GA question

[InsuranceDevil]

I have a question for anyone who may have dealt with this situation before. I am an agent for MetLife and we currently use a GA for selling health insurance. The problem I see with this after reading through all of these forum's is that I am possibly getting screwed on the compensation end of things. I have seen several posts about getting advances on commission as well as earning 20%. I don't get any advances and I only earn appx 10% commish which then goes to my grid rate that pays out at 62%. So basically I am getting 62% of 5%. I can go outside of our GA but have to get outside E&O, but I don't know what happens if I join another GA or if I even can. I would like to go outside of MetLife to handle all of this so it will actually be worth it to sell health insurance. Is there anyone who has ever dealt with this before or does anyone have any tips on what I can do or what GA to even go through. I appreciate any help I can get. Thanks! By the way I am here in Arizona.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Street level for most carriers is 20% and you can get advances through almost every carrier.

 

[somarco]

How long have you been with Met? Are you still working under their agent financing arrangement?

 

[InsuranceDevil]

I have been with Met for about 4 months now. The financing just ended so now I am on my own. I put enough money in savings for about a year worth of bills so I am prepared for some lean times in case things don't go well at first. We can't sell all of the different health insurance products through our GA currently so have to either go direct or through another local GA. I wonder if it is worth it to check into other GA's outside of Met so I don't get the haircut on everything I sell or is it even possible to move stuff away from the current GA since Met uses it.

 

[somarco]

Most likely, once you leave Met you leave behind unearned commissions. If you are in deficit, they may try to collect.

Moving existing business will probably get you in dutch. Don't try it.

Getting appointed with the same carriers either direct or thru another GA is something to explore. You might have to sit on the sidelines for up to 6 months with the carriers you currently use.

What carriers, other than Met, have appointed you (thru the Met GA)?
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Most likely, once you leave Met you leave behind unearned commissions. If you are in deficit, they may try to collect.

Moving existing business will probably get you in dutch. Don't try it.

Getting appointed with the same carriers either direct or thru another GA is something to explore. You might have to sit on the sidelines for up to 6 months with the carriers you currently use.

What carriers, other than Met, have appointed you (thru the Met GA)?

 

[InsuranceDevil]

The GA handles a couple of our health insurance companies. Currently they work with Golden Rule, BCBS of Az, Celtic, Humana, and Aetna. Maybe it's best just to continue to deal directly with them, but it has been a hassle going through them. Do I need to directly ask them for advances on commish or is it something they will automatically do? Sorry for all the questions, but I want to make sure I am getting a good deal for the work I'm putting in. We don't have many people in my office who do any health insurance so this has been a huge deal to find people who can help. Thanks!

 

[somarco]

Looks like they have the major players locked up. You may have to continue dealing with them if you want to write health out of the shoot.

If you need/want annualized commissions and want to move away (and can move), you will need to go thru a GA/IMO. As earned and you can go direct to a carrier but you still have the issue of a release from the Met GA.

 

[InsuranceDevil]

Thanks a lot for the help. You confirmed what my thoughts were. It's not the end of the world, at least I have a company that I can work through. I'll stick it out here for now, maybe in the future I'll venture out on my own. Right now they offer enough training and support in other areas that it's worth it to stay here.

Unless something better comes along...