While I generally hold a high opinion of Select Quote, a good friend of mine sells life insurance for Select Quote here in San Diego, so I have a bit of an “insider’s” view when offering a Select Quote review. There are many wonderful advantages in using an agency like Select Quote. I’ll cover some of these, as well as what I see as the negatives about Select Quote.
Articles to Reference:
Do Life Insurance policies really pay out?
Select Quote Advantages
Probably your greatest advantage dealing with Select Quote is they are an independent agency, meaning they offer coverage from a variety of different life insurance companies. This is particularly important for someone with a health impairment such as diabetes. That’s because some companies are more lenient than others when it comes to certain medical issues, so it’s highly beneficial to share your health history with an agent, like at Select Quote, who can recommend the company that will offer you the best rating. I know Select Quote is very thorough in the use of their medical questionnaire, so this is a big plus.
Some other benefits to consider in our Select Quote Review is their agents are very knowledgeable and well trained. They’re a huge agency, licensed in 49 states, and have streamlined the underwriting process as much as possible. Some people may find it attractive that from the beginning of your application process to your policy delivery, you can conduct 100 percent of your business with Select Quote by telephone. This saves time and is convenient not having to go to an agent’s office. So it’s easy to understand why they’re the number one seller of term life insurance online.
Select Quote Pricing
Select Quote can’t offer a lower premium than any other agency or agent. So say you’re purchasing a $500,000, 30 year term policy through Banner Life. The premium purchasing this through Select Quote will be exactly the same as buying it through an agent who just got his license yesterday. Life insurance premiums just are what they are, so there’s no benefit in working with Select Quote here. However, I highly recommend using an independent agent for the reasons discussed above, especially with any special risk factors. You certainly don’t want to go to an agent who works for State Farm or Northwestern Mutual, or some other “captive” agent who must only sell his own company’s products.
The Negatives – Select Quote Sales and Service
I only have a couple problems with Select Quote. The first has to do with their agents’ compensation. Their agents have the luxury of working for a company with seemingly unlimited leads, so they can make calls all day long and sell, sell, sell. The trade off for this luxury is, on average, Select Quote only pays them about a quarter of the commission that an agent would make who owns his own agency and gets 100 percent of the commission. Having said that, Select Quote agents have to sell dozens of policies per month to make a good living, so their agents aren’t able to dedicate the time necessary to each client during the initial call. My agent friend says he has been trained to always give a quote the first time he speaks to a new prospect. The problem I have with that is that many people have medical problems, or a combination of problems that require calling around to different underwriters and checking on the rating before you should quote the prospect. Or in other words, their agents are trained to sell as many policies they can as quickly as they can, and the unspoken truth here is that sometimes the client is disserviced in this process. It makes me feel like Select Quote agents don’t always have the very best in mind for their client, but just want to sell them any policy that they can talk the client into.
The other issue I have with them is related to their sales techniques, and that is poor service. When you buy a policy through Select Quote, the person you will probably know and remember the best was the agent who sold your policy to you. However, the unfortunate truth is after your policy goes in force, you will almost certainly never speak to that person again. They simply don’t have time to call to “check up” on you or conduct routine service checks like I do with my annual reviews. Follow up is so important though. Let’s say you’ve changed addresses, or changed banks and need to switch the account your payment comes from, or you’ve had another child, and need to add him as a beneficiary. It’s little things like this that don’t get done unless you conduct annual reviews.
So, to sum it up, I really do like what they do over at Select Quote for the most part. In no way do I feel that Select Quote is a scam, as some websites claim. However, I do feel if you use an independent agent like me who has been in business for a while, that’s the absolute best way to go, since you get all the benefits of working with an agent who can take your case to any carrier, but you also will get an agent who can take his time with you up front during the sales portion, and will then be able to offer you service after the sale.
*Huntley Wealth Insurance and its representatives do not give legal or tax advice. Please consult your own legal or tax adviser.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
CAN NOT SET UP APPOINTMENT TO HAVE BLOOD DRAWN FOR POLICY PLEASE CALL ME.
