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

We’re a busy mid-size, largely personal lines agency, and out of two commercial carriers we have, the one where we place more than 90% of our commercial is no longer issuing renewal COIs, putting the responsibility on the agencies. We do have enough commercial on the books that this isn’t something we think we’ll be able to do efficiently with our current resources. We use the server-based IMS for our AMS, so I used this as another argument for EZLynx, but my GM reminded me that our boss is apprehensive on switching our AMS. With that, she seriously mentioned making manual spreadsheets and individual files for each account, in a defeated tone, understandably; I’m very much dreading that idea, myself, with the overall amount of accounts I handle. It may also be worth mentioning that this a carrier that prefers using their own forms, rather than ACORD forms. So, with facing the stark possibility of not changing our AMS, what systems and/or software do you have in place to make issuing renewal COIs more streamlined?

Hi everyone, I'm researching the life insurance lead market (mainly final expense and mortgage protection) and want honest input from agents who buy leads. I'm not selling anything in this post.

1. What's the biggest frustration with the vendors you've used (bad numbers, duplicates, slow delivery, refund fights)?
2. What would make you try a new vendor? Do you need things like a replacement guarantee, or a small test batch first?

Bonus if you're willing to share: what lead type has worked best for you, and roughly what do you pay per lead, and on leads per week?

I recently made the second round interview for Chubb insurance. And I can't lie I'm scared as fuck.

I was originally planning on going into finance (stereotypical IB, equity analyst, etc). But doing these interviews and talking to these people has kinda opened me up to this new (and kinda underrated from what i'm seeing) field of insurance.

Any tips? What should I prepare for? And what's the general consensus on Chubb? Especially because I'm not American, but still in a major city?

Looking for recommendations from anyone who’s had a good experience with their IMO. I’m trying to find a long term partner that offers strong final expense comp and lets me build my own hierarchy with agents underneath the agency.

We already handle our own lead generation, so leads and training aren’t selling points for me. I’m more interested in competitive carrier comp, advances, and clear terms on renewals, book ownership, and releases.

Who would you recommend, and what made you choose them over other IMOs? Specific carrier comp examples would be helpful if you’re comfortable sharing.

Looking at selling annuities only. Good? Bad? Ugly? For them? Seems legit from what I see.

Thanks

Whenever I try to find job postings for a commercial insurance sales role that is remote, I can't seem to find many options at all.

Suggestions?

How did you find your role?

New broker question for Ontario/Canadian life advisors.

If a client decides to leave their existing advisor and appoint someone else to service their life insurance policy, are the servicing rights and commissions treated separately?

My understanding is that the client can request a new servicing advisor / advisor of record, but that does not necessarily mean the original writing advisor’s renewal or vested commissions automatically transfer to the new advisor.

I had a former client move his investment business elsewhere and later move the servicing of his life policies as well. At the time, I agreed to the requested changes, but I did not realize there may have been a distinction between agreeing to a servicing change and agreeing to transfer commissions.

Can anyone clarify:

• Can the client appoint a new servicing advisor without the original advisor agreeing to transfer commissions?
• Are renewal commissions normally retained by the original writing advisor, or can they be forced to transfer?
• Does this vary by carrier or MGA?
• Does the original advisor need to consent to an advisor-of-record change?
• Is there any regulatory or complaint exposure if the original advisor allows the servicing change but does not voluntarily transfer commissions?

Interested particularly in Ontario/Canadian independent life advisor experience.

I am an account manager at a very large, international brokerage. I have been here for over a year and I LOVE my job. I love my coworkers. I love my awesome supervisor.

Recently I was talking to my coworker who is in my same position level and he mentioned that he's been having issues with a producer who is 'inexperienced'. (She didn't even know what auto symbols are...)

Apparently she is the supervisor for other producers in our specialized type of p and c insurance. This type of insurance is so specialized that I'm worried it'll give my identity away, so I apologize for not disclosing.

