Insurance lead licensing and compliance for affiliates

This guide explains the licensing question that insurance traffic raises, where the official rules are published, and how the question sits next to TCPATCPAThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal law that governs telemarketing calls and texts, autodialers, prerecorded voice messages and the Do Not Call Registry. Glossary consent and ad claim rules. By the end you will be able to describe your own activity in the terms state rules use, find the right state sources, and bring a clear list of questions to an insurance attorney.

What insurance lead licensing means

Insurance is regulated by each state, and every state has rules on who may sell insurance. The NAIC, the organization of state insurance regulators, publishes the Producer Licensing Model Act, Model #218, as a template for those rules. Section 3 of the model says a person may not sell, solicit or negotiate insurance in the state for a line of insurance without a license for that line. "Producer" is the model's word for the person who does those things.

The model defines each of the three verbs. Its definition of "solicit" is the one lead generators ask about most: in general terms, attempting to sell insurance, or asking or urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular company. "Sell" and "negotiate" have their own definitions in Section 2 of the model act. Read the definitions in the source rather than in a summary, including this one.

The model is not law by itself. Each state adopts its own version, changes it, or writes different rules, and each state insurance department applies its own law. That is why insurance lead licensing is a state-by-state question and why the same activity can be treated differently in different states.

Do you need a license to sell insurance leads?

This is the question most affiliates search for, and it does not have one answer that fits every publisherPublisherA company or individual that generates leads, usually through websites, ads or content, and sells them to brokers or buyers. Glossary. The question is really whether a specific activity, in a specific state, counts as selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance under that state's law. Running an ad, publishing a comparison page, collecting a quote request and talking to a consumer on the phone are different activities, and state rules can treat them differently.

The NAIC model act shows why the details matter. Besides the licensing requirement, it lists exceptions, one of which concerns advertising in mass media without an intent to solicit. It also has a section on insurers and producers paying commissions or other valuable consideration to people without a license for selling, soliciting or negotiating where a license is required. Those provisions describe the model's general structure. How a state's own version applies to any lead generation setup is a question for that state's law and for an attorney.

The facts an attorney will usually want to understand include:

• What your ads and pages say. Whether they describe insurance in general, or ask people to apply for a particular policy from a particular company.
• Who you deal with. Whether you ever speak with consumers, answer coverage questions or explain policy terms, or only run media.
• How you are paid. What your payment is based on, and who pays it.
• Who runs the quote form. Whether the form and the consent capture sit on your page or on a page run by someone else.
• Which states you target. Each state you send traffic from can have its own rules.

This guide does not answer the question for any of those facts. Use the NAIC directory of state insurance departments to find each state's rules, and take the question to an insurance attorney who knows the states you target.

Where to find state rules that touch insurance leads

Start with the NAIC directory of state insurance departments, which links to the department for every NAIC jurisdiction. Department sites publish producer rules, advertising rules and bulletins. Some states have written rules that speak to leads directly. The two below are examples of what such rules look like. They are not a list of every state rule, and they are described here as the pages themselves describe them.

Texas defines "lead solicitations" in 28 TAC §21.102 as public communications, in any form, meant to compile a list of people who have shown interest in a product or coverage, to be used to solicit Texas residents. Read both Texas sections together if you target Texas, and read the Washington page in full if you target Washington. For any other state, look for the equivalent pages through the NAIC directory, then ask an insurance attorney how they apply to you.

TCPA consent for insurance leads

Licensing is one question. Consent is a separate one, and it applies to every insurance lead because buyers call and text the people they quote. The FCC's rule at 47 CFR 64.1200 defines prior express written consentPrior express written consentUnder the TCPA, a written agreement signed by the consumer (an electronic signature counts) that clearly authorizes a seller to make telemarketing calls or texts using an autodialer or a prerecorded or artificial voice to a stated number. Glossary in paragraph (f)(9). Summit has three pages that cover consent in detail, so this guide does not repeat them:

• TCPA compliance for insurance leads: how the consent, Do Not Call and record rules apply to insurance.
• Insurance lead consent and documentation: what consent language on a quote form contains, and what a consent record holds.
• TCPA basics for lead gen affiliates: where an affiliate's traffic sits in the consent chain.

