What You Should Know

• Independent agents are not affiliated with any particular life insurance company
• An independent agent may be able to help you find the best policy for your unique needs
• Many of the well-known life insurance companies employ captive agents who only sell that company's products

An independent agent can represent multiple insurance companies at the same time. Some of the best life insurance companies for independent agents include Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, and Travelers.

The beauty of a life insurance independent agent is the lack of affiliation when applying for life insurance. While a lot of life insurance agents are loyal to one company alone, independent agents are aware of many different companies that could work for any potential policyholder.

By comparing multiple life insurance companies side-by-side with an independent agetn, you can find the the lowest monthly rates. In fact, you can use our free quote tool above to find and compare rates from the best companies with independent agents near you right away.

What are the best insurance companies for independent agents?

While there are a lot of life insurance companies you can look to when comparing rates and getting general ideas for policy types and amounts, not every company invites independent agents to be a part of the process.

If you know you want to work with an independent agent, here is a list of life insurance companies that allows for that:

• Encompass Insurance
• Erie Insurance Group
• Liberty Mutual Insurance
• MetLife Insurance
• National General Insurance
• Nationwide Insurance
• Markel Insurance
• Progressive Insurance
• Selective Insurance
• The Hanover Group
• Travelers Insurance
• West Bend Mutual Insurance

While the list above is not exhaustive, it does give you a good idea of which companies enlist the help of independent agents—often through independent agencies—to sell life insurance products.

Just because you don't see a company on the list doesn't mean you shouldn't at least reach out to find out if they use independent agents to sell their insurance products. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that your company of choice does employ independent agents.

What are the worst life insurance companies for independent agents?

Insurance companies that don't allow for independent agents are common.

A lot of well-known and largely popular insurance companies employ what they call "captive agents," which are individuals who are only allowed to learn about and sell the insurance products associated with that one insurance company.

The list of companies that employ captive agents is quite long, but some of the companies that fall on this list include:

• Prudential Insurance
• State Farm Insurance
• USAA Life Insurance
• GEICO Insurance
• Allstate Insurance
• Nationwide Insurance

Even though the companies do not allow for independent agents and agencies to sell their products, you may still be able to find the best and cheapest deal on life insurance by going with one of their products.

You'll never really know what would work best for you until you find and compare multiple rates and research the types of policies you really want to purchase.

Will an independent agent help me find the best deal on life insurance?

Finding an independent agent to help you in the process of purchasing a life insurance policy can make things easier.

While an independent agent knows a lot about the rates that different companies tend to charge based on a variety of factors, these agents also know the wide variety of products that multiple companies have to offer.

If you are on the fence about the type of policy you want, or if you haven't fully decided the amount of coverage you and your loved ones need, speaking with an independent agent could prove helpful in the decision-making process.

Life insurance companies are constantly evaluating potential policyholders based on many different factors, including:

• Your age
• Your gender
• Your health status
• Your family's health history
• Your history of smoking and tobacco use
• Your career
• The type of policy you want

These factors, and others, are likely to impact your life insurance rates to some degree.

An independent life insurance agent may be able to help you choose a good company based on which—if any—of your factors are generally considered less than ideal.

Independent insurance agents have the ultimate goal of finding a policy for you that meets your needs, and they will often be able to tell you how much life insurance you need. This type of knowledge and expertise could come in handy.

Learn more: How much life insurance do I need?

Should I find an independent life insurance agent?

You can touch base with one of the companies listed as employing independent agents to seek out the advice you really need. Or you could call an independent agency and let them know you're shopping around for a life insurance policy.

Either way, speaking with an independent agent is never a bad idea.

You may want to read the fine print associated with an independent agent's contract to see if and when you'll need to pay them a fee or commission based on how they assist you with the process of finding and purchasing a policy.

If you don't want to speak to an independent agent, but you want to make sure you find the best life insurance policy you can, you also have the option of going online and comparing life insurance quotes from multiple companies.

This way, you can use the internet as an objective third party and not be worried that anyone is trying to convince you to buy a policy for their own benefit.

As you shop online for life insurance coverage, be sure to use our free quote tool below to find and compare the best rates based on your unique needs.