Independent agents

General
1

To all of my independent agents out there maybe someone can answer my questions.

I work for an insurance agency, and I am thinking about going independent and start selling life insurance on my own.

  1. After you sell a life policy, how do you service that policy if you’re basically just the middleman? Say for instance someone needed to cancel their policy, or change coverage, would I be the one to handle that? Or would I just have them call into the insurance carrier for them to take care of it?
  2. Everytime I see someone who’s independent online they always talk about how they joined an IMO or some agency. Do you need to join an agency? Or can you be completely 100% solo. Say I get contracted with some carriers, can I get my own leads and sell without having to work for somebody else?
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2

Yes, you’ll manage policy servicing, like cancellations or changes. Clients might reach out to you directly for these requests instead of going to the carrier.

You can work on your own without joining an IMO or agency. If you’re contracted with carriers, you can get your own leads and sell independently. This gives you more control but also means you’ll need to put in more effort to handle everything yourself.

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3

I agree to an extent with your second point but if you want the most competive carriers across the board on the l&h side, you’re going to need an IMO.

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4

How would you recommend looking for an IMO to work with, it seems like no matter where I look all that comes up online are these big MLM operations. How can you tell which one is good to work with?

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5

As well as if I am able to just sell 100% on my own independently, do I need to create an LLC or actually start my own business, or can I just get E&O insurance and sell not under a business name etc.

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6

No. You can just write under your own name w/ personal e&o.

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7

Some independent agents join IMOs or agencies for support and resources, but it’s not mandatory. You can work directly with carriers, get your own leads, and manage everything on your own if that fits your style.

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8

When you work on your own, you’ll manage policy changes or cancellations, even while working with insurance carriers. You don’t need to join an IMO or agency; you can operate independently if you’re contracted with carriers. You’ll handle your leads and run your business directly.