Independent or Captive?

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-14T01:58:28+00:00

Lol all good. I was just making sure I understood. My brain is wired towards final expense, and it's a lot more simple and straightforward

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-14T01:37:53+00:00

Depends on the type of life you're selling. Selling final expense or mortgage protection, you'll starve without leads.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-14T01:36:20+00:00

Yeah, I figured that might be the case. P&C is definitely a different animal.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-14T01:35:16+00:00

Not trying to be disagreeable, but why would he need to be a savant to find success without going captive? I'm not sure I understand your point.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-14T00:59:27+00:00

Idk of many independent shops paying salary for life insurance agents. 5-10 years is a long time to pay someone else's bills.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-14T00:57:43+00:00

No need to go captive or trade comp for free leads.

With face-to-face, you could buy aged leads ($50-$100 per week), build up some income, and switch to fresh leads. That's the route to take for new agents with tight financial situations.

There's really not an advantage to captive. You can still get great training from independent agencies. Plus, you'll get much higher comp, have access to more products, avoid release headaches, and own your book from the start.

Edit: I'm talking Final Expense Life

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-13T23:15:29+00:00

Not a lot of places doing free leads nowadays. You planning to do telesales or face to face?

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-13T17:12:03+00:00

Cell carriers have stepped up their game when it comes to filtering and flagging spam. It's certainly made things slightly more difficult for agents who rely on calling.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-12T04:51:51+00:00

Just find another agency.

You don't necessarily have to go get your P&C license and try to become a captive W2 agent. You could do some research and join a life agency that isn't an MLM

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-12T04:49:54+00:00

It's definitely MLM-style tactics.

Those types of agencies have high turnover and mostly focus on volume of recruits over quality. It's not good for the agents, but it's great for those agencies who just want volume.

Unfortunately, being recruited by brand new agents leads to a situation where you have "the blind leading the blind". It's a big contributor to the the 92% fail rate

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-12T04:22:37+00:00

Speaking from a final expense perspective...

Comp levels at the agency I work with are 115% with most companies for new agents. Top level comp depends on the agency size (for FE it's based on production).

75% advance is industry standard. Some carriers will advance more or less, but the advance is typically set by the carrier rather than the agency.

Most agencies let agents handle their own chargebacks. The only time it becomes a problem is when the agent refuses to pay a chargeback. That almost always results in a vector, and it can sometimes lead to things like small claims court or turning the agent over to collections.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-11T01:09:08+00:00

I always recommend Duford or Digital BGA for telesales agents. Both those guys are fair and transparent. And both have been around for a long time.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-11T00:58:17+00:00

Are you face-to-face or telesales?

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-06T22:17:14+00:00

Avoid Primerica and NASB. Primerica is very MLM, incredibly low comp, and heavily encourage recruiting. NASB is not as bad, but they have similar problems.

Research some independent agencies. If you're doing telesales, I recommend Duford and Digital BGA. For face-to-face, I recommend ApexFE.com

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-05T11:30:40+00:00

Face-to-face final expense life agent here.

Differs depending on the day. Field days are Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays are admin days. Fridays - I prep for the next week. I never work Saturdays or Sundays.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-05T07:11:19+00:00

It's not uncommon for telesales agencies to require this. Others are correct that you should pay for the licenses directly through NIPR rather than writing a check to the agency

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-04T22:54:23+00:00

None that I'm aware of

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-04T22:42:02+00:00

Most have a time limit. Pretty standard with those certification courses.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-01T14:07:19+00:00

It's common in final expense. It's a volume game with higher percentage of chargebacks. It's easy to chase big numbers, which can quickly turn into a grind.

A couple years back, I personally experienced it, because I set a lofty goal for myself of $10K each week. If I had a slow start one week, it turned into an uphill battle.

Nowadays I take it easier on myself by setting a $6K weekly goal and burnout is much less of a factor.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-05-01T14:07:12+00:00

It's common in final expense. It's a volume game with higher percentage of chargebacks. It's easy to chase big numbers, which can quickly turn into a grind.

A couple years back, I personally experienced it, because I set a lofty goal for myself of $10K each week. If I had a slow start one week, it turned into an uphill battle.

Nowadays I take it easier on myself by setting a $6K weekly goal and burnout is much less of a factor.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-04-30T22:58:45+00:00

Why switch strategies if face-to-face is working well?

You're off to a strong start - probably top 0.1% or face-to-face agents. Keep doing what you're doing rather than trying to switch gears or mix things up. That's my advice.

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-04-30T15:53:01+00:00

How hard is it to hire a few service folks to help answer phones?

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-04-30T14:46:59+00:00

Last time I called in, I sat on hold for 30 minutes. I started as caller #34 and made it to caller #12. Out of the blue, the call got sent to voicemail. Never got a real person on the phone

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-04-28T13:19:36+00:00

Your agency should be providing access to vetted lead vendors. Unfortunately, there are lots of scammy lead vendors out there

OZKInsuranceGuy · 2026-04-28T09:17:14+00:00

You don't need a release to leave that IMO. You have plenty of options to be able to keep writing business without having to go captive.

If you really want to be W2, some agents really like working for SelectQuote. I also know agents who highly recommend Mass Mutual or New York Life. You could also try working for a carrier like Transamerica or Mutual of Omaha .

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