How to buy life insurance leads
To buy life insurance leads, first decide which life products, ages and states you can write. Then pick a source type, agree the fields, filters, caps and return terms, and run a small test that you track through to issued policies. Life leads take longer to convert than auto or home leads, so judge a test over weeks.
Summit Leads is now onboarding buyers and suppliers for life insurance, final expense, IUL and mortgage protection leads. Email us with the lines, states and daily volume you want.
This page covers only the steps that are specific to buying life insurance leads. For the general process that applies to every insurance line (lines, states, filters, caps, delivery and returns), see how to buy insurance leads. It is not repeated here. For every insurance lead type in one place, see insurance leads for agents.
Generate insurance leads? Sell them through Summit.
Three decisions to make before buying life insurance leads
Purchasing life insurance leads goes more smoothly when three things are settled first. Each one changes which leads you should order.
Which product you sell
Term, permanent, final expense, IUL or mortgage protection. Each is sold as its own lead type, from forms that ask different questions.
Which people you can place
The age bands, coverage amounts and health profiles your carriers accept, written down from their guidelines.
How you will sell
By phone, by video or in person. In-person selling needs leads close to where your agents are. Phone selling can cover more states.
If the answers are unclear, start with one product and one sales method. A narrow first order gives cleaner results than a broad one.
Life-specific steps for buying life insurance leads
These steps sit on top of the general buying process. They reflect common practice among agencies that buy life leads.
Turn your carrier guidelines into filters
List the ages, states, tobacco answers and coverage ranges you can write. Ask the seller which of these it can filter on. Anything it cannot filter, you will sort by phone, so count that time in your plan.
Match lead states to where you can write business
The NAIC states that people who sell, solicit or negotiate insurance in the U.S. must be licensed as producers, and each state sets its own rules. Order leads only in states where your agents can write the policy. State contacts are in the NAIC directory of state insurance departments.
Read the form and the consent language
Ask to see the life form that produces your leads. Check which product it asks about, which health questions it uses, and whether the consent language names or clearly describes your agency as a party that may contact the consumer. See express written consent.
Choose real-time or aged on purpose
Real-time leads suit agents who can call within minutes. Aged life leads suit agents with time for long follow-up and a lower budget per lead. See what are aged leads.
Set caps by follow-up capacity, not by budget
A life lead needs several call attempts over several days. Set daily caps so each agent can finish follow-up on every lead before new ones pile up.
Agree life-specific return reasons
Common return reasons for life leads include a lead outside the agreed age band or state, a duplicate, and a number that does not connect. Which reasons apply is agreed with the seller before you start.
Track the test to issued policies
Record contacts, quotes, applications and issued policies by source. Leave the test open long enough for underwriting to finish before you decide.
Where can I buy life insurance leads?
You can buy life insurance leads from five main types of source. Each one sells in a different way, so the questions you ask differ too.
| Source type | How buying usually works | What to check first |
|---|---|---|
| Lead broker | Real-time leads from many generators, matched to your filters by ping/post | Which filters it supports and whether leads are sold to one buyer or several |
| Life quote or comparison site | Leads from its own forms, sold by order or by account | How many agents receive each lead and how the consent names them |
| Life lead generator | Leads from ads and forms it runs, sold directly | The traffic it uses, the form, and how it validates phone numbers |
| Aged lead seller | Files of older leads at a lower price per lead | The original request date, times sold and whether consent records come with the file |
| Agency or marketing organization | Leads provided to agents in its network, sometimes tied to a contract | Whether the leads are tied to a carrier or a production requirement |
Summit Leads is a lead generation brokerage that buys and sells leads by real-time ping/post. It works with web leads (form fills) only and does not buy or sell calls or live transfers. Return and payment terms are agreed during onboarding.
For the line-level view of who has the best leads, see life insurance leads. For seller types across every insurance line, see insurance lead companies.
Questions to ask life insurance lead vendors
Send these questions before you place an order. A seller that answers them in writing makes it easier to compare sources later.
- Which product did the consumer ask about? Ask for the exact wording of the product question on the form.
- How are age and tobacco captured? A date of birth field is more precise than an age bracket.
- How many buyers receive each lead? This decides how fast you need to call.
- How old is the lead when it reaches me? For aged leads, ask for the original request date on each record.
- Can I retrieve the consent record for any lead? Ask how, and how long it is kept. See TCPA consent record-keeping.
- How are duplicates handled? Ask how long a consumer is blocked from being sold to you again.
- Which return reasons do you accept? Get them in writing before the first lead arrives.
For the validation checks behind these answers, see lead validation.
Example: sizing a first life lead order
Example (made-up round numbers, not a benchmark): an agency has 2 agents who sell term life by phone. Each agent can take 10 new leads a day and still make every follow-up attempt on older leads. The agency sets a cap of 20 leads a day, 5 days a week, for 2 weeks: 200 leads in total. It tracks each lead to contact, quote, application and issued policy, and reviews the results after underwriting has had time to finish on most applications.
The numbers in the example are placeholders. Use your own agent count and follow-up plan. The point is the method: the cap comes from how many leads your team can work fully, and the review date comes from how long your carriers take to issue a policy.
Common mistakes when buying life insurance leads for the first time
- Ordering more leads than the team can follow up. Leads that get one call and no follow-up look like a bad source when the real limit was capacity.
- Buying states where your agents cannot write. Every lead in those states is a lead you paid for and cannot place.
- Not reading the form. If the form asked a general question, your agents will spend calls finding out what the person wanted.
- Mixing real-time and aged leads in one report. They cost and convert differently. Report them separately.
- Closing the test too early. Applications still in underwriting are not failures. Wait for issue decisions.
Whether buying leads pays off for your agency is covered on is buying leads worth it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy life insurance leads by age range?
Many sellers in the industry let buyers filter life leads by age band. Which filters apply to your account is agreed with the seller before the first order.
How many life insurance leads should I buy for a first test?
Enough for each agent to work every lead with a full follow-up plan, and enough to reach issued policies. Size the order from your agents' daily capacity, as in the example on this page.
Should I buy life insurance leads only in states where my agents can write policies?
Yes. A lead in a state where your agents cannot write the policy cannot become a sale. The NAIC links each state insurance department, where you can check state rules.
Is buying life insurance leads different from buying auto insurance leads?
The general process is the same. Life leads differ in the product question on the form, the health and age fields, the longer follow-up, and the time it takes to see issued policies.
Related
Sources
- Producer Licensing, National Association of Insurance Commissionerscontent.naic.org
- State Insurance Departments, National Association of Insurance Commissionerscontent.naic.org
Buying insurance leads?
Email us the insurance lines, states, daily volume or caps, delivery method and the fields you need. Terms are agreed during onboarding.
Or write to team@summitleads.ai. We reply by email.
What happens next
- Step 1: You email us.
- Step 2: We reply by email.
- Step 3: Return terms are agreed on the onboarding call, before you go live.