IMOs, Contracts & Commissions
Contract levels, releases, overrides, vesting and advances. The business side of being appointed. Discussion, not recruiting.
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InsuraCentralStaff·
A carrier terminated your agency's contract: what to do in the first 48 hours
It happens more than people think, and the thread about it on the other boards is always a hundred posts of speculation. Here's the practical version for an agent under an agency that just lost a carrier. Hour one: find…
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InsuraCentralStaff·
Captive vs independent life agent in 2026: what changed, and what didn't
The question is old. The answer moved a little. Captive. One carrier, or one company's products. Training, a brand, often a salary or a draw at the start, sometimes leads. You sell what they make at the price they set.…
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InsuraCentralStaff·
IMOs that 'provide free leads': what the free leads cost, and how to read that contract
The recruiting ad says free leads. Sometimes it's a fair deal. Here's how to tell, before you sign a contract that's hard to leave. Where the money comes from. Nobody gives away leads. The cost is in the contract level:…
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InsuraCentralStaff·
Vested renewals: the questions to ask before you sign anything
Renewal income is the part of this business that lets a 50-year-old agent slow down. Whether you actually keep those renewals depends on a few words in the contract. Vested versus not. Vested renewals are paid to you…
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InsuraCentralStaff·
Release letters: how the six-month rule actually plays out when you leave an IMO
You want to move to a different IMO for better comp or better support. The current IMO holds your carrier contracts. What happens next is the most misunderstood part of this business. What a release is. Your carrier…
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InsuraCentralStaff·
Reading a commission schedule: street level, advance rate, and what as-earned really means
Commission schedules are written to be skimmed. Read this one slowly. Contract level. Expressed as a percentage of first-year premium, commonly in the 100 to 120 range for FE at what people call street level, with…
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InsuraCentralStaff·
Contract levels, releases and overrides explained without the recruiting spin
The recruiting version says "120 percent contract". Here's what the words actually mean so you can read your own agreement. Contract level. Your first-year commission expressed as a percentage of the carrier's base. A…
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InsuraCentralStaff·
Advance vs as-earned: the trade every producer picks, with the math
Advanced commissions are a loan against future premium, secured by policies that may or may not stay on the books. Here's the picture with example numbers; substitute your own. Say a policy has a first-year commission…
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