard of such a thing here in RI. Good luck and I would check your employment laws on this one.

I applied to mass mutual (Legacy financial in providence, RI)and they asked about my credit on the 2nd interview and said I had to fix it. I got an offer from NYL and they haven't said anything about credit. Should I be worried?