Buying Final Expense Leads or Calls: Questions to Ask the Vendor First

Why the questions matter more than the price

Most agents who stop buying from a lead vendor stop for a reason they could have found out on the first day: the leads were shared, short calls were billed in full, disputes went nowhere, or there was a monthly fee nobody mentioned. An ad shows the price but not what the price buys. Ask these questions in writing, keep the answers, and put every vendor through the same list. If you are looking for the best final expense lead vendors, this is how you tell them apart.

The questions work for every kind of purchase: shared, exclusive and aged leads, direct mail leads, live transfers and inbound calls. If you are still deciding between buying records and buying calls, read pay per call vs pay per lead first.

Questions about what you receive

1. Do I get a record to dial, or a live call? If I have to dial it, it is a lead, whatever the ad calls it.
2. Where did it come from: a TV ad, a social media ad, a web form, a mailed card or a call center? Can I see the ad or the form?
3. How old is it when it reaches me? A web lead is worth less by the hour. An aged lead may be months old.
4. How many other agents get the same one? Is it shared, exclusive, or sold again later as an aged lead?
5. Who talked to the person before me? On a live transfer, a screener did.
6. What did the ad or the form promise the person?

Ask the last question out loud. A senior who answered an ad that sounded like a free government plan starts the call expecting something you cannot give, and you spend the first minute undoing it. State attorneys general in Massachusetts and Iowa have acted against final expense mailers made to look like government programs, and fact-checkers have flagged social media ads that promised seniors a set cash amount from a state program. Our ads tell people the call is about final expense coverage and that a licensed agent in their state will pick up. When you answer, nobody has spoken to them first.

Ask the fifth question too. Agents on insurance forums report buying calls sold as inbound that turned out to be transfers from call centers dialing out. If someone dialed the senior first, you are buying a transfer, and the vendor's rules decide when you are billed.

Questions about what you pay

1. What event starts the charge: delivery, connect, a number of seconds, a qualified transfer, or a buffer?
2. What does a call that lasts five seconds cost?
3. Does the price go up if the call runs long?
4. What monthly fees come on top: a seat, a platform, a dialer, phone numbers?
5. What is the least I have to buy the first time, and after that?
6. Do credits expire, and what happens to them if I stop?
7. Is there a contract or a minimum term?

Our answers: the buffer starts the charge, a five-second call is $0, and the price does not go up on a long call. The seat is $97 a month per agent, first 30 days free, with no contract. The first top-up is $350, which is 5 TV calls or about 7 social calls. Credits do not expire while the account is open. Top-ups are final, so unused credits are not refunded. How our billing rule compares with others is on pay-per-call final expense, and the math for turning these answers into a cost per sale is in our guide to what final expense leads and calls cost.

Questions about bad calls and disputes

1. What can I dispute: the wrong product, the wrong state, a caller who was not a real person?
2. How long do I have to file?
3. Who decides, and do they listen to a recording?
4. How fast do I get an answer, and is it in writing?
5. If the dispute is approved, do I get money back or credit?
6. Is every call recorded, both sides, and can I play it back myself?

Without a recording, a dispute is your word against the vendor's. Ours: you file from the call in your Call Center within 48 hours, a team member listens to the recording and replies in writing within one business day, and an approved dispute comes back as wallet credit. Recordings are kept 12 months, and disputed calls 24 months. What counts and what does not is spelled out in the buffer guidelines.

Questions about routing and your desk

1. Will I only get leads or calls from states where I hold a license?
2. What hours do they come, and in which time zone?
3. Can I pause, choose my states, and set a daily cap?
4. What happens when I miss a ring? Am I billed for it?
5. What do I need on my desk: a dialer, a CRM, a desk phone, or only a browser?
6. Are Spanish-language callers offered, and how are they marked?

Ours: a call only rings agents licensed in the caller's state. Calls come 9am to 8pm ET, Monday to Friday. You choose your states and can go offline at any time, and a daily cap can be set once you are live. A missed ring goes to the next online agent and is not billed to you. You need Chrome and a headset, and your cell phone never rings. Spanish-language calls are not offered yet.

Questions about consent and calling rules

1. For leads: what consent did the person give, to whom, and can I see the record for each lead?
2. Does that consent cover a call from me, by my name or my agency's, and does it cover texts?
3. Was the number checked against the Do Not Call registry, and who checks it before I dial?
4. For calls: who placed the call, the consumer or someone calling the consumer?
5. Does a recording notice play before the caller reaches me?
6. What does the vendor expect me to do about callbacks?

If you dial leads, you are the one placing the outbound call, so the consent behind each lead matters to you, not only to the vendor. Under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, telemarketing calls made with an autodialer or a prerecorded voice need the person's prior written consent. In January 2025 a federal appeals court struck down a newer FCC rule that would have required that consent to be given to one seller at a time, so the older written-consent rule is the one in force. Several states add rules of their own. Florida and Oklahoma, for example, limit sales calls to between 8am and 8pm and to three calls in 24 hours. If you call from a list, federal rules expect it to be checked against the Do Not Call registry at least every 31 days. Get the consent record in writing for every lead you buy, and keep it.

The recording question matters too. Some states, including California and Florida, require everyone on a call to agree before it is recorded, which is why our consent notice plays before the caller reaches you. On our calls the consumer dialed the number on the ad. Our compliance page explains how we source calls and why you should not call someone back on a different number without their consent on the recorded call. This isn't legal advice; talk to your compliance team or attorney.

Signs to walk away

• The vendor will not say what event starts the charge.
• A short call costs the full price, and nobody told you before you paid.
• There is no recording, so a dispute has nothing to review.
• They will not say how many agents get the same lead.
• Their ads promise seniors something free.
• They show screenshots of big months and say nothing about what was spent to get them.
• They push a large package before you have tested a small one.

Start small with any new vendor. Buy the least they sell, track a full month on your own sheet, and compare cost per sale before you buy more. Judge the vendor on your own numbers, not on someone else's screenshots.

Questions for agencies buying for a team

1. Does every agent get their own login, online switch and call log?
2. Can one wallet pay for everyone, or does each agent fund their own?
3. Can I see calls, spend and disputes for each agent, and export them?
4. Are there volume rates, and what monthly minimum do they need?

Ours: each agent has their own login, softphone and call log, and the owner sees all of it. You can share one wallet or let each agent fund their own, and switch later. The owner dashboard is $147 a month plus $97 per agent, first 30 days free. Volume rates start above a monthly minimum we agree in writing. The details are on final expense TV calls for agencies.

How InboundHQ answers the list

We sell live calls, not records. A senior sees our ad and dials, and the call rings one agent who is online and licensed in that state. Our final expense TV calls are $70 each, and the same call from a streaming ad is covered on CTV final expense calls. Our final expense social calls are $47 each. Both are billed only once connected time passes the buffer, and both are $0 under it.

We do not sell live transfers, and live transfers vs inbound calls explains how a transfer differs. We do not sell data leads either, and final expense inbound calls explains why a list of names is a different purchase from a call.

To start, you answer a few questions, book a short call with our team, and fund the wallet with us on that call. When our answers match the way you work, apply for final expense calls. Every final expense page we have is listed on final expense calls.

Questions