Getting Appointed

[captiveagent]

I have been looking at getting appointed to some or all of the following companies...

Blue Cross, Humana, World, American Republic, Aetna, Assurant, Golden Rule, Unicare,

I visit there website and they do not make it easy... Who do you contact for a contract directly with them?

 

[somarco]

Blue varies by state (or so I understand). Contact them directly.

Humana - contract direct with the carrier

World - American Health Underwriters (http://ahuagents.com)

Aetna - direct or thru their RSD

Time (Assurant) - thru their RSD

Golden Rule - direct

I haven't seen anything from American Republic that I dont have through other carriers. Same for Humana (at least in GA).

You can probably do 90% or more of your business with BX, World, Time & GR and forget the rest at least for now.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

If you want direct appointments:

Aetna: http://www.aetna.com/producer/smallgroup_aakit.html

Golden Rule: http://www.goldenrule.com/commoncomponents/customerservice/get-appointed.shtml

Time: http://www.assuranthealth.com/corp/ah/Agents/RegionalTimeInsuranceDirectory.htm

Can't speak for the rest.

 

[arnguy]

John,
What are the pros and/or cons about getting appointed direct vs. appointed through an IMO? I have received correspondence from a brokerage regarding Golden Rule. They claim they pay 20% on their contract while a direct GR contract pays only 15%. Comments please.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

This is very true. If you go direct with GR you're at 15% but eventually ends up with 20% after you write a certain amount of cases. And you cannot get advanced. You can only get a Key Broker contract with a 25% commission rate if you can show that you already have significant business on the books. So in the case of GR you might very well want to go through a broker. The Key Broker can also choose to advance you.

 

[arnguy]

Thanks for the reply, John, regarding GR. I am wondering does the same hold true for Aetna, Assurant, Celtic, etc?

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

You want to go direct with Aetna since you must be directly appointed to qualify for the new bonus program starting next year: 20 apps per quarter = $100 per app and 10 apps per quarter = $50 per app. Aetna agents who are appointed under brokers are not eligible. Plus, you can't get an advance through Aetna anway - even through a broker.

You also want to be appointed direct with Assurant as a GA. Again, many bonuses only go to GAs, not sub-agents. And only GAs qualify for trips and top producers club. It's been my experience simply by talking to other GAs that you want to go under the RSD system and not the MGA system. On the MGA system you are not company direct and I've heard the support is very lacking. You also will NOT be able to call up underwriting on your own and get cases reviewed as you will if you're through a RSD.