Property and casualty agents are in a unique position to sell life insurance.
You already help clients protect their homes, cars, businesses, and other assets. More importantly, you already have something that can be difficult and expensive for a life insurance agent to acquire: trusted relationships with clients who have life insurance needs.
Adding life insurance doesn’t necessarily mean building an entirely new department, establishing direct relationships with dozens of life insurance carriers, or becoming an underwriting expert overnight.
By working with a life insurance Brokerage General Agency (BGA), P&C agents can gain access to multiple carriers, quoting and application technology, underwriting expertise, carrier contracting, and case-management support.
Here’s how to get started. See also Commercial Lines Agents.
Why Should P&C Agents Sell Life Insurance?
Consider the information a P&C agency already knows about its clients.
You often know when a client:
- Buys a home
- Gets married
- Adds a teenage driver
- Has children
- Starts a business
- Purchases investment property
- Adds a business partner
- Increases liability limits
- Buys an expensive home
- Needs key-person coverage
- Has a significant change in financial circumstances
Many of those events can also create or change a life insurance need.
A client purchasing a $1 million home may need additional life insurance.
A business owner purchasing commercial coverage may need key-person insurance or life insurance to fund a buy-sell agreement.
Parents adding a new child to an auto policy may not have reviewed their life insurance in years.
The opportunity isn’t necessarily finding entirely new prospects.
It’s identifying life insurance needs among people who already trust your agency.
Do P&C Agents Need a Life Insurance License?
Yes.
A property and casualty license by itself generally doesn’t authorize an agent to sell life insurance.
You’ll need the appropriate life insurance producer license for the states in which you intend to conduct life insurance business. Quote & Apply will halt an application if you are not life-licensed. If commissions will be assigned to the agency, the agency must also hold a valid life license (with NPN) in the states you write.
Requirements vary by state, but the process generally involves meeting the applicable education, examination, application, background, and licensing requirements.
Once appropriately licensed, you’ll also need to satisfy the applicable contracting and appointment requirements for the life insurance carriers whose products you sell, and have errors-and-omissions coverage in place before submitting a first case.
That’s where working with a BGA can make the process significantly easier.
What Is a Life Insurance BGA?
A Brokerage General Agency, or BGA (also called an IMO), acts as an intermediary between life insurance carriers and independent insurance agents.
You can think of a BGA as a specialized life insurance back office.
Instead of your P&C agency independently establishing relationships and processes with numerous life insurance companies, a BGA can provide access to multiple carriers and help support the business you submit.
Depending on the BGA, that support can include:
- Carrier contracting
- Licensing assistance
- Multi-carrier quoting
- Product information
- Underwriting assistance
- Electronic applications
- Application processing
- Case management
- Commission information
- Policy delivery support
- Sales technology
This can be especially valuable for a P&C agency because you don’t need to recreate an entire life insurance operation internally. What is BackNine? is a short overview of how BackNine fills that role.
How to Get Started
Step 1: Get Licensed for Life Insurance
The first step is making sure the producers who will discuss and sell life insurance have the appropriate licenses.
Your agency doesn’t necessarily need every employee to become a life insurance producer.
You can determine who will be responsible for identifying opportunities, who will conduct life insurance conversations, and who will actually solicit and sell the coverage.
For example, your CSR might identify that a longtime client recently had a baby and flag the opportunity for a properly licensed producer. Unlicensed staff can also use Quote & Apply’s Refer page to send a prospect to a licensed producer without soliciting the sale themselves.
Your agency can create a repeatable process around those events.
Step 2: Partner With a Life Insurance BGA
Once you’re licensed, you need access to life insurance carriers and products.
One option is pursuing direct carrier relationships individually.
Another is working through a BGA.
For many P&C agencies that don’t already have a large life insurance operation, the BGA model can be much simpler.
The BGA already specializes in life insurance distribution.
That means your agency can concentrate on what it already does well:
finding the need, advising the client, and maintaining the relationship.
The BGA can help provide much of the specialized infrastructure behind the transaction.
Step 3: Get Access to Multiple Life Insurance Carriers
Life insurance is different from simply adding another P&C market.
The lowest quoted premium isn’t always the best carrier for a client.
