Verify a company is legit in under 5 minutes
Before you hand over health history, personal details, or payment, run these checks. All three are free, all three take minutes, and all three tell you fast whether you're actually dealing with who you think you are.
Check 1: state license, company and agent both
Every state has an insurance department (called a Department or Division of Insurance) that licenses every company and agent selling there. That license is public record, and every state has a free lookup tool to search by name and confirm the license is active and in good standing. Not sure which regulator covers you? The National Association of Insurance Commissioners keeps a directory at naic.org that points you there fast. This is the same tool state regulators expect consumers to use — no special access required.
Check 2: the agent's license number
Every licensed agent has a National Producer Number (NPN), issued at licensing and tied to them regardless of which company they currently represent. A legitimate agent hands this over instantly — no hesitation — and you can verify it through the same state tools above. Hesitation, deflection, or an inability to produce one is your signal to stop and verify before going further.
Check 3: how they want you to pay
Legitimate carriers collect premium through ordinary, traceable channels — bank draft, check made out to the company, or a card charged by the carrier directly. Nothing unusual required. Wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or mailed cash? Stop immediately — real insurance companies never ask for those. They all share one property that has nothing to do with insurance: once sent, that money is essentially untraceable.
The fast rule
If a payment method would also work for a scammer posing as a grandchild in trouble, it's not a method a real insurance company uses either. Full stop.
Run these same checks on us, right now
This site connects you with licensed agents, so it'd be strange to write this guide and not say it directly: check us too. Ask for a license number. Look up any carrier we mention. A legitimate agency loses nothing from a five-minute check, and you shouldn't have to take our word for it, or anyone else's.