Gallup recently released it’s annual Honesty/Ethics in Professions poll. The good news? The category “insurance salespeople” is not in last place. The bad news? The only “professions” that finished worse were car salespeople and members of Congress. If you click on the link and scroll down the page, you’ll find Gallup poll results for the past 40 years.

Why does the category “insurance salespeople” do so poorly? What constitutes an “insurance salesperson” in the mind of consumers? Do they think this refers to door to door term life insurance salesmen? Or is it a broader viewpoint that the entire industry (L&H and P&C) is dishonest and unethical?

If you look at the poll results for the past 40 years, it’s clear this is not a recent phenomenon. As an industry, “insurance” has not been held in high esteem for at least 40 years and probably much longer than that. Why? It would be good to have more data. THEN, perhaps we could do something about it.

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Bill Wilson

Founder at InsuranceCommentary.com
One of the premier insurance educators in America on form, coverage, and technical issues; Founder and director of the Big “I” Virtual University; Retired Assoc. VP of Education and Research from Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Reprint Request Information