Insurance is sold on the phone more than almost any other product. Quote requests, aged leads, renewals, cross-sells and annual reviews all come down to the same thing: reaching the person while they still care. An insurance dialer takes the dialing off the agent's plate, so the calling block is spent talking to prospects and clients, not waiting on rings and voicemail greetings.
This guide explains how independent agents and small agencies use a dialer, the calling rules that matter most in insurance (including the strict rules for Medicare), four short scripts you can adapt, and a free calculator that turns dials into policies and commission.
Last checked October 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Calling rules change and vary by state, province and line of insurance: check with your compliance team, carrier or a lawyer before a large calling campaign.
What an insurance dialer does
A dialer works through a call list for the agent. The main kinds:
- Click-to-call. The agent clicks each number from the CRM or agency management system. Simple, but most of the hour is spent waiting.
- Power dialer. Dials the next number as soon as the agent is free, one line per agent. It skips answering machines, logs the outcome and moves on. This is the usual choice for independent agents and small agencies.
- Multi-line or predictive dialer. Dials several numbers at once and connects whoever answers first. Faster on huge lead lists, but it can drop calls when two people answer, which is capped by law (see our predictive dialer guide).
For an agent, the useful features are: speed to lead on new quote requests, voicemail detection, callbacks with reminders tied to renewal dates, notes on each household, an internal Do Not Call list shared by the whole agency, a local caller ID, and stats on dials, conversations and quotes.
Who agents call, and what to watch
| List | Why they answer | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| New quote requests | They asked for a price minutes ago | Call fast. Check the consent names your agency. |
| Aged and purchased leads | They shopped for coverage recently | Consent collected by a lead seller may not cover you. Scrub against Do Not Call lists. |
| Current clients (cross-sell) | They already trust you | Fine to call, but respect any request to stop. |
| Renewals and annual reviews | Their premium is about to change | Call before the renewal notice lands, not after. |
| Medicare beneficiaries | Open enrollment questions | No cold calls at all. Only people who asked you to call. |
Insurance calling rules in plain English
In the United States, a call from an agent offering a policy to someone who is not a client is a telemarketing call. These are the rules agents trip over most.
- National Do Not Call Registry. Before cold calling, check your list against the registry and against your own internal Do Not Call list. Under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, your copy of the registry must be no more than 31 days old. Source: FTC, Q&A for telemarketers and sellers.
- Clients and inquiries. The established business relationship exception covers a person who made an inquiry with your agency for 3 months, and a client for 18 months after their last payment or transaction. Most active policyholders are covered for as long as they pay premiums. A request to stop calling overrides both.
- Purchased leads. A lead seller's web form may say the person agreed to be called by "partners". In January 2025 the Eleventh Circuit struck down the FCC's one-to-one consent rule in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, but consent must still clearly cover your agency for autodialed or prerecorded sales calls. Keep a copy of the consent record for every lead you buy. Source: Morrison Foerster.
- Medicare Advantage and Part D. CMS rules forbid plans, agents and brokers from cold calling, robocalls, unsolicited texts and voicemails to Medicare beneficiaries, and from calling people based on referrals. You may call someone who asked to be contacted, who returned a reply card, or who is your client for another product. Before a sales appointment you must agree on and record a Scope of Appointment. Source: 42 CFR 422.2264.
- Calling hours. Federal law allows sales calls from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the person's time zone. Several states are stricter: check any state with the free checker in our TCPA rules guide.
- Prerecorded messages and AI voices. Ringless voicemail and prerecorded sales messages need prior written consent under the TCPA, and the FCC treats AI-generated voices the same way. A live agent on every answered call keeps you out of that category.
- Penalties. A consumer can claim $500 to $1,500 per call that breaks the TCPA, and the FTC can seek civil penalties of tens of thousands of dollars per call for Do Not Call violations. Insurance lead campaigns are among the most frequent targets of TCPA class actions.
In Canada, the CRTC's National Do Not Call List applies to insurance agents too: telemarketers must register with the list operator, use a copy no older than 31 days and keep their own internal list. Quebec and other provinces add their own consumer protection and insurance distribution rules.
Four short insurance scripts
Keep them short, say who you are and why you are calling, and ask a question early. Adapt the words so they sound like you, and follow your carrier's approved wording where it applies.
1. New quote request
[After the questions] Thanks. I will have two options for you by [time]. Is a call or an email better to walk you through them?
2. Aged lead follow-up
[If still looking] What mattered most when you were comparing, the price or the coverage? ... I can run a quick comparison with [carriers] today. Would that help?
3. Cross-sell to a current client
[Listen] Would you like me to check what a bundle would look like? It takes about five minutes.
4. Renewal and annual review
[Listen] Thanks. I will check whether your coverage still fits and whether there is a better price. Can we book ten minutes on [day] to go over it?
More openers, gatekeeper lines and objection answers are in our cold calling script templates, and messages to leave when nobody picks up are in our voicemail scripts.
Dials to policies calculator
How many dials does a new policy take? Enter your own numbers. The default values are examples only: replace them with your real rates after a week or two of calling.
Commission rates vary a lot by line: property and casualty often pays 10% to 15% of premium every year, while life and final expense policies usually pay a much larger first-year commission. Want to know how many people a team needs for that volume? See the call center calculator and our cold calling statistics.
How to pick a dialer for an insurance agency
- One live agent per answered call. A power dialer keeps every answered call with a licensed person, which is better for prospects and for compliance.
- Speed to lead. New quote requests should reach an agent's phone within minutes. The odds of reaching a lead drop fast after the first hour.
- Voicemail detection. Most calls go to voicemail. Skipping them automatically is where the time savings come from.
- Callbacks tied to dates. Renewals, policy anniversaries and "call me after the holidays" requests need reminders, or they are lost.
- Do Not Call handling. An internal Do Not Call list that blocks a number for every agent in the agency, as soon as one person asks to stop.
- A local number with a good reputation. Insurance numbers are often flagged by carriers. If yours shows "Scam Likely", read how to fix it.
- Price for a small agency. Many dialers charge per seat plus minutes and numbers. Compare the total for your team: see what a power dialer really costs.
Frequently asked questions
Can insurance agents use an auto dialer?
Yes, with care. A power dialer that connects every answered call to a live agent is the common choice. Prerecorded or AI voice messages need prior written consent, and every cold call must respect the Do Not Call Registry, calling hours and your internal Do Not Call list.
Can I cold call people about Medicare plans?
No. CMS rules forbid unsolicited calls, texts and voicemails to Medicare beneficiaries about Medicare Advantage and Part D plans. You can call people who asked to be contacted, who returned a reply card, or who are your clients for another product, and you must record a Scope of Appointment before a sales appointment.
Can I call purchased insurance leads?
Only if the consent clearly covers your agency, and only if the number is not on a Do Not Call list without that consent. Ask the lead seller for the consent record for each lead, and keep it.
How many dials does it take to sell a policy?
It depends on your leads and your skill. With a 10% contact rate, 15% of conversations reaching a full quote and 30% of quotes buying, it takes about 223 dials for one policy. Use the calculator above with your own numbers.
Can I share this calculator?
Yes. You are welcome to link to this page, quote the scripts in your training material or share the calculator with your agency. Please link back to this page.
Spend your calling block talking, not dialing
Zorino is a power dialer and calling CRM for teams of 2 to 10. It dials your list, skips answering machines and rings an agent's own phone only when a person answers, from a local business number, with callbacks, notes and a shared Do Not Call list built in. One flat team price with minutes included. Try the live demo: it rings your own phone in 2 minutes, no account and no card.