A brokerage that tells you what it earns

PolicySherpas exists because of a specific frustration. If you search for insurance online, most of what you find is a lead-generation page dressed up as a comparison tool. You enter a phone number, that number is auctioned to a dozen agents, and your afternoon disappears. Nobody explains what a coverage limit does. Nobody tells you when a product is a bad deal.

We built the opposite. Every quote request goes to one licensed producer, not an auction floor. Every guide on this site is written to be genuinely useful even if you never buy anything from us, which is why several of them say plainly that a product we can sell you is overpriced for most people. Our indexed universal life page is a good example.

How we are paid

For insurance, the carrier pays us a commission that is already built into the rate the carrier filed with your state insurance department. Buying the same policy directly from the insurer, or through a different agent, would not make the premium lower. Commission rates vary by product line, so we publish the ranges rather than pretend they do not exist:

Two consequences follow from that table, and we would rather you hear them from us. First, permanent life insurance pays us far more than term does, so when we recommend term — which is most of the time — we are recommending the option that pays us less. Second, Medicare commissions are capped by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the same amount regardless of which plan you choose, which removes any financial reason for us to steer you.

Financial planning and wealth management are different. Those services are offered through a registered investment adviser, are billed as a flat planning fee or a percentage of assets under management, and are disclosed in writing in an engagement agreement before any work starts. There is no commission on advisory work.

What we will not do

• We do not sell your data. Not to lead buyers, not to aggregators, not to "marketing partners". Your information goes to your advisor and to the carriers you ask us to quote.
• We do not cold-call you eleven times. One advisor, one follow-up. If you do not respond, we stop.
• We do not quote a rate we cannot support. We ask underwriting questions up front so the number you see is the number you get.
• We do not hide behind jargon. If a document matters, we explain it in plain language before you sign it.

Who reviews this site

Every guide and product page is reviewed by a producer licensed in life, health and property and casualty lines before it is published, and reviewed again at least annually or whenever a governing figure changes — CMS releases new Part B premiums, the IRS updates contribution limits, or a state changes its minimum liability requirements. Each page shows the month it was last reviewed.

Licensing and disclosures

PolicySherpas Insurance Services LLC is an independent insurance producer headquartered at 4651 Salisbury Rd, Suite 400, Jacksonville, FL 32256. We hold resident and non-resident licenses in 47 states and the District of Columbia under national producer number 21094887. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency, the federal Medicare program, or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Product availability, policy forms and rates vary by state and are subject to carrier underwriting approval.