A BGA is an insurance agency that works with financial professionals who are licensed to sell the insurance products of carriers we represent. A BGA is a partner for you, the insurance agent, to help you find the best product for your client. A BGA can represent several companies and many product lines. The four main product categories for most Brokerage General Agents are Life Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Annuities.
Who do you work with?
Our clients are insurance professionals like yourself. We work with Property & Casualty Agents, Carrier Life agents, Employee benefits brokers, and financial advisors. Each type of agent comes to us for different reasons, but all are looking for help finding the right product for their client. Many of you have direct access to a few Life Insurance carriers, whether you are a career agent from Northwestern or a P&C agent with a direct Cincinnati Life appointment. However, there are times when those primary providers are not the right fit, and that is when your BGA comes into play. We can help you identify clients that may be a better fit for one of our companies before you submit an application that is approved other than you hoped or worse declined. We can also find products and carriers that you may not have been aware of, in order to further protect your clients.
Are their different types of BGAs?
There are really two main types of Brokerage General Agents. The large National BGA’s like Crump and Ash Brokerage, and smaller regional agencies. Like anything else, there are pros and cons to both. The large BGA’s have sales agreements with carriers like Northwestern and MassMutual, and in doing so can offer incentives and commissions that small BGA’s cannot match. However, small BGA’s offer the opportunity to build a long-term relationship with a BGA partner that cares as much for your client as you do. Many career agent’s with access to the large BGA’s will seek the help of a smaller BGA for their tougher cases. Another benefit to large BGA’s is their ability to offer proprietary software. They have developed unique tools and resources that are only available to their agents. Small BGA’s generally use third party insurance tools like ipipeline, winflex, or applicint to help bring technology to their agents.
No matter the BGA you choose, their job is to find the right carrier and product for your client, but also to educate you on the products they represent. You need to know the products that are available so that you can determine if you have any clients that might be helped with that new product. Most BGA’s will represent at least 10 carriers, each with their own unique options and requirements. How do you know which one is best for your client?
That is where your BGA can help!