Exclusive insurance leads and shared insurance leads

An insurance lead is exclusive when the seller sells it to one buyer and does not sell it again, either at the same time or later as an aged lead. It is shared when the same seller sells it to two or more buyers.

Exclusivity covers one seller's sale. It does not mean the person asked only you for a quote. Insurance shoppers often fill in more than one quote form, on more than one site, in the same week. An exclusive lead removes competing buyers from that one request. It does not remove other agents the person contacted on their own.

For the general definitions and trade-offs that apply in every vertical, see exclusive vs shared leads. The rest of this page covers what is specific to insurance.

The value of exclusivity is not the same in every line, because the way people shop is not the same.

• Auto. Drivers often compare several quotes in one session. In a shared auto lead, the first agent with a quote usually has the advantage. In an exclusive auto lead, speed still matters, because the driver may have used other sites.
• Home. Purchase and renewal leads have a deadline, the closing date or the policy expiration date. An exclusive home lead gives you time to gather property details without another agency calling the same hour.
• Home and auto bundles. A bundle takes longer to quote. Agencies that quote both lines often prefer fewer competing calls on these leads.
• Life and final expense. These sales usually involve a longer conversation and sometimes an appointment. Exclusive life insurance leads are a common request from agents who work this way, because a shared lead can mean the person has already booked with another agent.

Line pages cover each lead type in detail: home and auto insurance leads, life insurance leads and final expense leads.

An insurance lead carries evidence of how it was sold. Use it:

• Open the consent certificate. Look at the consent language the person saw. If it names several insurers or links a list of partners, the form was built to share the lead.
• Ask about resale. Ask whether the seller sells leads again as aged leads after the first sale, and after how long. A lead sold once today and resold later is not exclusive for its full life.
• Ask how many sources feed the seller. A broker or marketplace that buys from many generators may receive the same person twice. Ask how duplicates across sources are handled.
• Read the contract. The distribution model, and any cap on the number of buyers, should be in your written terms for each line.
• Watch your own calls. If people often say other agents have already called, compare that with the terms you were given.

For insurance leads bought through Summit, the distribution model is part of the terms agreed during onboarding. For how resale works, see aged insurance leads.

An exclusive lead costs more per lead because it is sold once. A shared lead costs less because several buyers pay for it. Comparing price per lead hides the result that matters to an agency: what each written policy cost.

Run both models on the same line, states and filters, over the same weeks, and compare cost per policy. For what drives price, see how much insurance leads cost and how lead pricing works.

• Assuming exclusive means the person has not shopped. It means one seller sold it once. The person may have asked other sites for quotes.
• Paying for exclusivity and calling late. An exclusive lead loses its advantage if your first call comes hours after the form.
• Taking exclusivity on trust. Get the model in writing and check the consent language on a sample of leads.
• Forgetting the resale clause. Ask whether the lead can be sold again later as an aged lead.
• Reporting both models together. Keep exclusive and shared sources in separate columns so each shows its own cost per policy.

For the full buying process, see how to buy insurance leads. For every insurance lead type in one place, see insurance leads for agents.