Why do some insurance policies get sold more?

Insurance agents today operate inside a tight, competitive distribution environment, aggregators, digital insurers, price comparisons and thinner margins. In that setting, internal sales contests become a powerful lever. They don’t just motivate agents; they can influence product visibility.

The survey finding was honestly striking: 48% of agents admitted they feel pressure to sell specific products to meet contest targets, either occasionally or always. This doesn’t automatically mean mis-selling. But it does suggest a structural tilt: when contests are product-linked, the sales conversation can start drifting from “what fits” to “what counts”.

What exactly is contest pressure?

Contest pressure refers to the push agents experience when insurers or intermediaries run incentive programmes tied to selling certain products or hitting product-specific targets. The rewards can be cash, recognition and trips.

Why it matters

Customers don’t see the contest circular or the dashboard. They only see the product pitch. When a sales ecosystem rewards specific products more than suitability, the market naturally sells more of what is measurable and incentivised. Suitability is nuanced; targets are numeric. Numbers usually win.

Consequences: What consumers can face

The risk is not always a bad product. It’s a misaligned product, one chosen because it moved the needle for the seller and felt attractive to the buyer, not because it best matched the customer’s needs, horizon and ability to continue premiums. Over time, this can show up as dissatisfaction, early lapses or policies that look fine on day one but don’t feel valuable later.

Another layer often overlooked is how normalised this dynamic has become. In many cases, neither the agent nor the customer sees it as distortion. Targets are viewed as part of the job. Over time, this behaviour stops feeling exceptional and starts feeling standard.

There is also an information gap. Most buyers do not know how commission grids or contest structures work. They assume recommendations are neutral by default. At the same time, many agents assume customers are primarily price-sensitive and therefore lead with what is easier to close. This mutual assumption quietly reinforces the cycle. The result is not always immediate harm.

Policies get issued. Premiums get paid. But when incentives dominate and questions around suitability stay limited, the long-term alignment between product and need weakens. And insurance, more than most financial products, is tested over time not at the point of sale.

In summary

Incentives shape what gets sold, and consumer behaviour shapes what gets accepted. Until both sides start optimising for “fit” instead of “deal” or “target”, the product sold won’t always be the product that should have been sold.