Captive v. independent agent

If an agent is licensed with only one company, he is referred to as a “captive agent”. And he can only sell the insurance products of that company. If he is licensed with many companies, he is referred to as an “independent agent” because he is not restricted to selling the products of only one company.
But every agent can only sell the products of companies for which he is licensed to sell. This is important for you to know because an independent agent who can sell for many companies, if he is conscientious, has a better likelihood of selling you the best product to meet your insurance needs because he has more products from which to choose. In order to make the sale (and earn the commission), a captive agent may try to convince you that his company’s product is the best for you when in fact there are better products for your situation in the marketplace.