Do life insurance leads work for new advisers?

They can, but the risk is higher: no conversion history to plan with, less cash to absorb a slow month, and indemnity commission that can be clawed back. Start with a small daily cap, one product you know well and a written pass mark. Our guide for first-time lead buyers covers budgets and first steps.

Is it worth paying for life insurance leads?

It is when the lead cost of each policy, plus the adviser time behind it, sits comfortably below the commission the policy keeps after clawback. That usually takes spare calling time, same-day first calls and cases large enough to carry the cost. If referrals already fill your diary, the money may do more elsewhere.

Are life insurance leads a scam?

Not as a category. A genuine lead is an enquiry from someone who asked to be contacted. The problems are recycled data, leads sold to several firms as exclusive, and details gathered through misleading adverts. Check the seller on the FCA register, ask for its consent wording and credit terms, and test small first. Our buying guide lists the checks.

How long does it take to know if life insurance leads work?

Invalid details and contact rates show within a week or two, and booked fact-finds within a month. Policies can take weeks or months to go on risk, depending on underwriting and start dates. Whether they stay on risk takes longer, because clawback periods are generally two or four years, so keep tracking lapses by source.

What conversion rate do you need for life insurance leads to work?

No UK benchmark is published, so divide your price per lead by the commission a policy keeps after clawback. Illustrative example: a £40 lead against £675 of kept commission covers its own cost at about 5.9%, and needs about 8.9% to leave £225 a policy for time and margin. These are examples, not Protection Connect results.

Are exclusive leads more likely to work than shared leads?

Not automatically. Exclusive leads cost more but remove the race against other buyers of the same enquiry, though the customer may have enquired elsewhere, so they suit advisers who call promptly but can’t always be the first to dial. Shared leads suit teams that can reach customers first. Our comparison of exclusive and shared leads weighs both on lead cost per policy.

Are life insurance leads worth it for mortgage advisers?

Usually as a top-up. Your mortgage clients are probably your cheapest protection conversations, and FCA Financial Lives data puts the share of mortgage holders without life insurance above 40%. Bought enquiries help most when you have spare calling time and your network or principal allows them. Our guide to which leads suit each type of firm sets out the options.

Does advice on Reddit about buying leads apply in the UK?

Partly. The cost per policy sum travels, but US agents work under different licensing, pay and calling rules. In the UK, most protection commission is paid upfront and can be clawed back, live marketing calls are subject to PECR and the TPS, and cheap aged data can carry consent and TPS problems, as our guide to aged leads explains.

Growing your pipeline (all guides)

Do life insurance leads actually work?

Yes, life insurance leads work when the lead cost of each policy you place sits well below the commission that policy keeps, with room left for adviser time. Whether they work for you depends on conversion, case size and calling speed, so test each source against written rules before you scale.

Protection Connect·Updated October 2026

Cost per policy is the test

Illustrative example, not a Protection Connect result: a £40 lead converting at 8% costs £500 a policy, so each policy must keep well over that.

Five conditions to check

Calling time, speed, a written follow-up plan, products you can place and cases big enough to carry the cost.

Test 30 days, with rules

Write a pass mark and stop line before the first lead, then judge the source on projected lead cost per policy.

No seller can promise results

Protection Connect doesn’t either: see each enquiry’s price before you buy.

Does buying life insurance leads work at your numbers?

Lead cost per policy = price per lead ÷ share of leads that become policies on risk.

A low price per lead proves nothing on its own, and neither does a strong week of applications.

Three numbers decide it

Conversion: the share of leads that become policies on risk. No reliable UK benchmark is published, so use your own records.
Commission kept: what reaches you per policy after any network or principal share, less an allowance for early lapses.
Time: the calls, fact-finds and paperwork behind every lead, including the many that don’t buy.

Commission is the one with published figures. The FCA’s pure protection market study interim report (January 2026) found initial commission typically set at 170% to 250% of first-year premium, with about 96% paid upfront on indemnity terms in 2024. Clawback periods are generally two or four years, so what a lead earns you stays provisional until the policy has lasted.

Try it with your own figures.

Calculator

Do leads work at your numbers?

Enter your price, conversion and commission kept to see the lead cost of each policy and what is left.

