Just Starting Out and Need Some Pointers.

[gabbyr1987]

Hello everyone i currently have my P&C license and work for an agency that does not sell life and health however i am now licensed to sell life and health. I have no idea where to turn to next! if anyone could help point me in the right direction as to what companies to turn to etc i would greatly appreciate it. (pa resident)

 

[AlTheGud1sRtakn]

What are you trying to do? Leave where you're at and go somewhere new? Sell for both places? Just do life and health? Who do you want to be targeting?

 

[sales_Wolf]

Knowing exactly what your trying to do will help with some direction. If your an independent health/life you should try finding an established Down line or FMO to sell under, Otherwise the rates you will get are pretty low. Plus some FMO's have lead programs. But if your going to stay with your P&C agency then they might already have a hierarchy in place you can jump in with on the health and life side. Plus are you going face to face? Phones? Quite a bit to it.

 

[Stevekobrin]

Hello and welcome to the life business! Glad to have you on board. There is a lot I would like to share with you from my experience in this marketplace. I will start here: it’s not only about the company.

We brokers typically do not have direct access to life underwriters. We depend on the wholesaler to get us the underwriting and the service our clients need. That means that your choice of MGA is critical to your sales practice.

The right distributor will give you access to all the companies you will need to represent. The fact of the matter is that each carrier has its own underwriting hot buttons, so you will need leverage with many of them to make sure every client gets the best deal.

And, if they have a platform of advanced support services, the MGA will help you in both prequalification and case management as well.

Please feel free to PM if you have any questions.

 

[VolAgent]

Hello and welcome to the life business! Glad to have you on board. There is a lot I would like to share with you from my experience in this marketplace. I will start here: it’s not only about the company.

We brokers typically do not have direct access to life underwriters. We depend on the wholesaler to get us the underwriting and the service our clients need. That means that your choice of MGA is critical to your sales practice.

The right distributor will give you access to all the companies you will need to represent. The fact of the matter is that each carrier has its own underwriting hot buttons, so you will need leverage with many of them to make sure every client gets the best deal.

And, if they have a platform of advanced support services, the MGA will help you in both prequalification and case management as well.

Please feel free to PM if you have any questions.

I find that quite interesting. There are only a few companies that try and keep agents from the underwriters. Genworth quickly comes to mind.

While having someone to work with on difficult cases is definitely a plus, an agent can easily pick up the phone and take to an underwriter as well as sales support at many companies.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Hello everyone i currently have my P&C license and work for an agency that does not sell life and health however i am now licensed to sell life and health. I have no idea where to turn to next!

Wait a minute. You went to the trouble of getting a L&H license without knowing what you were gonna do with it?

 

[Stevekobrin]

The issue of access to underwriters is a big one for me because they are the ultimate target of our advocacy for our clients. My experience has been as follows:

I started my life insurance career as a captive agent. I did have access to underwriters in the home office and of course argued hard and long for underwriting concessions. You typically don’t get too much leniency in that environment because the captive companies want their book of business to be pretty clean - that way their ART pricing stays low and their dividends stay high.

When I first entered the brokerage marketplace I came across a few companies who gave brokers direct access to their underwriters. These were typically simplified-issue and guaranteed-issue carriers. I did not find too much wiggle room in underwriting, which is understandable since they are already giving away several tables in their pricing.

When I place fully-underwritten business with an immediate benefit, as a rule I do not get access to underwriters. This is a policy set by the carriers that is enforced by every distributor with whom I work. I am sure that one big reason is that life insurance companies want the wholesaler to act as a filter and prevent a lot of demanding brokers from pestering their underwriters. There have been a few exceptions to this with cases that needed extraordinary handling.

This is why I place a big emphasis on the selection of MGA. I need one who believes in client advocacy as much as I do.

 

[GreenSky]

Wait a minute. You went to the trouble of getting a L&H license without knowing what you were gonna do with it?

And you find that shocking?

Rick

 

[gabbyr1987]

Thank you guys i do have a plan i wanted to know the best companies and best options this post was for advice not criticism.

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I want to stay within my current agency however they are not L&H licensed so it is a matter of can i sell health and life here at his place of employment and pay him a portion of the commision for allowing me the office space and time. Or should i go the route of selling in both places on my own? And if i do start small on my own what is the best companies to work for where you are not a captive agent. Long term i would like to start my own brokerage firm. (why do i lack direction you ask? Because my boss was going to go for his L&H and was going to take care of all of this and has now decided not to so my research has only begun now )

 

[FRJ]

All depends on what you want to sell -

Final Expense? Term Life? UL? WL?

Different carriers are good at different products. Need marketing support?

I'd look at Banner, AIG, and Genworth for term. FE - Oxford Life, AmCon, plus a guarantee issue like NGL.

UL - no opinion. WL - I like MTL and Foresters.