Questions agents ask us

A non-captive life insurance agency — more commonly called an independent agency or brokerage — is one whose agents are not tied to a single insurance company and can place a client's policy with any carrier the agency is contracted with. A captive agent works for one carrier and can only sell that carrier's products, so the recommendation is bounded by the shelf rather than by what the client actually needs.

An independent agent compares underwriting, pricing, and product design across several carriers and writes the one that fits. United Services is an independent life insurance agency built on exactly that model — a non-captive brokerage where agents hold their own carrier appointments and choose the carrier for each client themselves.

The core differences are carrier access and ownership: a captive agent represents one insurance company, while an independent agent represents several and owns the book of business they build. Captive shops often provide a salary or draw, company-supplied leads, and structured training, but they pay a lower commission percentage, limit you to one company's products, and frequently keep the book if you leave.

An independent agent generally contracts at a higher commission percentage on the business they write, chooses the carrier and product for each client, and keeps their renewals — but they are running their own business, which means sourcing their own clients and covering their own overhead. Neither model is automatically better, and the honest tradeoff is structure and predictability on the captive side against autonomy and ownership on the independent side. United Services supports independent agents, so it suits people who want that autonomy and are prepared to run a business.

No. United Services is a licensed independent life insurance brokerage, not an MLM and not a pyramid scheme. The structural difference is that income comes from production, never from recruiting: every agent starts on a real producer rate, comp grows with the business you write, and there is no required downline, no buy-in, and no monthly fee.

The only compensation that flows upward is the spread — the difference between an agent's contract rate and their direct upline's — and the carrier pays it, on business the agent actually wrote. It is first generation only, so there is no chain of people earning off a sale they had nothing to do with, and nothing is taken out of the agent's own commission to pay it. Every dollar in the system originates from a real policy sold to a real client rather than from recruiting.

Look for five things: real carrier access, a transparent commission structure, with your exact payout schedule in writing before you write business, ownership of your contracts and your book, genuine support after contracting, and no pressure to recruit. Ask directly — how many carriers can I write, what contract level do I start at and exactly what moves me up, do I keep my book and renewals if I leave, what is the release policy, and are there any fees, buy-ins, or lead purchases required?

Be cautious of an agency that will not explain how its comp structure and advancement work until after you contract, that ties advancement to recruiting headcount rather than production, or that charges you for training, software, or leads as a condition of joining. United Services is built to be agent-friendly in the way that actually counts — by answering those questions up front: the comp structure is posted, every agent starts on a real producer rate and comp grows with production, your exact payout schedule is provided in writing before you write business, agents own their book, and there are no startup costs or monthly fees. If you are weighing which brokerage to work for, ask these of every agency on your list, including ours.

United Services agents can write with AuguStar, North American, and Athene. Together those carriers cover term, whole life, indexed universal life, final expense, and annuities, so an agent can match the carrier to the client instead of fitting every client into one company's product.

That is the practical advantage of being independent: the agent compares underwriting niches, illustration design, and pricing across carriers and places each case where it actually fits. Carrier availability, product features, and appointment requirements vary by state and are subject to each carrier's approval.

Every agent is contracted directly with each carrier, and there are three producer levels: Agent, Senior Agent and Team Lead. You start at Agent on a real producer rate from your first case rather than an entry rung you have to climb out of. Each level has its own rate at every carrier, so moving up is a raise on every product you sell. There is no single flat percentage to quote, because the real first-year rate depends on your level, the carrier, the product, and the issue age. Your complete carrier-by-carrier schedule is provided in writing when you join, before you write your first case, and the Commission Calculator in your back office shows your exact payout on every product we offer.

The carrier pays you your commission directly and pays your direct upline the spread between their level’s rate and yours. That is the whole override: the carrier pays it, it is first generation only, and nothing is deducted from your commission to fund it. There is no chain of overrides stacking above you. When an agent you developed reaches your level, that spread is zero and the override simply stops — their advancement is theirs to keep, not something anyone is paid to hold back. Some products do not have a level spread built into them at all, most often single-column annuity products: every agent earns the same rate on those regardless of level, so there is no override to pay and the writing agent still earns their full commission. These are contract rates, not a promise of earnings: actual commission depends on your level, the carrier, the product, and your own production, and income is never guaranteed.

Yes. United Services contracts newly licensed agents, and you do not need an existing book of business or prior industry experience to start. New agents start on a real producer rate rather than a token starting contract, and get help getting appointed with our carriers.

If you are not licensed yet, the path is your state's life insurance pre-licensing course and exam, and we can point you to what your state requires. Agents coming from a captive carrier or an MLM-style shop are equally welcome — we will walk you through your actual carrier-by-carrier rates before you contract, not after.

No. Nothing that recruiting could unlock is closed to a producer: every level is earned on the business you personally write, so an agent who never builds a team is not capped below one who does.

Building a team becomes available at Senior Agent, which you reach at $100,000 in lifetime commissions earned on your own production. It is an option for agents who want to mentor and lead — never a requirement to get paid, and entirely separate from your own producer income. You can reach Team Lead, the top level, at $200,000 without ever recruiting a single person. That is the clearest structural line between an independent brokerage and an MLM — in an MLM, recruiting is the only way up.

Reach out, have a short no-pressure conversation to confirm it's a fit, then complete carrier contracting and get appointed. The standard industry sequence is the same everywhere: hold an active state life insurance license, carry errors and omissions (E&O) coverage, submit contracting paperwork for the carriers you want to write, and become appointed once each carrier approves you.

There is no buy-in, no startup cost, and no monthly fee to contract with United Services, and processing time depends on the individual carrier and your state. The simplest place to start is the join page, where you can request the comp breakdown or book a short call, and we will walk you through the paperwork from there.

Yes — that is specifically the agent United Services was built for. Coming out of a captive carrier, you gain multiple carriers to write, a published and transparent comp structure, and ownership of the book you build rather than leaving it behind.

Coming out of an MLM-style shop, the changes are structural: your income comes from your own production instead of from recruiting, you keep your full commission at your own contract rate with no permanent cut taken off the top, and there is no forced downline, no pyramid, and no buy-ins or monthly fees. The only override that exists is the spread the carrier pays a direct upline, first generation only. Bring the comp plan you have now and compare it line by line against ours. If ours isn't the better fit for your situation, we would rather you knew that up front than found out after you moved.