Life insurance selling commission ranges from 50 to 140 percent of the first year’s premium which varies greatly depending upon the plan being purchased and the initial rate guarantee. Generally speaking, the longer the rate guarantee, the higher the selling commission.
Once a life policy is in force, the selling life agent has little to do, except perhaps for changing an address, a bank form or a beneficiary once in a great while. Since an agent’s expenses are front-loaded (i.e., marketing, paperwork, negotiations, medical records collections, etc) at the time of sale, life insurers pay very little commission on renewals of life insurance policies, typically only 1-5 percent.
Even if your agent discloses their commission, it’s against the insurance regulations in all 50 states for your agent to offer any part of that to you as an inducement to buy – so don’t ask. Also, beware that if you are offered any portion of a selling agent’s commission, you are being offered an illegal bribe.
Consider the agent’s perspective: Selling life insurance is a tough job, which demands a lot of money to just get one new policyholder. Few consumers seek out life insurance, which can be a combination of its gloomy subject matter, easiness to delay purchase or lack of knowledge.
To overcome this obstacle, life insurance products require a needs analysis, which is hard, unpleasant and costly work. It involves other family members, particularly the beneficiary. Even online or mail order life agents have to spent upfront money to locate viable buyers.
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Consider the life insurance company’s perspective: they must compensate enough to attract agents into this career while writing enough policies to pay make claims and ultimately make a profit. The intense competition between insurance companies creates enormous pressure to pay the highest possible commissions.
Commission generally increases as production volume increases. For example, a life agent producer who procures $500,000 of new life premiums each year is paid more than one who procures only $25,000 of premium volume.
The present agent compensation system is based upon the fact that life policies are hard to sell. Meaning, the more difficult the sale, the higher the commission and the more inefficient the policy is from a consumer standpoint.
Keep in mind that salespeople are good at selling. Here are a few things to take into consideration.
· If you feel pressured in anyway, walk away.
· A good deal today will still be there tomorrow.
· If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
· Practice saying no. It works well if you’re not sure about something.
Because of all these issues, regulatory help is needed to create a new compensation model that serves the agents as well as the industry. High, or “heaped” first-years commissions are common throughout the industry. Producers then receive smaller commissions, if any, each year, as long as the policy is in-force.
This current model encourages sales but discourages persistency (i.e., keeping policies in-force).
While the need for change has been apparent for years, insurers cannot afford to act unilaterally, and antitrust implications prevent them from acting in concert.
This is an opportunity for state insurance regulators to step up. Life insurance companies should support coordinated state regulatory initiative limiting upfront compensation. However, there is no need to limit the ultimate commission payout. Let competition take care of that.
Specifically, compensation should be split into a selling fee and a service fee. The selling fee would be whatever amount an insurer deems appropriate, but would have a limit on how much is payable within the first year.
For example, a selling fee may be payable for over five years, contingent on the policy stating in-force and keeping up-to-date with premium payments.
On the other hand, a service fee would be paid to the agent who services the policy – who may not necessarily be the selling agent.
Regulators could also exercise control over the commission structure by limiting policy approvals. Companies must design policies attractive to the consumer while satisfying commission demands.
Good policy designs and pricing leads to persistency – and ultimately, profitability. However, it is unrealistic to link compensation with profitability.
Life insurers should enter into good faith, profit sharing agreements with their producers. If they are expected to forgo heaped first-year commissions, they must be confident of a long-term financial reward corresponding with their contribution and commitment.
Permanent life insurance and annuities are profitable for companies achieving sufficient sales volume. Producers can make or break persistency; therefore, companies have an incentive to compensate agents based on persistency.
So, where do insurance companies being in aligning their interests with those of their producers?
An excellent starting point is mandatory commission disclosure at the point of sale. Making producer compensation and overall marketing allowances transparent to the buyer would help bring about lower first-year commissions, which would allow more emphasis on long-term relationships.
Commission disclosure can and should be made as simple as possible.
For example, the producer’s first-year compensation should be disclosed as a dollar amount and as a percentage of the first-year premium. All other marketing costs should be disclosed to the consumer at point of sale.
If it difficult to do this at point of sale, they should be mailed to the applicant. They should then be given the opportunity to ask questions or cancel the application.
Developing a new producer compensation model will require a cooperative effort between the industry and its regulators. Producers and companies would adapt accordingly, consumers would be better served and this would enhance the industry’s public image.
Tony Steuer is an author and advocate for financial preparedness. Tony Steuer, CLU, LA, CPFFE, helps people make sense of the financial world in a way that’s easy for them to understand. His books including, “GET READY!,” “Insurance Made Easy,” and “Questions and Answers on Life Insurance,” have won numerous awards. Tony is the founder of the GET READY! Initiative which includes the GET READY! financial organization system, the GET READY! Financial Preparedness Club, GET READY! Podcast, and the GET READY! Financial Principles, a best practices playbook for the financial services industry. Tony served as long-term member of the California Department of Insurance Curriculum Board. Tony is regularly featured in the media including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Fast Company, and other media. He has also appeared as a guest on television shows, such as ABC’s “Seven on Your Side.” Visit https://tonysteuer.com/ to join the GET READY! Financial Preparedness Club and access free resources.