Price per lead in pounds

What you pay for one enquiry.

Leads that become policies as a percentage

Policies placed for every 100 leads, as a %. 10% means 1 policy in 10 leads.

Average commission per policy in pounds

Your average commission kept per policy placed (after any network or principal share), before lead costs. Initial commission is typically 170% to 250% of the first year’s premium (FCA, 2026).

Allow for clawbacks

Policies lost to clawback as a percentage

If you take indemnity commission, the share you expect to repay because policies lapse early.

Lead cost per policy: –

Commission left after leads: –
Break-even price per lead: –

Illustrative calculator: the default figures are examples, not Protection Connect results or a forecast. Use your own numbers.

Illustrative example: at the starting figures, a £40 lead converting at 8% carries £500 of lead cost for each policy. Allowing 10% for clawback cuts £750 of commission to £675, which leaves £175 after leads and a break-even price of £54 a lead.

Now add the time

The calculator stops at lead cost, but every lead also takes time: dialling and notes for all of them, then fact-finds and applications for the few who engage. The table assumes 20 minutes of adviser and admin time per lead, costed at £30 an hour, which is £10 a lead. Our guide to the costs behind the lead price covers systems and other overheads.

Conversion	Lead cost per policy	Time per policy	Left after leads and time
6%	£667	£167	−£158
8%	£500	£125	£50
10%	£400	£100	£175
12%	£333	£83	£258

Illustrative example: £40 per lead, £675 of commission kept after a 10% clawback allowance, and £10 of time per lead. These figures are examples, not Protection Connect results.

Two points of conversion separate a source that loses about £158 a policy from one that makes about £50.

A reality check on margin

For the protection specialists in the FCA’s cost data (only ten firms, and whole-business figures), lead generation and staff took about 30% of gross commission: a reference point, not a target. In the 8% example, leads and time take about 83% of the £750 commission before the clawback allowance, which leaves little for expected clawbacks, compliance, systems and profit.

If the maths only works at a conversion rate you’ve never achieved, the answer for now is no. Work out the most you can afford to pay per lead before you buy.

When are life insurance leads worth it?

Life insurance leads tend to work when five conditions hold together. Miss one and the other four have to work much harder.

Time to callSomeone can ring each new lead during the hours leads arrive, and your daily cap matches the first calls you can make properly.
SpeedThe first attempt happens while the enquiry is fresh. US research in Harvard Business Review (2011) found firms that tried to reach web leads within an hour were about seven times as likely to qualify them as firms that waited longer; it isn’t UK protection data, so treat it as a pointer, not a benchmark.
A written processSeveral attempts at different times over the following days, an opening that refers to the enquiry, a firm stop when someone declines or asks not to be called, and a CRM that records each stage by source.
Products you can placeA panel that suits the customers you buy, including smokers, older applicants and people with a health history. Criteria you can’t place well are leads you pay to turn away.
Cases that carry the costPolicies that earn enough commission to absorb the lead cost and the time, at the conversion rate you actually achieve.

Why case size matters

Commission is a multiple of premium, so the customer sets the ceiling on what a lead is worth. Which? found in April 2026 that a healthy 31-year-old non-smoker could get £200,000 of level term over 25 years for about £8.20 a month, the average of the five cheapest quotes.

Illustrative example: that is £98.40 a year, so initial commission at 170% to 250% would be about £167 to £246. A £40 lead only covers its own cost on cases like this if one lead in four to six becomes a policy. These figures are examples, not Protection Connect results.

That is no reason to steer anyone towards more cover than they need, but your buying criteria should reflect the cases where you advise well and still cover your costs. Over-50s plans need their own sums, which our guide to buying over-50s leads works through.

Compared with your other sources

If you arrange mortgages, protection conversations with your own clients probably cost you least; bought enquiries add people who are already looking. Before you buy, check that neither card below describes you.

Fix first

Sort the process before you spend

Nobody owns new leads during the working day
You don’t know your conversion rate on enquiries from strangers
Your CRM can’t record where a lead came from
Your principal or network hasn’t approved the seller

Not yet

Spend the time elsewhere for now

Referrals and existing clients already fill your diary
A failed test would strain your cash flow
Most of your cases are small single-life policies
You can’t advise on the products the leads ask about

New advisers face the hardest version: time to spare, but no conversion history and little cash cushion. See our guides for advisers buying leads for the first time, on getting life insurance leads, on referrals and other free sources and on generating leads through your own marketing.

