Final Expense - Choosing an Agency to Partner With

Independent vs. Captive: What You Should Know

Some organizations promote a single-carrier or locked-in model as “simpler.” In practice, that simplicity often comes at a cost.

Captive agencies often have some weaknesses:

• Higher priced products

• Shared, resold, or overpriced leads

• Contracts that punish agents upon leaving their captive agency

• Carrier rule changes can have a huge impact on your ability to make a living

Being independent means:

• Access to multiple carriers

• Ability to place business where it fits best

• Protection when underwriting rules change

• Control over your book of business

The key is not independence alone—it’s who you align with.

Choosing the Right Upline or FMO

This decision matters more than most agents realize.

A good upline:

• Answers the phone

• Teaches real-world application strategy

• Helps with underwriting issues

• Doesn’t disappear after contracting

• Encourages long-term thinking

A bad one:

• Sells dreams instead of systems

• Pushes one carrier regardless of fit

• Competes with their own agents

• Overpromises and underdelivers

Ask hard questions before you contract. If an organization can’t clearly explain how they support agents day-to-day, that tells you everything you need to know.

The Issue Most Agents Don’t Understand Until It Hurts: Releases

A release determines whether you can move your carrier contract from one IMO to another.

This is one of the most important—and least explained—topics in Final Expense.

The reality:

• Some organizations release freely

• Some delay releases

• Some refuse releases

• Some impose conditions that effectively trap agents

Once you are contracted, you no longer control this unless expectations were clear upfront.

Questions Every Agent Should Ask Before Contracting:

• Is my contract tied to this organization indefinitely?

• Who approves the release—the carrier or the IMO?

• Are there production requirements tied to a release?

• What happens if our relationship ends?

If an organization minimizes these questions or avoids clear answers, that’s not reassurance—it’s a warning.