Solved Solutions vs a captive agency
A captive agency buys you structure: income that does not depend on this month, training, supplied leads, and someone else carrying the cost of the desk. Independence buys you a wider shelf and a book you own. Which is better depends mostly on where you are.
Quick verdict
Choose a captive agency when you want to learn to sell without also carrying the risk of running a business: a salary or a draw, structured training, supplied leads, supervision, and expenses someone else pays. Choose Solved Solutions when the exclusivity has started costing you cases you could have placed, and you want a multi-carrier shelf, a book that is yours, and technology included rather than issued.
Captive arrangements differ widely. Some are employment, some are exclusive contracts, and ownership of clients and renewals varies by agreement. Read the one in front of you rather than the description of a category.
Choose captive
New to the senior market, or you would rather sell than run a business and finance a pipeline.
Choose Solved Solutions
You are turning away cases the shelf cannot place, and you want the renewals to be yours.
Capability by capability
Categories rather than feature counts. No organization is named, no carrier is named, and no compensation figure appears anywhere on this page.
| Capability | Solved SolutionsIndependentmulti-carrier contracting | Captive agencyExclusivepublicly documented |
|---|---|---|
| Income that does not depend on this month | Commission onlyA slow month is a slow month. We will not dress that up. | A salary or a draw is common in the categoryThe clearest advantage of going captive. |
| Structured training for a new producer | A structured first thirty days, plus live platform and product sessions | Formal training programs are typical of the category |
| Leads supplied at no cost to the producer | Exclusive leads available, priced separately and never required | Supplied leads are common in the categoryWorth real money to a producer starting out. |
| Business expenses carried by the organization | Technology included; other business costs are yours | Office, tools, and marketing costs commonly carried |
| Benefits such as health coverage and retirement | Not applicable to an independent contract | Available where the arrangement is employment |
| Compliance supervision built into the day | Recording and AI compliance scoring in the dialer; supervision is yours to run | Direct supervision is a defining feature of the category |
| Breadth of the product shelf | Multi-carrier across Medicare, final expense, and ancillary | Exclusive by definition, so the shelf is narrower |
| Placing a case outside one appetite | Route it to a carrier that fitsA declined case finds a home instead of being lost. | A case outside the shelf is a case you cannot place |
| Who owns the client and the renewal | Yours, and stated in writing | Varies by agreement; house business is commonThe most important clause to read before signing one. |
| Independence in how and where you sell | Your process, your hours, your market | Defined by the agency, which is part of what the structure provides |
| Building a downline or an agency of your own | Hierarchy, overrides, and downline onboarding supported | Advancement is commonly through the organization rather than your own structure |
| Technology to sell with | Dialer, quoting, and lead delivery includedFrom sister companies rather than a vendor. | Tools are commonly provided as part of the arrangement |
| Carrier appointments and paperwork | Prepared and submitted for you across carriers | Handled by the organization within its own shelf |
| Upside tied directly to production | What you write is what you earn | Structures vary; a salary component usually implies a different curve |
| Risk carried by the producer | YoursSlow months, chargebacks, and the cost of your own pipeline. | Substantially carried by the organization |
| Portability if you leave | Release terms explained before you sign | Depends on the agreement, including any restrictive covenants in it |
Comparisons describe the common shape of each category rather than any one product, and are based on publicly published materials.
Which one is right for you?
This is less a comparison of organizations than a question about which stage you are at.
Choose a captive agency if
- You are new to the senior market and want to learn inside a structure
- Income that does not swing with the month matters more than upside right now
- You want leads supplied rather than bought, and expenses carried rather than owned
- Benefits and supervision are worth more to you than a wider shelf
- You would rather sell than run and finance a business
Choose Solved Solutions if
- You are regularly turning away cases a narrow shelf cannot place
- You want the clients and the renewals to be yours, in writing
- Supplied leads are no longer your constraint, production is
- You want to build a downline or a sales floor of your own
- You want independence without giving up the technology a captive desk provided
FAQs
Solved Solutions vs a captive agency: common questions
Is captive a bad way to start?
No. For a new producer it is frequently the better way to start. A captive arrangement commonly provides a salary or a draw, structured training, supplied leads, supervision, and business expenses carried by the organization, which means you can learn to sell without also learning to run a business and finance one at the same time. Plenty of good independent producers started captive.
What do I give up going captive?
Breadth and ownership, broadly. A captive arrangement is exclusive by definition, so the shelf is narrower and a case outside that shelf is a case you cannot place. Whether the clients and renewals are yours or the agency's depends on the agreement, and that is the single most important clause to read before you sign one.
When should a captive producer go independent?
Usually when two things are true at once: you are consistently writing enough that supplied leads are no longer the constraint, and you are regularly turning away cases the shelf cannot place. At that point the exclusivity is costing you more than the structure is giving you. Before that point it usually is not.
Do I need my own leads if I leave a captive agency?
You need a source of opportunity, which is not the same as needing to buy leads. Some producers work referrals and a book they already have. Exclusive Medicare, life, and final expense leads from Solved Marketing are available and priced separately, but they are an option rather than a requirement, and nothing about a contract here depends on buying them.
Can you tell me what a captive agency pays?
No, and we would be making it up if we tried. Compensation structures vary by organization and by role, and they are theirs to state. We also do not publish our own levels, because those depend on what you write and the structure you sit in. What we will do is put your level, advance terms, and override structure in writing before you complete any packets.
Something else? Contact us
Not sure you are ready to go independent?
Tell us what you are writing and where your cases go when the shelf cannot place them. If the answer is that you should stay another season, we will say so.