Life insurance underwriting can vary substantially based on factors such as:
- Age
- Medical history
- Medications
- Tobacco and nicotine use
- Family history
- Height and weight
- Occupation
- Aviation
- Foreign travel
- Driving history
- Financial circumstances
- Coverage amount
- Product objectives
A carrier that’s highly competitive for one client may be a poor fit for another.
That’s why access to multiple carriers matters.
Rather than learning and establishing a direct relationship with every carrier individually, your BGA can give your agency access to a broader marketplace. BackNine’s current carrier panel is listed at back9ins.com/carriers.
Step 4: Use Multi-Carrier Quoting Software
P&C agents already understand comparative rating.
Life insurance can work similarly.
Instead of visiting individual carrier websites, multi-carrier quoting software lets you enter information about the client and compare available products from multiple insurance companies.
BackNine’s Quote & Apply™ is designed to provide multi-carrier life insurance quoting and electronic applications in one workflow.
That makes it possible to move from:
Client → Quote → Product Selection → Application
without building your own life insurance technology stack.
If you already rate P&C in Vertafore, you can also start a life quote from PL Rating or AMS360. Those integrations are free to use.
For a P&C agency accustomed to comparative raters, this can make adding life insurance considerably more approachable.
Step 5: Start With Your Existing Book of Business
You don’t necessarily need to buy life insurance leads.
Start with the clients you already serve.
Your existing book can contain thousands of potential life insurance conversations.
The key is identifying trigger events.
New Home Purchase
When a client buys a home, ask:
If something happened to you, would your family be able to keep this home?
A mortgage is often one of a family’s largest financial obligations.
Marriage
When you update policies after a marriage, add a life insurance review to the process.
New Child
A new baby can dramatically change a family’s protection needs.
If you’re already updating auto, homeowners, or umbrella coverage, it’s a natural time to ask whether the client’s life insurance still reflects the family’s needs.
Business Insurance
Commercial clients can create several life insurance opportunities.
A business may need coverage for:
- Key employees
- Business owners
- Buy-sell agreements
- Business succession
- Loan obligations
Annual Insurance Review
Add life insurance to your standard annual review.
You don’t need to turn every P&C conversation into a life insurance sales pitch.
A simple question can identify opportunities:
“When was the last time you reviewed your life insurance?”
The answer may reveal a need.
Create a Life Insurance Referral Process Inside Your Agency
One of the easiest mistakes is relying on producers to remember to ask about life insurance.
Instead, make it part of the agency workflow.
For example:
CSR identifies life event → CRM creates life opportunity → Licensed producer follows up → Quote generated → Application completed → Case tracked
Potential CRM triggers could include:
- New homeowners policy
- Marriage
- New child
- New business policy
- New commercial loan
- New umbrella policy
- Significant dwelling increase
- Annual account review
You can also add a simple question to renewal conversations:
“Would you like us to review your life insurance while we’re reviewing the rest of your coverage?”
If some staff will never be life-licensed, give them a Quote & Apply Refer page so they can hand the opportunity to a licensed producer without leaving the agency’s process.
The goal is to make life insurance a normal part of protecting the client rather than an unrelated product your agency occasionally remembers to mention.
What If You Don’t Know Life Insurance Underwriting?
You don’t need to become an expert on every carrier’s underwriting guidelines before writing your first policy.
That’s one of the reasons BGAs exist.
Life insurance underwriting can become complicated quickly.
A client might tell you:
“I had a heart procedure five years ago, take two medications, scuba dive, and occasionally smoke cigars. Who should I apply with?”
Different carriers may evaluate that client differently.
Submitting the application blindly to the carrier showing the lowest initial quote can waste weeks and produce an unfavorable result.
A BGA’s underwriting team can help determine which carriers may be more appropriate based on the client’s circumstances. In BOSS, you can also submit a quote request when you want internal help on case design.
As you write more business, you’ll naturally learn more about underwriting.
But you don’t have to learn it alone. Submitting Your First Case with Quote & Apply is a practical first-case walkthrough.
What Happens After the Application Is Submitted?
This is another major difference between P&C and life insurance.
A life insurance application may remain in underwriting while the carrier obtains and reviews additional information.
