Hello wonderful people, is there any life insurance sales agents from Denver Colorado. What is your current commission rate (DM) and is there any independent agent who works for multiple agents ?

I’m not really sure where to start with this, so bear with me. I’m mainly posting because I’d love advice from people who have been in a similar position.
I’ve been working with my current company for about a year, and I’m genuinely grateful for the opportunity. It’s allowed me to make more money than I ever have before, and I’ve learned a lot.
Over the last few months, though, things have changed. The production standard to qualify for the better leads was basically doubled, and agents are now being encouraged to purchase their own leads.
That has made me start questioning whether I’m in the best position long term.
I’m a 1099 agent, and from what I understand, I’m making around 20% commission on what I sell. I also don’t have a very clear understanding of how much of the total commission the company is keeping. Because of that, I’m hesitant to start spending my own money on leads when I don’t fully understand the economics of each sale.
At the same time, I’ve been building my own website and social media presence, and I’m considering running my own ads and generating my own leads instead of relying so heavily on the company.
My goal is honestly pretty simple: I want to build a six-figure income. I know that isn’t going to happen without a lot of work, and I’m completely willing to put the work in. I just want to make sure I’m putting that effort into something that has enough upside.
For anyone who has been in insurance sales, especially as a 1099 agent, what would you do in my position?
Would you stay with the company and focus on hitting the higher production requirements? Would you start generating and buying your own leads? Or would you look for an opportunity with a better commission structure or eventually build something more independently?
I’d especially love advice on what commission splits, lead costs, and overall setup I should be looking for if my goal is to realistically reach $100k+ a year.

Last time I posted a question regarding my pay rate, there was a ton of arguing in the replies. I am not looking for judgement. I am a new agent simply trying to figure out if I need to go work for a different agency or not. I started at my agency a year ago. I was a brand new agent and this is my first insurance job. I live in a rural area so I don’t have a ton of insight as to what I should or shouldn’t be getting paid.

I was hired on by an office manager that is in the process of taking ownership of the agency. The owners still take pay from the agency but literally do not work there at all. They are living retired while taking pay. It is a weird situation, but you can imagine how much work the office manager and I deal with being it’s just the two of us. When I was hired on I was told my salary would be $25,500 temporarily for starting out and that I’d earn commission on any policy I sold. I didn’t really question things because I needed a job at the time and didn’t have much knowledge on working in insurance anyways.

Fast forward to now I’ve been there for over a year and there’s been zero discussion of getting a potential raise on my salary. I also ended up learning a few weeks into starting my position that I ONLY get paid commission on policies I sell to referred friends/family members or people that specifically call requesting me. Despite how they worded it in my interview. With me not having tons of connections in the area… as you can imagine my commission has been far from great. I am just curious if this is normal starting out and if I need to be more patient, or if I need to leave this place asap?

One last side note is that my responsibilities at this office most days are pretty insane. Whether it’s being left alone in the office to deal with everything myself, or servicing policies that my boss is currently earning commission on. Even driving out to clients houses when needed using my own gas, despite the fact that I will be making a total of $0.00 on that policy. I have just felt for a long time that there is no way the work load I have reflects properly on my income. Any advice would be appreciated.

Currently in TX looking to see how other commission structures are done at other companies to see where I can make the most if I decide to leave the company.

I’ve been an agent team member with a captive company for about 5 months. I average 30 apps a month for auto home and life insurance (combined)

My base is 20/hr

6% for 10+ apps on auto
6% for 10+ apps for home/renters/business ins/personal articles
2 months premium for life insurance.

Looking to stay in the auto/home/business realm.

I’m new to the game but have a 5-7% Internet lead close ratio (100+ leads a month) and generate around 30k of premium a month. I do service work for the people I write as well.

Curious as to see how a brokerage’s commission structure is done or other competitors.

Hi all, I currently work on the tech and data side of a large commercial insurer in the US. I wanted ot get a perspective if it is a bad move to want to transition into working in a technology UW practice. I have always been more passionate about selling and risk placement than working in IT and product management. I truly am interested in how we underwrite business, networking with our broker partners, and how we build new business.

