Advisor relationships
You can question your benefits advice without starting over.
If the advice, the service or the renewal strategy no longer feels right, you have options. What they are depends on your current contract and carrier, which is why the first step is understanding the arrangement you already have.
Three stages, and none of them commit you.
Exploring another advisor does not necessarily mean replacing your coverage. What is possible, and how quickly, depends on the contract and the insurer.
- 01
Review the current arrangement.
What the plan covers, how it has renewed, what service you receive and what, specifically, is not working. Sometimes the answer is a better conversation with the current advisor.
- 02
Establish the constraints.
Each carrier has its own process for changing the advisor of record, and the contract may set notice periods or conditions. These determine what can change and when.
- 03
Discuss the realistic next steps.
With the constraints clear, the options might include keeping the plan and changing the advisor, re-marketing the plan, or staying put with a clearer picture. None are automatic.
Your Friend With Benefits cannot promise that coverage, pricing, plan terms or service will stay the same through an advisor change. Those outcomes are set by the carrier and the contract, and are confirmed before anything is changed.
The company insuring you and the person advising you are usually not the same.
That is why an advisor change is a different decision from a carrier change. The insurer holds the policy; the advisor is the relationship through which you evaluate it.
Your insurer
- Provides the policy
- Administers coverage and claims
- Sets renewal pricing and terms
Your advisor
- Helps you understand your options
- Explains plan structure and trade-offs
- Keeps the next renewal in view
Agent of Record
Keep your plan. Change your advisor.
If you like your insurance company but not the service you're getting, you don't have to switch plans. A one-page Agent of Record letter names Your Friend With Benefits as your advisor with your current insurer.
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Request it online Easiest
Send the short form. We'll email you the letter through OneSpan, our e-signature provider, to sign on screen. No printing or scanning.
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Or download the letter
Print it on your company letterhead, fill it in, sign it and send it back to us.
Agent of Record letter (PDF)
Five questions to ask first.
Bring these to any advisor, including the one you have now. Clear answers are a good sign.
- 01 What part of the current relationship isn't working?
- 02 Can the plan stay in place if the advisor changes?
- 03 What authorization and carrier rules apply?
- 04 Will the available plan terms or service change?
- 05 Who can help explain the process?
A second opinion doesn't commit you to anything.
Tell us about your current plan and how it has been renewing. We'll explain whether another perspective is likely to be useful, and what it would involve.