That could include:
- Medical records
- Prescription history
- Lab results
- Paramedical examinations
- Financial documentation
- Additional questionnaires
- Application corrections
- Underwriting interviews
- Other carrier requirements
Someone needs to monitor those requirements and help move the application toward a decision.
A full-service BGA provides case-management support for this process.
BackNine’s BOSS (Back Office Support System) allows agents to follow case information, requirements, documents, notes, and chat with case support online while BackNine’s case-management team supports submitted business.
For a P&C agency, this means you don’t necessarily need to hire a dedicated life insurance case manager before you begin selling.
Can P&C Agents Sell Life Insurance Online?
Yes.
Digital life insurance technology can make life insurance particularly attractive for P&C agencies.
Your clients are already accustomed to interacting with your agency through your website, email, phone, and online systems.
Life insurance can become part of that digital experience.
For example, an agency can place a “Get a Life Insurance Quote” option on its website.
BackNine’s Quote & Apply platform can be used by agents or added to an agency website. You can also use a BackNine link, embed the widget, or (for larger agencies) set up custom-domain links. See 3 Ways to Add Quote & Apply.
That creates several possibilities.
A client receiving a homeowners renewal email could also see:
Protecting the house is important. Protecting the people who pay for it is too. Get a life insurance quote.
A commercial client could receive information about key-person insurance.
A new homeowner could receive a follow-up life insurance campaign.
Instead of life insurance being a completely separate business, it becomes another protection option offered by your agency.
Do P&C Agents Need Direct Life Insurance Carrier Appointments?
Not necessarily.
You need to meet applicable licensing, contracting, and appointment requirements, but you don’t necessarily need to establish direct distribution relationships with every life insurance company yourself.
When you work through a BGA, carrier appointments can be established through the BGA’s hierarchy where permitted.
Most states support just-in-time appointments: you complete contracting information once in BOSS > Settings, and BackNine requests the carrier appointment when you submit business. In pre-appointment states, Quote & Apply pauses eSign until the appointment is active. BackNine does not mass-appoint agents to carriers without new business.
Carrier and state requirements vary, so confirm what is required before soliciting or submitting business.
How Much Does It Cost to Add Life Insurance to a P&C Agency?
The cost depends heavily on how you build the operation.
A P&C agency attempting to create an independent life department might purchase:
- Quoting software
- Electronic application technology
- CRM integrations
- Case-management systems
- Product databases
- Training
- Additional staff
Working through a technology-focused BGA can eliminate some of those expenses.
When BackNine serves as the general agency, independent agents can use BOSS and Quote & Apply without an agent software subscription fee. See pricing. PL Rating and AMS360 Quote & Apply integrations are also free to use.
BackNine receives compensation from insurance carriers for serving as the general agency, while agents receive the applicable agent commission from the carrier.
Agents should review the commission schedule applicable to each carrier and product before submitting business.
Should You Hire a Dedicated Life Insurance Producer?
Not necessarily at first.
There are several ways a P&C agency can structure life insurance sales.
Existing Producers Sell Life Insurance
P&C producers obtain their life licenses and add life insurance to their existing client conversations.
This provides continuity because the client already knows the producer.
Dedicated Life Insurance Producer
Larger agencies may designate or hire someone who specializes in life insurance.
Other employees identify opportunities and refer clients internally to that producer. The Refer page is built for that handoff.
Hybrid Model
Multiple employees identify life insurance opportunities while one or more licensed producers handle the actual life insurance consultation and sale.
The best model depends on the size of your agency, your staff, your client base, and the amount of life insurance business you expect to generate.
The important part is establishing who owns the opportunity and what happens next.
Life Insurance Opportunities Already Exist in Your P&C Book
Imagine an agency with 2,000 households.
You don’t need all 2,000 households to purchase life insurance for the initiative to matter.
Suppose you systematically identify clients who:
- Recently purchased homes
- Recently had children
- Own businesses
- Have large personal umbrellas
- Haven’t reviewed their life insurance recently
Even a relatively small percentage of those households can create a meaningful new revenue stream.
And unlike purchasing cold leads, these aren’t strangers.
They’re existing clients who already trust your agency with important financial risks.
Why Life Insurance Can Improve Client Retention
There’s another benefit beyond commission revenue.
