Here's what an insurance agency must include on its website

Key quotes:

• "Poorly designed forms increase user friction and customers who start the process mostly never finish."
• "It’s better if your site’s design is creative enough to make customers feel good while doing this."
• "Leveraging design to offer a better user experience is can help re-imagine the company’s relationship with policyholders."
• "Only a small group of participants in the insurance industry has achieved the perfect balance of good information architecture and user-centric design."
• "It’s business model also borrows from behavioral economics — Users sign a digital honesty pledge at the beginning of their claim process."
• "The next interface uses cards to show the user what various providers offer, and their benefits for their premium."

Key quotes:

• "Also available is “decreasing term insurance,” where premiums remain level but your death benefit declines over time."
• "Under this type of policy, if no death benefit has been paid by the end of your insurance term, all your premiums are refunded (tax-free)."
• "If you want more than a death benefit from your life insurance policy and like the idea of a long-term savings account (not insured by any federal agency) or investment, you might consider cash value life insurance, such as whole life insurance, universal life or variable life."
• "The premium remains level at $4,200 per year for the rest of her life and, in the event of death at any age, the policy will pay $500,000 to her beneficiary."
• "Some universal life policies perform like term life insurance: They can be configured at the time of purchase to provide both level death benefits and level premiums that are guaranteed for life as long as you pay the scheduled premium."

Key quotes:

• "In this blog, we will be discussing how the disruption of insurance technology will affect insurance agents as well as agencies."
• "We’ll also look at Insurtech trends in 2020 and ways you, as an agent, can make the most out of it."
• "According to Investopedia, Insurtech is all about using technology-driven innovations designed to boost savings and enhance efficiency from the current insurance industry model."
• "However, big data and machine learning are technologies that are mostly used by insurers, not agents."
• "The takeaway- insurance technology does not replace insurance agents but rather help them provide better customer service."
• "As a result, agents can better understand customer behavior and use this data to determine specific policies to sell to target markets."

Key quotes:

• "It’s also a great reason to start a business at this point in your life, since health insurance is one fewer thing you have to plan for if you can be on a parent’s plan."
• "Plans needed to meet minimum standards, like covering people for pre-existing conditions, providing maternity coverage, etc."
• "Today’s plans can’t exclude people for pre-existing condition, can’t jack up your rates based on your personal health situation, and have to meet lots of other minimum standards about what they cover."
• "Sure, it’s as annoying to use as any other government website; but it will find you an insurance plan, meeting minimum quality standards, that’s available in your state."
• "In CA, a family of 4 can earn up to $154,500 in net income and still get a health insurance subsidy."
• "And Trump introduced a tax cut that makes those subsidies even more accessible to entrepreneurs by lowering the net income of many small businesses."

Key quotes:

• "You’ll also find captive agents, independent agents or brokers, wholesalers, direct telephone sales, the Internet, affiliates, carriers, and carrier-like entities selling various products."
• "We classify insurance distribution startups using four groupings: lead generation, agency/brokerage, managing general agency (MGA), and carrier."
• "Today, lead generation operators sell to a variety of third parties, including online agencies and digital sales platforms."
• "Let’s consider a few key attributes of lead generation providers: Entities in the agency/brokerage group (also called “producers”) come in a variety of forms, including independent agents, brokers, captive agents, and wholesale brokers."
• "Independent agents represent a number of insurance carriers and can sell a variety of products."
• "Brokerages are very similar to independent agents in their ability to sell a variety of products, but with a legal distinction — they represent the buyer’s interests, whereas agents represent the carriers they work for."