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Working remotely - while not the Caribbean I prepped for a phone meeting today above a cliff with the Pacific Ocean(PCH) below and closed and submitted the deal using free WiFi in Big Sur. Sagicor. Love this business.
Sell Insurance Remotely
- Thread starter elialcorn
- Start date
- 8,707
I'd been thinking about moving to England for a couple of years and called my DOI to ask them about keeping up my license. They said that I couldn't if I wasn't a resident. I asked them, what if I didn't tell you? They said, then nobody would know. I think you could pull it off if you used a relative's address as your residence or business address. Just keep a filing cabinet there.
My concern is what would your tax returns show? And since you were not a resident and as such not eligible for the resident or nonresident licenses if caught would that be fraud charges and would you need to pay back commissions as you were not licensed?
But in regards to actually working from the carribean I use Ringcentral for phone and fax and as long as I have internet connection I am in business both phone and fax the bigger issue would be the carrier mailing anything to you, but I am sure there is some mailbox places that could forward everything to you for a price.
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- 29,467
You'd still be earning your income through the U.S. and paying taxes to the U.S. I also use Ring Central and you can get local #'s through Skype.
- 8,707
I am not a tax expert just wanted to make sure he did not forget the obvious ie can he even keep the license.
Does anyone work remotely as a P&C agent? My biggest expense (other than salaries) is rent. And if I can eliminate it, I'd love to do it. Just don't know how practical it is in the P&C world. I suppose that almost everything can be done remotely, just wondering if there is anyone who has done this.
- 177
I have also been seriously considering doing this in the future for at least part of the year. I sell supps over the phone. You can rent a house on the beach in Baja just a few hours south of here for $700 a month, tons of surf, it's close enough to the U.S., solid internet connections and yes it's safe (I go down to surf a few times a month).
In regards to taxes etc. If you spend 330 days out of the year in a foreign country you qualify for a $97,000 tax exemption. You don't pay US federal taxes on the first $97,000 of income you earn. However if the Feds figured out you were selling insurance and holding resident licenses in the US that could cause problems so that would need to be looked into first, but I'm sure there is a way to do it.
In regards to taxes etc. If you spend 330 days out of the year in a foreign country you qualify for a $97,000 tax exemption. You don't pay US federal taxes on the first $97,000 of income you earn. However if the Feds figured out you were selling insurance and holding resident licenses in the US that could cause problems so that would need to be looked into first, but I'm sure there is a way to do it.
- 272
I worked remotely for a year in the P&C business but had to get an office. Carriers expect and prefer it, to obtain the ability to pull consumer reports you have to have a business address not the same as your residence and show a copy if a lease or utility bill. Even using the service centers I still needed an office setting for clients and appointments. I grew from a company of me to a company of 6 in just over two years and managing the business remotely was getting to be a nightmare. Recruiting good talent and training calls for office space as well.
- 29,467
I don't know why not. I took my car insurance out online. There's a State Farm agent 4 blocks from me, but my agent's 150 miles from me.
rocky top buzz
Expert
- 62
You are hitting the nail on the head here.
You have to be a "Resident" of your home state to be licensed. You can then get licensed in other states who have a reciprocal agreement with your state. Yes you may be able to "trick" the insurance companies and DOI. But what if you get sued? What do you do about E&O? Do you also tell them you still live in the States?
I know of a former agent many years ago who got in a lot more trouble for a far lesser crime. This agent had kept his clients policies (never mailing them the originals, but storing it for them). When the state DOI found out, they offered every one of his clients the ability to get a full refund of premiums. By their ruling, the free look period never began because they never got the policies!
I don't know how you could make this work. Selling remotely definitely can be done, but I'm not sure how you would do it if you lived outside the States.
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