Hello Jeff,
I removed your phone # from your comment. Giving you a call in a few minutes.
Can I purchase life insurance in theU.S. If I’m not a resident?
If you are currently in the U.S., it’s very possible. Call us at 877-443-9467. Depends what country you are a resident of and when/if you plan to head back.
I HATE their *&#@*& commercial featuring someone who calls himself Dan Tullis speaking to someone else who calls himself Joel Clark. I H-A-T-E tha %$#@#$ commercial and would NEVER consider Select Quote because of it!
Funny. I like the part that says “his price… just $18 dollars per month.” As if everyone can qualify for that rating.
I questioned Select Quote tactics. They appeared to be very aggressive and rude. The agent that contacted me insisted on taking my banking information before any further communication.
He also needed my social security number. I was not sure if this is a part of the interviewing process. I plan to report him to the better business bureau. He clearly has intentions of selling people personal information and scamming.
Hello Brooke,
No, not necessarily a scam. Select Quote is a legitimate operation. Every life insurance application will require your SSN. They have to have it to order your medical records. I sometimes question Select Quote’s service, but would never suggest they are doing anything illegal or scamming anyone. Thanks for your comments.
I found them to be very helpful and fair and they ran plenty of tests to assess my health at the time of application-was very impressed.
Now for those out there in the expect everything and pay nothing mindset as with everything else you are wrong. We pay a bit more than expected but its fine and fair and we have no roblem.For the record we got policy in 2009 and our agent that was so helpful named Steve Hine is still there so people should not worry these guys are gone after you get the policy.I will be looking to increase my policy coverage in the near future. I recommend them because they also provide excellent comparrisons and came up with the policy I needed at the time.
Select Quote sent my former spouse a beneficiary change form at his request even though I own the policy. They weren’t supposed to even communicate with him about this policy.
Hi Mary,
Yeah, that’s a pretty big slip up. Very unfortunate. Thanks for the comment.
The service is deplorable! The excuses for bad service is just that–excuses. It is almost two months since first contacting an agent (who was gone the following week) and I still do not have confirmation of insurance. Select Quote is over-extended and under-staffed…”under-staffed” with qualified people that is. I have spent several dollars faxing my application–THREE TIMES, and still no action in spite of phone calls assuring me that my application is being considered. I am thoroughly disgusted with the quality of their organization.
Irene,
That’s really sad to hear. They have very deep pockets, so their service should really be better. If it doesn’t work out with them, feel free to give us a call. 877-443-9467
The service at Select Quote is deplorable and someone should have an opportunity to say it.
I called select quote to check on 500,000 of life Ins,
The agent called me back while at work, I told him call me after 5
I can not talk at work, he called me everyday at work never after 5
You wouldn’t believe the experience I had with Select Quotes auto and home insurance operation. First, I thought I was filling out information for them, but all of my info went out to what seemed like 10 different insurance agencies all wanting to sell me auto and home insurance. Now all of these lead companies or agencies have all of my info and they keep selling it to other companies. I had to change my phone number because they never stop calling. Also, during the quote with the SelectQuote agent, I got the feeling that he really didn’t know what he was doing, or didn’t care. He said he was licensed for 4 months. I don’t know if that is a long time or not, but he said there were only 3-4 people who have worked there longer. It just seemed like people who didn’t quite know what they were doing. Theytalked about credit reports, and drivers license numbers and my social security number. Now I feel like a fool for giving it to them, but I thought it would be OK because it sounded like this huge loud call center in the background. I think some people call it a boiler room? My agent has been with me for 12 years, and I just didn’t think I should do all of this important business on the phone just to save $90 a year. My agent is a pretty good guy and I think he would take care of me the best he could. After all, he is just an agent and can only do so much. He does not own the company. Switching to an agent I will never meet just didn’t seem right, especially since it would only save me about 7.50 a month. Even 20 a month isn’t enough for all the emails and faxes and phone calls back and forth just to get some paperwork done. Just a hassle I think. I have not done the life insurance yet. Maybe my guy does it, or I could just call you.
