Buying a compliance platform is often treated as the finish line for MGAs. Demos are watched, pricing tables debated, and contracts signed, with the assumption that compliance will somehow become “handled”. Months later, however, many teams find themselves still emailing spreadsheets to carriers, manually checking licences and ignoring dashboards that once looked impressive in a sales pitch. This guide explores why that happens — and how MGAs can avoid it.
Producerflow has put together a guide that explores why that happens and how MGAs can avoid it.
Tip 1: Start with the producer lifecycle, not the platform
The first mistake many MGAs make is configuring software before clearly defining their own producer lifecycle. Most producers move through onboarding, active selling, monitoring and renewal, and eventual termination.
Yet responsibility for each stage is often unclear. Without defined owners, alerts go unread, tasks remain unassigned and systems quietly turn into notification graveyards. Mapping the lifecycle on a whiteboard — independent of any vendor workflow — is a critical first step.
Tip 2: Assign owners, not vague responsibility
Compliance is often described as a team effort, but “the team” is not an owner. Every control point needs a named individual and a backup. Someone must be accountable for licence expirations, carrier appointments, termination checks and alert responses. Without this clarity, failures become inevitable and untraceable. Technology can surface issues, but it cannot decide who is responsible for fixing them.
Tip 3: Turn rules into enforceable workflows
Most compliance platforms can automate reminders, but reminders are meaningless without defined actions. Each rule should follow a simple logic: trigger and response. A licence nearing expiry should escalate in severity as deadlines approach, eventually leading to restricted access if unresolved. Missing E&O documentation should block appointments. Alerts without consequences are not controls — they are suggestions, and suggestions are easy to ignore.
Tip 4: Integrate systems to protect the audit trail
Compliance tools do not operate in isolation. Policy administration systems hold policy data, CRMs manage producer relationships and compliance platforms store evidence and eligibility. Without integration, MGAs end up with multiple versions of the truth and no reliable audit trail. Establishing a clear system of record, logging data changes and enforcing regular syncs is essential, particularly when preparing for carrier or regulatory audits.
Tip 5: Calibrate alerts to avoid compliance fatigue
When everything is urgent, nothing is. Mature compliance operations use tiered alerting, distinguishing between routine reminders and critical violations. Without calibration, teams become overwhelmed and start ignoring notifications altogether. Reviewing thresholds after go-live — based on real data — helps ensure that high-risk issues receive immediate attention.
Tip 6: Audit the system itself
Perhaps the most overlooked step is auditing the compliance setup. Quarterly spot checks of producer files and annual reviews of system rules against carrier requirements help prevent configuration drift. Regulators and carriers will eventually test these systems; internal audits ensure they work before external scrutiny arrives.
Read the full blog from Producerflow here.
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