The more important relationships your agency has with a household, the harder it is for the relationship to become purely transactional.
If you insure someone’s:
Home + Cars + Umbrella + Business + Life
your agency has a much broader understanding of that client’s financial life than an agency providing only an auto policy.
Life insurance also creates conversations that go beyond price.
You’re discussing:
- Family
- Income
- Debt
- Children
- Business ownership
- Financial goals
- Legacy
- Protection
Those conversations can deepen the advisory relationship between the client and your agency.
A Simple Life Insurance Strategy for P&C Agencies
You don’t need to transform your agency overnight.
Start with a simple process.
1. License the Right Producers
Identify who will be responsible for life insurance conversations and make sure they hold the appropriate licenses.
2. Choose a BGA
Find a BGA that provides carrier access, technology, underwriting support, contracting, and case management.
3. Learn the Quoting Process
Become comfortable gathering basic client information and generating multi-carrier quotes. Submitting Your First Case with Quote & Apply is a good first walkthrough.
4. Pick Three Trigger Events
For example:
New home + new child + annual review
Build life insurance questions into those workflows.
5. Create a Follow-Up Process
Don’t let opportunities disappear into someone’s inbox.
Create a life insurance opportunity in your CRM and assign it to a licensed producer.
6. Let Your BGA Help
Use the BGA for underwriting questions, carrier selection, contracting, application processing, and case management.
7. Measure the Results
Track:
- Life insurance conversations
- Quotes
- Applications
- Placed policies
- Premium
- Commission
- Conversion rate
- Source of opportunity
After a few months, you’ll know which P&C interactions generate the most valuable life insurance opportunities.
How BackNine Helps P&C Agents Sell Life Insurance
BackNine Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. is a life insurance Brokerage General Agency that combines brokerage services with proprietary insurance technology.
For P&C agencies adding life insurance, BackNine can provide several pieces of infrastructure that would otherwise need to be built or purchased separately. Related P&C integrations are listed on BackNine’s partnerships page.
Multi-Carrier Access
Agents can access life insurance products from multiple carriers rather than building a life insurance offering around a single company.
Quote & Apply™
BackNine’s Quote & Apply™ platform provides multi-carrier life insurance quoting and electronic applications.
Agents can use the platform themselves, start from PL Rating or AMS360, or offer a quoting experience through their agency website.
BOSS
BOSS is BackNine’s cloud-based back-office platform.
Agents can use BOSS for contracting, case tracking, requirements, documents, commission information, and other aspects of managing life insurance business.
Contracting Support
Agents can maintain contracting information in BOSS > Settings, which is used to request carrier appointments when eligible business requires them.
Underwriting Support
BackNine can help agents evaluate underwriting situations and identify carriers that may be appropriate for a client’s circumstances.
Case Management
BackNine’s case-management team helps manage business after submission while the P&C agency maintains the client relationship.
No Agent Software Subscription
When BackNine serves as the general agency, agents aren’t charged a subscription fee to use BOSS or Quote & Apply.
Turn Your Existing Clients Into Your Best Life Insurance Opportunity
P&C agencies don’t need to become life insurance companies.
They don’t need to build their own quoting technology.
They don’t need to independently manage relationships with dozens of life insurance carriers.
And they don’t necessarily need a large life insurance department before writing their first policy.
What P&C agencies already have is arguably more valuable:
the client relationship.
A BGA can provide much of the infrastructure behind that relationship.
The P&C agency identifies the need and advises the client.
The BGA provides carrier access, technology, underwriting assistance, contracting, and case-management support.
The insurance carrier underwrites and issues the policy.
That allows a P&C agency to add life insurance as a natural extension of what it already does every day:
help clients protect what matters most.
Start Selling Life Insurance With BackNine
If your P&C agency wants to add life insurance, BackNine can provide the carrier access, technology, and back-office support needed to get started.
Use Quote & Apply™ to compare life insurance options and complete electronic applications.
Use BOSS to manage contracting, cases, requirements, documents, and commissions.
And use BackNine’s brokerage team for underwriting, contracting, and case-management support while your agency focuses on the relationship it already owns—the client.
Create a BackNine account and start turning life insurance into a systematic part of your P&C agency’s client experience.