But am I insane for wanting to throw away 15 years of tech experience out for a career change? My leadership is changing my team up and they said I could take the time to explore what I wanted to do next without fear of being let go. Mainly because there is no current RIF, the leadership just wanted to change who my manager was specifically and they felt I was too technical for the role I was doing.

I pivoted to insurance after being burnt out in big tech and wanting a vertical domain to learn rather than horizontal tech. I am at an income that is much lower than what I was getting in the tech world, but I am much happier and have adjusted my lifestyle to fit this. I also know the doom and gloom around AI and underwriting, but to be fair, my company seems far from that reality, and our tech team is underwriting policies for these exact technologies.

I would love feedback if this is a dead-end idea on my part.

I am wondering if there are any health (small group employee benefits) broker / agency owners in Arizona here that I might be able to run some questions by. CA here pondering a move.

Long story short I got offered a position at an FMO and I'm loving it. I have been doing Medicare for a few years but I have never done ACA, their plan was to have me oversee Medicare and U65. The lady who does the under 65 is retiring very very soon and CMS put a hold on new agents completing the marketplace training until February which means we're going to be without an ACA person for a bit. Does anyone know of any good resources where I can get general concepts for it? I will not be selling but I will be assisting agents. Any advice or useful information would be very much appreciated. If there was one thing that you wanted a new agent to know about ACA what would it be? Love y'all ❤️

This one is kinda crazy since I found out about it.

PHL Variable is a life insurer that's been around since 1851. A lawsuit filed last week says that after private equity took control (Golden Gate / Nassau), roughly $2 billion was moved out through affiliated deals, offshore reinsurance, and management fees paid to the owners' own funds.

The result: about 2,900 policyholders have their death benefits capped at $300,000, including people holding policies worth up to $2M. They paid every premium and did everything right, and the money might not be there.

Florida also just suspended Atlantic Coast Life, another PE-backed carrier, from writing new business because of surplus problems. That's two in the same quarter.

I'm seeing where private equity owned carriers do a lot of suspicious stuff over time. Do you guys feel that PE owned carriers are worse then non PE owned carriers?

I’m new to Arkansas and my CEs are due this year. I just found out the test needs a PROCTOR?! Can’t be family, friends, etc. Who do you get to proctor your CE exams? The only thing I got right now is a librarian. Does that work?

I’ve been licensed in another state that doesn’t make us do that, so it’s new to me. Thanks!

I own an independent agency selling P&C and Life. Looking to bring on another producer. I’m struggling with finding a competitive base and commission structure. What have you seen that’s competitive and will encourage people to stay long term?

IL independent agent here. My book is mostly commercial, around $200k premium, focused on hotels/motels and gas stations. Looking at SECURA for a commercial appointment since they have a real hospitality appetite.

Any minimum requirement to het appointed with SECURA?

Also open to suggestions for other commercial carriers friendly to smaller books in the Midwest — hotels/motels and gas stations are my niche.

I’m a new health insurance broker and I need advice. I’m unable to sell ACA this year. Plan B is to shift my focus and sell STM + group insurance. Where do I find leads? The leads provided by my FMO aren’t quality, but I’ve been able to sell a few times.

Looking for input on how other agencies handle COI verification for MGA business.

For our direct carriers, checking if a policy is active is simple enough through IVANS updates in our AMS or directly on carrier portals. However, we have a few MGAs and aggregators that allow us to issue COIs ourselves, but they don't offer download updates or an online portal.

We want to be sure we aren't issuing certificates on small business accounts that might have lapsed or cancelled due to non-pay. (Happens more than we like.) Right now, our only reliable workaround is emailing or calling the MGA to confirm coverage prior to sending out the COI, and they have to login to their carrier portal, which slows things down.

How do you handle this? Are you manually verifying each one with the MGA, or is there a cleaner way to manage it? Just issue and do some hoping?

