Glossary

General agent and BGA

A firm or person holding direct insurer contracts that supplies agents with products, case help and commission processing, earning an override.

Also called: general agent, GA, BGA, brokerage general agency, MGA

A general agent (GA) is a person or firm that holds a contract directly with an insurance company and recruits, trains or supports the agents who sell its policies. In the traditional career system, a general agent runs a local office for one insurer. A brokerage general agency (BGA) works the other way around: it contracts with many insurers and gives independent agents access to their products.

A BGA typically handles the back-office work a solo agent can't: running quotes across carriers, informally shopping a difficult medical case to several underwriters before a formal application, ordering exams, tracking pending cases and processing commissions. The insurer pays the BGA an override, a percentage on top of the writing agent's commission, out of the policy's pricing. The buyer doesn't pay the GA a separate fee.

For consumers, the GA or BGA is mostly invisible, but it shapes what you're offered: an agent can only sell products from carriers it has access to through its contracts. Asking which insurers an agent can place business with is a fair question. See how agents are paid and captive vs independent life insurance agents.

Last reviewed October 4, 2026

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Related terms

Independent agent A licensed agent who holds contracts with several insurers and can compare their products, rather than selling for a single company. Captive agent An insurance agent who sells mainly or only one company's policies, usually with training and support from that company in return. Insurance broker A licensed insurance professional who can shop policies from many insurers on a buyer's behalf, typically paid by commission from the chosen insurer. Producer The legal term for a person licensed by a state to sell, solicit or negotiate insurance, covering agents and brokers alike.

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Captive vs independent life insurance agents Captive agents sell one company's policies; independent agents can quote several. How each is paid, what each can do for you and what to ask either one. Careers in life insurance: agents, underwriters and actuaries What life insurance agents, underwriters and actuaries do, what they earn and how each job is changing, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 outlook. How to check that an insurance agent is licensed Step-by-step: verify an agent's license with the NAIC lookup, your state insurance department, NIPR and, for securities, FINRA BrokerCheck. Life insurance brokers vs agents In law an agent represents the insurer and a broker represents the buyer, but in life insurance the two roles blur. What the labels mean and what to ask. How life insurance agents are paid Agents are paid by the insurer, mostly a large first-year share of premium plus smaller renewals. How it works, why it matters and what to ask. Life insurance sold through multilevel marketing: what to know How recruiting-based life insurance sales organizations work, what the FTC says about MLMs and pyramid schemes, and what to ask as a customer or recruit.

Related insurers

Kansas City Life A Bixby family-led Missouri life insurer founded in 1895, selling term, whole, universal and indexed life through agencies, plus Old American final expense.