Why don’t life insurance leads work for some firms?

Check both sides before you blame a source: the data and your own process. A new seller won’t fix a process problem, and a better process won’t rescue poor data.

Failure	What it looks like	What to change
Poor data from the seller	Invalid numbers, customers who don’t recall enquiring, other firms calling about an “exclusive” lead	Claim credits where the terms allow, run the seller checks, and stop if it doesn’t improve
Slow first contact	Leads wait until the next morning, and customers say they’ve “sorted it”	Set the daily cap to your calling hours, alert whoever is free, and pause when nobody can call
Too few attempts	One or two calls, then the lead is marked dead	Follow a written contact plan: several attempts at different times across about a week, stopping as soon as the customer says no or asks not to be contacted, and adding them to your do-not-call list
Criteria too broad or too narrow	Leads you can’t place, or too few to learn from	Narrow to cases you place well, then widen one filter at a time
No tracking by source	Two sellers and your referrals blur into one number	Tag every lead and record each stage up to policy on risk
Wrong expectations	Expecting most leads to answer, and most of those to buy	Plan on cost per policy, accepting that many leads won’t become customers
Policies that don’t stick	Healthy applications, then cancellations in the first year	Track lapses by source, and never press people who aren’t ready

Early lapses cost you twice

On indemnity terms, a policy that lapses inside the clawback period can cost you the lead and some or all of the commission. Some firms told the FCA that poor-quality leads may explain some early lapses, and its interim report found a 23% first-year lapse rate on non-advised intermediated sales with four-year clawback, against 5% across all policies in force in 2024. That covers all such sales, not bought leads alone, and comes from non-advised business, so an advised firm should read it as a warning rather than a forecast.

Does the type of lead change the answer?

Yes. Price per lead and conversion tend to move together, so the right type depends more on your capacity than on the price list.

Lead type	For it to work, you need	Why it often doesn’t
Exclusive real-time enquiries	Prompt calls, and conversion good enough to justify a higher price per lead	Late calls waste the head start of being the only buyer
Shared enquiries	To reach the customer before the other buyers, usually with a team and a dialler	A small firm often comes second or third to the phone
Aged leads	Capacity for high call volumes, plus fresh checks on consent and the TPS before anyone dials	Low contact, faded intent and consent that is hard to rely on
Hotkey transfers	An adviser free when the call arrives, and confidence in how the call centre made its first call	Transfers land when nobody can take them, or the customer was pushed into the call

Our side-by-side look at exclusive and shared leads runs the numbers for both, and the guides to low-cost life insurance leads and aged leads show what cheap data demands of your team.

How do you test whether life insurance leads work for you?

A month is long enough to learn whether a source deserves more of your money, and too short to prove that it works. It shows data quality, contact and early applications; policies can take weeks or months to go on risk, and staying there takes the length of your clawback period.

Before day 1: write the rules downSet a pass mark, the lead cost per policy you’d happily repeat, and a stop line above it that is no higher than break-even: commission kept after clawback, less the time each policy takes. Pick one product and criteria you place well, a maximum price, a daily cap your team can call, and a source tag in your CRM.
Days 1 to 10: check the dataCount invalid numbers and emails, credits claimed and how they were decided, and how fast each first attempt was made. Ask early in each call what prompted the enquiry, and note whether the customer remembers making it.
Days 11 to 20: check the conversationsTrack leads spoken to, fact-finds booked and why people say no. If someone already holds cover, only recommend replacing it where that leaves them better off, and record why; what you paid for the lead is never a reason.
Days 21 to 30: check the pipelineCount recommendations and applications, and keep working open leads past the month end.
Day 30: project and decideMultiply your applications by the share that usually go on risk, divide your lead spend by the result, and compare that with your pass mark and stop line.
Days 31 to 120: confirmRecalculate on policies actually on risk, then track lapses by source for the whole clawback period.

Illustrative example: 40 leads at £40 cost £1,600, with a pass mark of £450 and a stop line of £550 (£675 of kept commission less £125 of time per policy). Four applications at your usual 80% on-risk rate project 3.2 policies, or £500 a policy: between the two lines, so you adjust and rerun rather than scale. These figures are examples, not Protection Connect results.