I am a Mom of 6 who needs to find a reputable life insurance policy. HELP!!!
Hi Angela,
Yes, please give us a call. We’ll be glad to help if we can. 877-443-9467
I want to correct a few things on your website. First of all, if you google my name and select quote you’ll see I was an agent for the company. They are a great company to use. Yes, their agents have to sell a lot of policies but they simply compete by trying to provide the best rate that someone actually qualifies for. I can’t tell you how many times I lost a policy because another agent who did not understand underwriting underquoted a client and then they later called me back because the policy they actually qualified for was much more expensive.
We had very clear guidelines on rates for people with specific conditions. If we did not know, we would in fact shop it around in anonymous “what if” emails to numerous carriers to see who would offer the best rate. Many times, we would know a carrier like banner is the best with people(they used to be but these things change) who had heart bypasses and we would write a policy and inform the client that this is where we think they qualify but often we don’t know for sure until after the insurance company has reviewed all of their medical records and performed a brief medical test. In fact, many insurance company underwriters would provide us a quote but inform us that it is pending a review of the clients medical records. THe only way to do this is to apply for the policy. However, after the final price is determined the person has the option to accept the policy or reject it. Select Quote Agents like myself would try another company if we thought the price is unfair.
Anyways, with a brief e-mail a select quote agent can shop someone’s information to numerous companies if their rating and price for life insurance in unclear. It’s anonymous, quick, and much more thorough than a normal agent.
Hey Brent,
Thanks for the comments, although I really don’t see what you said here that contradicted anything I wrote in my review of Select Quote. My biggest critique was about their service after the sale. I personally know many Select Quote agents and know a lot of them do a good job selling, and know their stuff. I would question how many agents request email quotes like you described, though. I can’t tell you how many people have come to me that I have gotten approved after a SQ agent told them they couldn’t help. Just sayin’…
For curiosity’s sake, what does an agent stand to make on, say, 20 years of term insurance at $400/year? It’d help me understand how much effort the sales agent is really going to put forth.
An independent agent like me makes between 60% to 100% of the first years premium, so if I were to sell you a policy for $400 bucks, I might make around $300 to $400. Select Quote agents make less than half of that, since Select Quote takes the majority of the commission. Your agent make be making about a hundred dollars.
Can you tell me what you think of SBLI? My husband and I are both healthy- 50 years of age- should we both get life insurance? Thanks!
Lorna,
I would need more information to be able to counsel you on whether or not you need life insurance.
Please call me directly at 877-443-9467 for a quote, as I cannot provide this information to you without knowing what state you are in.
Select Quote will “do the shopping and I as a customer will save”? Let me see if I am missing something.Select has to pay thousands for the commercials,and the people they hire,and they shop for free and still save me money as opposed to me doing my own shopping?
That’s right! Agencies don’t charge for their services. The insurance carriers pay us when we get a new client. Isn’t that awesome!
i just stumbled on to this site. reason being i lost my dad a few years back. but he had a little change$$. wasnt that hard on the family finacialy but my mother is still with us. my siblings have their own families so i know it would be up to me to take care of my mothers espensises when she passes. she 66 still getting around but with issues. term life insurance seems to be the way to go. but open for other opinions..b
I have been shopping term insurance for myself and my wife. Banner Life keeps coming up as the best price for 500k and 1M for 20 and 30 years. There are several bad reviews online about their billing and for lapsing policies for 1 or 2 missed payments. Banner has pretty good ratings though. Should I be concerned or just go for best price? For the record, I don’t plan to miss any of my annual payments but I don’t want my wife to have problems in the event the policy needs to pay out. HELP!!
Hey Eric,
They’re a great company. If you’re worried about lapsing, go with a company like Transamerica who allows you to designate a third party addressee on the policy. I recommend adding this person in case you and your wife were to become mentally incompetent and stop paying your bills. This way another person has the chance to be aware of the fact you stopped paying your premium and may be notified prior to them terminating your policy. A form will accompany your policy where you can write in the secondary addressee. I’m not sure if Banner has this feature. I think it’s a great feature.