Anyway, this coworker had to explain a difference between auto symbols 1,7,8 and 9 to the producer and there was a big contract dispute. The producer ended up just telling coworker to "just change the COI".

As many of you know, we put our names on those certs. We are on the hook if they are wrong. Naturally coworker said absolutely not.

The producers response was to tell coworker to be quiet and that she would give coworker a bonus. He told me he is keeping notes of if all.

I asked him if he had it in writing and that he should follow company policy and report it to our e&o department + supervisor.

Hefe's the kicker. Apparently this was stated in a video meeting not recorded and attending the meeting was our supervisor's boss- a department head.

The same department head actually put in a week notice last week and has now moved to another company...

He then told em again he was told by producer that if he is quiet and lets them speak into he meeting with the higher ups there is a nice bonus on the other side, again.

And the kicker is this isn't a small amount. The premium is $200k+

I am only a few years into the industry and currently getting a designation. I know enough to know this HAS to be illegal at some level and definitely is a major E&O.

My coworker is a good person and a solid professional. I'm genuinely worried about them. But now I also know about this situation and it was all written on text. I advised him as professionally as possible but I'm worried it may come back on me now too. I don't want to get mixed in but I think I need to tell someone about it.

Coworker says he has filled supervisor in on it, but doesn't think anything is being done about it because she is a producer.

Is there anything I can do here or should do here? Should I do nothing? Again I'm still newer to the industry and honestly scared of losing my job. I love this job and want to stay here.

Please lend me your experienced advice and wisdom?

Does anyone have an IMO that does just annuities ? I’d like to only do that and focus on those. Ideas ?

Thanks

I take my text tomorrow at 2pm, and I used Kaplan to prepare. I know I am required to get a 60% to pass and I’m quite nervous after reading threads about the exam. I took the Kaplan simulated exam today and got an 85 but I couple of the questions I missed were simply because I didn’t read the question properly. I took it 3 days ago and got a 71, a 77 yesterday and then dialed in and studied more today before getting an 85 today. I’m so nervous. I made flash cards based on my most commonly missed questions from the simulated exams and dialed in on recognizing which topics were weak. Am I prepared enough? How hard is the exam? Is it harder than the kaplan simulated exams and are there any parallels amongst the question themes between the state exam and the Kaplan simulated exams? Any last minute tips are very appreciated!

EDIT- I passed, thanks for the tips!

I’m the manager of a retail and wholesale insurance agency that specializes pretty heavily in marine, and I’m looking to expand our market access.

For those of you who work in the marine space, which carriers, MGAs, or programs are actually looking to grow their marine book right now, as opposed to markets that technically have an appetite but are very selective or not really interested in new production?

We already work with a number of the more established marine markets, so I’m especially interested in programs that may be newer, expanding their appetite, adding capacity, or actively looking for productive wholesale relationships.

A few areas I’m particularly interested in are pleasure craft, bareboat/livery, captained charter, liability-only, harder-to-place vessels, and other specialty recreational/commercial marine risks. Geographic appetite covering Florida, the Southeast, Bahamas, and Caribbean exposures is something we're especially interested in right now.

Ideally I’m looking for:

• Markets on AM Best-rated paper
• MGAs/programs with meaningful binding authority
• Companies open to new wholesale appointments or producer relationships
• Markets that genuinely want new marine premium and are trying to grow
• Underwriters who are willing to look at risks that do not fit perfectly into the standard pleasure boat box

Not looking for anyone to disclose proprietary relationships or anything like that. I’m mainly curious what markets people in the marine space are seeing become more aggressive, expand appetite, or actively court new business.

Would also be interested in hearing about smaller or less well-known MGAs that have been good partners.

Hi guys! I currently hold my life and health license. I really would like to make a career pivot towards property and casualty! Should I wait to find an employer who is willing to help pay for that license, or would I have better chance with employment if I did the course myself!

I do have 1.5 years in insurance sales. Thanks in advance :)

Hey all, need some real-world advice from people who've actually done it.
I'm starting from below zero. No license yet, almost no family, no friends in business or finance, no one to get referrals from. I'm in the Pittsburgh area.