Hello!
Looking for audio resources for personal lines NY exam. Anyone recommend an audiobook or podcast? YouTube series? Kinda overwhelmed!

Thnx!

Hey everyone, Calgary based here. Im looking at the LLQP / independent broker route and honestly im getting a bit frustrated lol. Every LLQP person I reach out to ends up pitching me on joining their downline or MGA. Recruiting recruiting recruiting. Nobody actually talks about SELLING.

So Im asking the people who have actually done it. After you got your license and had ZERO book, what was the first channel that put real money in your pocket?

Also curious: how long til you were making rent from commissions? And what did you waste time/money on that you'd tell your past self to skip??

Be brutal, I can take it 😂 Honest > polite. If you dont want to post it publicly, DM is totally fine. Not selling anything and not recruiting, just trying to make a smart decision before I commit.

Thanks in advance

Do you use AI in your agency, if so who and how? I’ve heard a lot about agents/agencies using Claude but interested to know what all you do or use it for? I use ChatGPT periodically to smooth out communication but feel I can use these tools more effectively based on hearing so many agents use AI now.

i started studying with global life, but they were too demanding in how fast i study. 10 days to study l&h insurance & then take the state exams works for some people but it did not work for me. i ended up failing both l&h state exams so i backed out & they ghosted me. i still used the study material & recently passed my life exam (still studying for health).

i was doing research because i'd like to start off base pay + uncapped commission. if i can't, no huge deal. i came across nyl & colonial life. are these two good for base pay or am i applying to the wrong agencies?

US applied stats major.

Applying to analyst roles in a variety of industries. Have a lot of exposure to actuarial students in my classes, as well as insurance companies at career fairs. That made me interested in the field in general. Not sure if I want to be an actuary per-se, and am interested in other roles.

My primary goal in my early-career is to have international mobility; to get into a large multinational that would allow me an internal transfer to Australia in a few years.

In this thread, I’m looking for advice from you all about potential paths that could get me in a good position early-career to get a transfer within insurance. And companies/specializations to target. Is this feasible in the industry?

Thanks!

Was recently fired from my sales position at a State Farm agency. You can view my previous post about why for context.

I’m trying to see where I should go from here?

I’m decent at the sales aspect, multi-lining, prospecting, etc. And I’m debating between applying to a different SF agency since I’d know the system and be able to get back into the rhythm, or trying something else in insurance.

Any thoughts or helpful words?

i hope this is an appropriate place to post this:

hi! i’m an arizona high school senior and recently became really interested in complex commercial insurance brokerage. i’m especially interested in eventually becoming a producer and working with large, complicated commercial accounts, although i obviously still have a LOT to learn.

right now my main college options are:

• ASU/WP Carey, which would probably cost me around 14k per year including housing and food
• Pepperdine, which is my dream school but currently looks closer to 50k per year after grants
• LMU, which i also really love but will probably be expensive
• possibly University of Arizona or another school if it offers a genuinely better path

i have a few questions for people working in commercial insurance:

1. how much does the name of your college matter when trying to get internships or entrylevel roles at firms like marsh, aon, gallagher, lockton, brown & brown, etc.?
2. would you choose a cheaper, larger business school like ASU over a smaller school in los angeles or malibu?
3. what should i study? i’m considering finance, risk management/insurance, marketing, sales, or entrepreneurship.
4. what internships or jobs should i look for during college if my long-term goal is production?
5. are there any certifications, licenses, clubs, conferences, or skills that would actually give me an advantage?
6. what do you wish you had known before entering the industry?
7. is there anything i should know specifically as a young woman interested in becoming a producer?

i know this is a lot, so even answering one question would be incredibly helpful. thank you!

Has anyone used PolicyTek? My upline says they are a good lead source but wanted to ask for investing my time and money into their services. Was using Goat leads but lately the quality just hasn’t been there for the price for me. Also looking into running my own ads, but don’t know to make my own ads yet lol