Always start at the beginning....

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: scams. 

In today’s market, there are phone calls, phishing scams, text message scams, email scams and the list go on and on.  Now, with a more active AI (Artificial Intelligence), these scams are even more alarming.  These worry me and they should worry you. 

When I was between positions and brokerage companies, I was warned over and over again about phantom positions, fake interviews and job scams where the company asks for money, project work or even a ‘test’ to gather personal information to use against you later.  I was fortunate to not fall victim to the scams. 

Fast forward and here I am as an insurance agent, creating an agency seeking to reach out to people and wondering why anyone would trust me.  You don’t know me. 

Let’s first get this elephant in the right space and out of our conversation.  Let me teach you how to check to see if an agent, agency, broker, financial planner or investor is legitimate. 

We will start with someone like me that is an agent with an agency.  My agency is not licensed.  I am the entity that holds the license.  The agency is an LLC that allows me to create a business around my knowledge, skill set and expertise.  This is for practical purposes of creating website and social media presence.  You wouldn’t know that without either asking me or searching for both my name and my agency name. 

You can go to this website to start your search. Licensee Search | Utah Insurance Department

If you are familiar with the industry, there are a few regulatory and license tracking bodies (i.e. companies) that allow insurance companies and other agents or brokerages to research the standing of agencies and individual agents.  It is like a quick background check to ensure you are working with someone that holds the right credentials to be speaking to you.

Click on the top search with Licensee Search. 

This brings you to the search fields.  You can search by location, name, or license number.

If you are looking for any licensed agent, search by location.

If you are looking for someone that contacted you or was referred to and you want to make sure they are legitimate, search by name. 

If you have already spoken to someone and they provided their license number, you can search by the number as part of your due diligence. 

And you need to always do your due diligence.  I am not worried if you check me out as I would do the same in your shoes and would recommend doing so for any loved one or family member. 

If I search in a 3-mile radius from my house in Bountiful, I see a huge list of agents presented in alphabetical order.  Toward the bottom is the list of agencies.  It will have the city, state, zip phone number license and comment of active or inactive depending on how we searched. 

This helps you know they are a legitimate person or entity. If you want to dive deeper, you can click the name and it will show the details of their email, issue date of the license, the kind of licenses, if they are affiliated with any agencies, and if they are affiliated with any insurance companies. 

Here is what the screen would look like if you chose to search for my name. 

Here is the screen if you search my license number. 

I do not have any additional licenses like a securities license.  However, if you are speaking to someone that wants you to invest or buy something that requires the picking of stocks that are traded on any market, you need to look them up through a different regulatory body that manages that license. 

Start with this link:  BrokerCheck - Find a broker, investment or financial advisor 

Start with their name, firm name and state.  Or you can look at the firm they are representing.

Searching for the company, you just need the main name not the details. It will pull up anything that has that as part of the name and you can see if they are blue, grey or red.  Blue is good, grey is not currently active, and red is revoked. 

Here is an example of AXA.  AXA is a large insurance agency that I know also offers products through their own securities brokers. 

If you search for the individual name, you pull up anyone that has AXA in their name. 

If you search for the firm, you pull up the entity and see if they are in good standing.

Again, always check. 

I hope this helps you learn how to do some due diligence so you can feel more secure in your decisions and who you are speaking to. 

Remember, we always learn first: LEARN. Decide. Insure. 

Thank you

Emilie