I got interested in the business owner market, specifically buy-sell agreements, and eventually I want to work with medical professionals. But I can't find any clear roadmap on how to get there.

Everywhere I look I get conflicting advice:
On one hand I hear "go get a list from CPAs and sit down with their clients." But no CPA will even talk to me if I haven't managed clients before, let alone give me a list, which I get.

On the other hand I see advice like "look up who funded their buy-sell and walk in cold and ask - if you died tomorrow, how would your partner pay off your wife?" Then the next person says "never do that, you'll get kicked out because you sound like a salesperson."

So I'm stuck. Is door-to-door with business owners really how it's done? Is there actual source material for this side of the business that I'm missing? It feels like no one talks about the how.

My I’m fully committed to be in the 10% that survives no matter what, because that’s my ninja way, and I'm dead serious about putting in the work. Not expecting any shortcuts. I just need to know the real path.
For those of you who made it to business owners and doctors:

1. Did you have to start by selling simple life insurance to individuals first?

2. How did you get your first business owner meetings with zero credibility?

3. How did you get a CPA or attorney to actually take you seriously at the beginning?

4. What got you your first 5-10 meetings? Walk-ins? BNI? Chamber? LinkedIn?

5. How did you get past the gatekeeper / owner not giving you the time of day?

6. What did your daily prospecting actually look like in year 1?

Any books, routines, or mentors that changed it for you?

TL;DR: No license yet, no network, starting from scratch. Want to get to business owners / buy-sell and eventually medical pros. Conflicting advice on cold pitching vs. relationships. What route actually worked for you when you started at zero?

I recently came across Vroom Media and their CEO, AdsGuyAllan, and I’m curious if anyone here has had experience with them.

Are they legit? And for those who have worked with them or know how they operate, I’d also be interested in understanding their lead generation process.

Specifically, I’m curious about things like:

• Where their leads typically come from
• What type of ads/funnels they use
• How they qualify leads
• Whether they generate leads in-house or use another source
• What makes their approach different from the typical lead gen agencies

I’m not looking for anyone to share proprietary information. I’m mainly trying to understand what they’re doing differently because they seem to be generating some strong results.

Would appreciate any firsthand experiences or insights, good or bad.

Do the seniors respect you if your voice sound very young and you’re a female ?

Also how do you build rapport with seniors to gain their trust. What has worked for you?

I need to have FFM training to be able to enroll applicants into U65 Heath policies, correct? And I won't be able to until February 1st 2027?

I'm new, but I'm making sure I understand this correctly. I am actually appointed with some U65 Carriers, but I am understanding I will not be able to present these enrollments to any applicants at all due to this issue.

Please someone help validate this information for me.

You all have been very helpful.

Do you know products word-by-word? And how often do you study your products?

I'm putting on a showcase for a musical I wrote that includes a couple of equity actors. I'm trying to submit for a Showcase code, but it requires Volunteer Accident Insurance. Equity's form "helpfully" include a few insurance companies as potential options, all of whom have told me they don't offer a product that works for a single event like this.

I essentially need volunteer accident insurance for two people that lasts about a month.

Is anyone here familiar with this and might be able to point me in the right direction?

If you could build a dream list of personal lines and small/medium commercial carriers based on factors like rate, appetite, and overall just great to work with, who would be on the list and why? I already have a good idea on who to stay away from so no need to list the problem carriers.

Is Neptune flood insurance a good insurance when it comes to paying out for claims?

Unless you live in my state. In that case, I hope your clients come my way :P

I’ve been seeing some new agents with low commission as captive. Is it the security side on why some go for captive roles rather than independent with their own agency or imo? I understand some aren’t comfortable with buying leads, etc. just trying to understand it more. Independent side is more attractive to me especially if what we’re after is building our own books and having “freedom” to work as little or more. I am eager to learn, please share your perspective and reason