For Summit's insurance offers, traffic will go to a Summit lander, where the consent language will sit next to the submit button. Do not change, hide or remove that language, and do not promise anything on your own pages that contradicts it. Consent questions about your own setup are also questions for an attorney.

Ad claims and state advertising rules

State insurance departments also regulate insurance advertising, and the ad platforms add their own policies. Savings promises, government-style wording, "free insurance", insurance company names and false urgency are the claims that cause the most trouble. Each one is covered with its official source in ad claims to avoid in insurance offers. What a quote page shows about who runs it is covered in insurance landing pages for affiliates.

Steps to take before you run insurance traffic

1. 1

   Step 1: Write down what you do

   List every part of your funnel: ads, pre-landers, content pages, any calls or chats with consumers, and who runs the quote form. Be literal. This is the description an attorney will work from.

2. 2

   Step 2: List your target states

   Write down every state you plan to target, including states reached by national campaigns. State rules apply to the people you reach.

3. 3

   Step 3: Read each state's sources

   Use the NAIC directory to find each state insurance department, and save the producer, advertising and lead pages you find, with the date you read them.

4. 4

   Step 4: Check your ad claims

   Run your ads and pages against the claims list in ad claims to avoid in insurance offers.

5. 5

   Step 5: Check the consent path

   Confirm nothing in your ads or pages contradicts the consent language on the quote form. Use the TCPA pages linked above.

6. 6

   Step 6: Take your questions to an insurance attorney

   Bring the funnel description, the state list and the questions below. Ask for an answer for each state you target.

7. 7

   Step 7: Keep records

   Save each version of your ads and pages with dates and sub IDs. See how to keep records of your ads and traffic.

Questions to bring to an insurance attorney

Use this checklist to prepare. It lists questions, not answers.

• In each state I target, does any part of my funnel count as selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance?
• Does the answer change if my ads describe insurance in general rather than a particular company's policy?
• Does the answer change depending on who runs the quote form and the consent capture?
• Does the way I am paid affect the analysis in any of my states?
• Do any of my states have rules on lead solicitations, lead cards or lead sellers, like the Texas and Washington examples?
• What disclosures do my ads and pages need in each state?
• Which state insurance advertising rules apply to my ads, and do they apply to my pre-landers and content pages?
• What records should I keep, and for how long?
• What should I change if I add a new state, a new traffic source or a new insurance line?

Ask the same questions again whenever your setup changes. An answer for one funnel and one set of states does not carry over to a different one.

Common mistakes

• Assuming one state's answer applies everywhere. Each state has its own law. An answer for Texas says nothing about Washington or any other state.
• Relying on a forum answer. A post from another affiliate describes their facts, their states and their date. It is not an answer for yours.
• Treating the NAIC model as the law. The model is a template. Read the state's own version.
• Changing consent language. Editing, hiding or covering the consent text on a quote form creates a consent problem on top of any licensing question.
• Asking once and never again. A new state, source, page type or payment arrangement can change the analysis.
• Treating a network's silence as approval. If no one asks about state rules, the question is still yours to take to an attorney.
• Treating this guide as an answer. It points to sources. Your insurance attorney gives the answer for your business.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Insurance affiliate program: How the auto and home insurance offers will work.
• Ad claims to avoid in insurance offers: Savings, government, free and brand claims, with sources.
• Auto insurance offers: The audience and traffic that fit the auto offer.
• Home insurance offers: The audience and traffic that fit the home offer.
• Insurance landing pages for affiliates: What a quote page shows about consent and disclosures.
• Traffic guidelines: The rules for every publisher campaign.

Already generating insurance leads on your own forms? Sell your leads instead.