Compliance Basics for Agents Buying Calls

Licensing, state by state

Only a licensed producer may sell, solicit or negotiate insurance, and that license is per state: you need an active life license in the state where the caller lives. A vendor can be paid a flat fee for a call without a license, as long as the fee is not tied to a sale and the vendor does not discuss policy terms (Foley). That is why call prices should be flat per call, never a share of your commission. Check that your IMO or upline allows you to work outside calls.

How to open the call

Say your name, your agency and that you are a licensed insurance agent. In California, an agent who contacts someone 65 or older through a lead must disclose that in the initial contact, and lead-generating ads aimed at seniors must say an agent may contact them (Insurance Code 787). California also requires your license number on written quotes, print ads and, since 2023, emails about licensed business (Insurance Code 1725.5).

Recording consent

California and about a dozen other states require every party's consent to record a call (Penal Code 632, state list). A recording notice at the start of the greeting covers the caller's first leg; when you join, you are a new party, so keep the recording on and do not disable it. Our greeting plays the notice before anything else (see the script).

Callbacks and texts

The inbound call itself is consumer-initiated. Risk comes back with what you do after it. Federal rules require written consent for calls using an autodialer or a prerecorded or artificial voice, and for marketing texts, and require you to honor an opt-out within 10 business days (47 CFR 64.1200). An FCC order released in October 2026 changes how revocation works and proposes shortening that window (Latham and Watkins).

• Call back only when the caller asks you to, by hand, from a number you own, within calling hours in their time zone.
• Do not add callers to automated dialing or text campaigns without their written consent.
• The FCC's one-to-one consent rule was vacated in January 2025 (Wiley), but consent that names you is still the safer practice, and some states have their own rules on calls and texts.

What never to say

Life insurance advertising rules treat anything that suggests a government program, a public benefit or official endorsement as misleading, and require the product to be called life insurance (NAIC Model 570). The FTC's 2025 settlement with MediaAlpha turned on ads that implied a government program (summary). On a call, avoid:

• “Government,” “state program,” “new benefit,” “Social Security” or “Medicare” framing
• “Free” coverage, or approval promised before the health questions
• “No medical exam” without saying approval may depend on the health questions
• Hiding a graded or limited benefit period

Medicare questions

Many final expense callers are 65 or older and some will ask about Medicare. Medicare Advantage and Part D marketing carries its own federal rules, disclaimers and recording requirements (42 CFR 422.2274). Keep these calls about final expense life insurance; if a caller needs Medicare help, point them to a Medicare-compliant process rather than switching products on the call. Upselling a second product on an inbound call also falls outside the FTC's inbound exemption (16 CFR 310.6).

Records

The FTC's telemarketing rule sets a 5 year period for keeping call records, scripts and ads (16 CFR 310.5, as amended in 2024, 89 FR 26760). Keep your own notes, consents and opt-out requests at least that long. Axel PR keeps every recording, ad, greeting version and routing decision for 5 years.

What to expect from your vendor

• Ads and a greeting you can read, with no government framing
• A recording notice first, and a licensed-agent disclosure before the transfer
• A license check in the caller's state before the call reaches you
• No resale of the call or the caller's details
• True claims to you: no invented testimonials (FTC reviews rule), no “100% TCPA compliant,” no close rates without a period and sample size