P&C Agent adding Life

[Lloyds of Lubbock]

Another option could be your firm doing a joint venture with a life organization.
You can cross sell each others clients and their will be no ramp up time.
I know this presents it's own set of problems but may be worth looking into.

 

[Todd King]

Can you guys give me some suggestions as I am about to embark on this mission to add life insurance to my agency. I run a small p&c agency and have been doing that a few years but now I am wanting to sell life as well. I know many life agents go thru an FMO/IMO so I am wondering which one has the most flexibility and freedom for someone who already owns an agency and doesn't want to feel like they are working for someone else. I want to be able to add life insurance into my existing agency and not feel pressure to do any recruiting whatsoever.
Or do you think getting direct contracts with life carriers is the best way to go for someone in my position? if so, which companies should I approach?

Thank you in advance

As others have suggested, we should be able to help you. We have many companies that have all types of life insurance, not just Final Expense. Just give us a call!

 

[Ksutton]

If you want to sell over the phone you’d need multiple state licenses. I would consider making a plan and doing some research on insurance telesales. That’s where the business has been heading over the last few years.(especially FEX)

 

[Strategy101]

A real IMO or agency is not going to ask you to recruit. And unless you are expecting an above average comp level, they wont have any production requirements.

I would second speaking to Todd King here on the forum. But I do think his specialty is more on the final expense side. (meaning simplified underwriting). Which is a product you will likely need regardless.

A lot depends on the type of market/products you want. Are you looking to sell mainly term? WL & IUL? Final Expense? Fully Underwritten or Simplified Underwriting? That will dictate which IMO is best to use to a large extent.

One carrier you can contract direct with is Penn Mutual. They have competitive term rates. Plus a very competitive GUL, WL & IUL. They are all fully underwritten, but imo, they are one of the most well rounded options in the fully underwritten market. Plus no IMO needed, just contact the regional office and contract direct.

Other fully underwritten carriers to look at would be AIG, LFG, Protective, Banner. You will need an IMO for those. You could look at FIG Marketing if Todd cant offer the ones you need.

Thanks for your detailed response. I will look into Penn Mutual and I am in the process of speaking with IMOs as well.

 

[Strategy101]

A real IMO or agency is not going to ask you to recruit. And unless you are expecting an above average comp level, they wont have any production requirements.

I would second speaking to Todd King here on the forum. But I do think his specialty is more on the final expense side. (meaning simplified underwriting). Which is a product you will likely need regardless.

A lot depends on the type of market/products you want. Are you looking to sell mainly term? WL & IUL? Final Expense? Fully Underwritten or Simplified Underwriting? That will dictate which IMO is best to use to a large extent.

One carrier you can contract direct with is Penn Mutual. They have competitive term rates. Plus a very competitive GUL, WL & IUL. They are all fully underwritten, but imo, they are one of the most well rounded options in the fully underwritten market. Plus no IMO needed, just contact the regional office and contract direct.

Other fully underwritten carriers to look at would be AIG, LFG, Protective, Banner. You will need an IMO for those. You could look at FIG Marketing if Todd cant offer the ones you need.

I am wanting to focus on mortgage protection and final expense. I am in NC. Do you have a recommendation for a good IMO that deals heavily with mortgage protection? (i think this will be my main focus)

 

[Allen Trent]

I am wanting to focus on mortgage protection(i think this will be my main focus)

Are you saying you want to help people buy insurance so when they die, the bank receives their life insurance instead of their loved ones?

Or are you really looking to sell term life to the 20-60 age bracket so that their family gets a large enough lump sum to continue income and/or pay off debt.

I believe the IMO needed may vary based on what you really mean as true mortgage life insurance is very high cost & low face amount & only offered by a very few companies because true level term life has become so much more economical & doesn't shrink the death benefit like mortgage term does

 

[Strategy101]

Are you saying you want to help people buy insurance so when they die, the bank receives their life insurance instead of their loved ones?

Or are you really looking to sell term life to the 20-60 age bracket so that their family gets a large enough lump sum to continue income and/or pay off debt.

I believe the IMO needed may vary based on what you really mean as true mortgage life insurance is very high cost & low face amount & only offered by a very few companies because true level term life has become so much more economical & doesn't shrink the death benefit like mortgage term does

I actually realized just this morning, as I have been reading through these threads, that I need to be focusing on term and adding on all the return of premium riders to give them a "mortgage protection" product but at a better cost. And thanks for further confirming that. So my answer to your question is that I want to sell term life to the 20-60 age bracket. Since I am already in p&c, i decided this aligns more with what I am already doing instead of taking the final expense route.
Which IMO do you recommend?

 

[Allen Trent]

Which IMO do you recommend?

Not the person to ask, many other better sources will chime in. I work for a captive multi line carrier primarily at the headquarters. We
only go out to our 2 or 3 IMO Life/Annuity offerings when needed. While they have all the main 50-100 life/annuity carriers contracted & some direct to carrier, I have no idea if their resources or contracts are the best or average. We are mostly just happy they are an offering considering our production from 400 agents is very low considering our agents tend to use our proprietary products when they can. We tend to use them mostly for specialty Annuity, unique duration term/health situations, low face final expense, etc.

 

[rmhaire]

Mortgage Protection is a marketing concept. Not a product. Same thing with Final Expense.

I started out selling P&C when I was 18 years old. After a few years, I transitioned to Life & Health and I've been selling L&H ever since. I'll be 69 next month.

What you're trying to do, I've already done it. And there are quite a few guys on here that have done it too.

If you want to sell Term, you need to recognize that you'll be competing with practically every agent on the planet. Term insurance today is a commodity. All agents have it and they even have the same companies.

As for Return of Premium, offer it as an option. Also offer Waiver of Premium. Few agents offer WP these days.

Learn to do a Needs Analysis. Both personal and business.

Consider adding Medicare and Medical. Your prospects and clients are going to be asking about it. Might as well be asking you.

Read everything you can on this forum you can that's posted by these guys:

Jdeasy and Newby on Final Expense.

Somarco and Chazm on Medicare.

Todd King Rousemark and Goillini52 on everything else.

These are just a few of the guys that have already done it. Learn from them.

 

[Allen Trent]

Term insurance today is a commodity. All agents have it and they even have the same companies.

I disagree in some aspects. if the person has decided on their own they are looking to buy life insurance & is looking for quotes, then yes it is a commodity.

However, considering the extremely low numbers of people that own personally owned life insurance nationally & the studies showing how low coverages are for those that do have personal/work policies, finding people you can develop the need for can take it away from being a commodity. Also add in that the number of agents in our industry has plummeted in recent decades, there is still a massively underserved population age 20-60.......................but you have to find a door opener to be there for the discussion. PC is a perfect way to pivot to the life discussion

Agree completely with every single other item in your post