As agents we are pulled in many different directions, life and business events occur, and things occassionally slip through the cracks. Certifications can easily be one of those things that slips through the cracks. Here are two major reasons why it’s a good idea to make sure your certifications are current:
- Renewals! Humana, for example, will not pay renewals on prior year Medicare Advantage business if an agent is not certified to sell MA products for the current year. For example, if an agent sold a few Humana MA plans in 2013 that are still in force for 2015, the agent will not be paid their renewals on these policies unless the agent is certified to sell Humana MA plans for 2015.
- If you are up-to-date with your certifications, it will prevent you from having to jump through additional hoops in future years, if you decided to start selling for a particular plan again. For example: let’s say you sold Humana MA products in 2013, chose not to certify for 2014, and then decided to sell Humana again in 2015. To obtain your 2015 Humana certification, you will have to attend a face-to-face training class just as you did the first time you certified to sell Humana MA products. However, if you had maintained current certifications with Humana, you wouldn’t have to take another face-to-face class; you would simply complete the online portion of the certification training.
If certification is an impossibility, you may need to consider tranferring your book of business to an agent who is certified, in order to preserve your renewals. You are free to contact us if you have questions about this method.