One policy moves the result. Illustrative example: on a 40-lead test that places three policies, one more cuts the lead cost per policy by a quarter and one fewer raises it by half. Don’t let a good fortnight talk you into a big increase, or a bad one into quitting a source you haven’t worked properly.

Stop, adjust or scale

Stop

End the test early

Invalid details are frequent and credits don’t resolve them
Customers often don’t recall enquiring, or other firms call about a lead you bought as exclusive
Opt-outs or complaints suggest people didn’t expect a call
The projected lead cost per policy is above your stop line

Adjust

Change one thing and rerun

Contact is reasonable but few fact-finds are booked: review your criteria and your opening
Your own first-call speed or number of attempts fell short of the plan
The projection sits between your pass mark and your stop line

Scale

Grow in small steps

The projection is at or below your pass mark
Applications are going on risk at your usual rate
You have calling time for more: raise the daily cap a step at a time

Our guide to where to buy leads explains how to size a fair trial, and our guide to the best leads covers running two providers side by side.

See each enquiry and its price before you buy.

Exclusive life and over-50s enquiries. No fixed-term contract or minimum monthly spend.

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Which compliance risks can stop leads paying?

A lead that ends in a complaint, an opt-out or a clawback didn’t work, whatever it cost. The general rules are in our main guide’s section on UK rules; three points change the sums on this page.

Since 5 February 2026, PECR fines can reach £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover, and the ICO fined Pinnacle Life £80,000 in March 2024 over roughly 48,000 marketing calls selling life insurance to TPS-registered numbers.

Before you call a bought lead, check what the customer agreed to and who they agreed could contact them, and screen the number against the TPS: you can only make a live marketing call to a TPS-registered number where that person has told your firm they don’t object to your calls. Marketing emails and texts need consent that names your firm and the channel.

On Protection Connect, LifeAdviser and 50Life customers see a notice under the “Get my quotes” button: their details may go to one FCA authorised adviser firm, or one of its appointed representatives, that buys enquiries through Protection Connect and may contact them about their enquiry. The notice doesn’t name your firm. When you call, say who you are and mention their LifeAdviser or 50Life enquiry. Each lead shows the contact methods agreed: ask your compliance adviser how PECR applies to each source, ours included.

Keep lead-cost pressure away from the customer

The FCA’s Consumer Duty reaches retail customers who aren’t yet your clients (PRIN 2A.1.13G), and for pure protection, fair value falls under PROD 4, which asks distributors to consider how their arrangements, remuneration included, bear on the value a customer gets. A firm chasing an expensive lead can rush vulnerable customers or write policies people later cancel. Ask your compliance adviser how your contact plan and scripts fit the Duty, and where lead costs sit in your fair value assessment.

Keep a file on every source

In its September 2026 final report, the FCA decided not to require intermediaries to report which lead generators they use, and said it would monitor through supervision. Keep each source’s FCA status, consent wording, credit terms and your test results on file anyway.

What does Protection Connect promise, and what doesn’t it?

What we can’t promise. We don’t promise that a customer will answer, qualify or buy, and we don’t publish contact or conversion rates: your test supplies those. Volumes depend on customers’ enquiries and other firms’ purchases. Available leads shows each enquiry’s price before you buy.

What we stand behind. Each enquiry comes from someone who asked, on our own websites LifeAdviser or 50Life, to be contacted about cover, and goes to one firm only. Buyers are FCA authorised firms and their appointed representatives, each verified against the FCA register.

See the price before buying. We set a lead’s starting price when it’s listed; prices then move with demand and as a lead stays unsold. Prices never fall below £50 for income protection or £55 for life cover.
A pace you can call. Buy individually or use automatic buying with a daily limit.
Credits on set grounds. Claim within 48 hours of delivery on three grounds, such as a phone number not in service; no answer or no sale isn’t one.

There’s no fixed-term contract, and we aren’t a low-cost source per lead. If our enquiries don’t work for you, close your account and we repay any unused balance within 14 days, less anything you owe. See how buying works and our marketplace in full.

Do life insurance leads actually work?