What does AI texting do for a life insurance agent?
Four jobs, in order of value: answer the lead who texts back, book that lead onto a calendar, confirm and remind every appointment, and follow up after a missed call or a no-show. A text is easy to ignore, but it's also how many people answer a call they didn't pick up.
Should AI texting replace calling?
No. Use texting alongside calls. In three months Ava placed 362,650 calls and booked 13.1% of the conversations she had; many final expense and mortgage protection buyers will book on the phone but won't book by text. A text works as the follow-up to a call (“I just tried calling you”), as the reminder that keeps an appointment, and as the channel for the lead who won't pick up. Source: AI calling in life insurance: 2026 data from Ava, aggregate and anonymized, from Ava's calls for the agency Polca was built in. Mostly veterans life insurance leads; other lead types will differ.
What are the rules for texting life insurance leads?
- Texts are calls under the TCPA. Marketing texts sent with automated technology need the lead's prior express written consent, the same as an artificial-voice call (47 CFR § 64.1200).
- STOP means stop. A lead can revoke consent by any reasonable means, including replying STOP (FCC 24-24). Honor it and stop texting.
- A texting opt-out is not automatically a calling opt-out, and the reverse. Keep separate records for each channel, and when a lead says “stop calling and texting me,” stop both.
- Carrier registration. US carriers require businesses that text from local numbers to register their brand and campaign (A2P 10DLC), or messages get filtered.
- Quiet hours and state rules. Federal rules allow telemarketing from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the recipient's time, and some states, including Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland, add their own limits on sales calls and texts. Check the states you text.
- No quotes or advice by text. An AI shouldn't quote premiums or recommend a policy in a thread. It books the conversation with the licensed agent.
What should you look for in an AI texting tool?
- It books onto real open times on the right agent's calendar, not a link and a hope.
- It knows when to stop: on a reply, a booking, an opt-out, or a stage change.
- It hands a thread to a person when the lead asks something it shouldn't answer.
- Every text it sent, every opt-out and the consent evidence can be exported.
- You can see what it will send before it sends it, and skip a message.
- It works with your calls, so a lead doesn't get a text from one system and a call from another that knows nothing about it.
What does Polca's Ava Texting do?
Ava Texting is the texting side of Ava in Polca. The agency owner or a manager turns each part on or off in Settings:
- Replies. When a lead texts back, Ava answers, offers real open times on the agent's calendar and books. She hands the thread to the agent for anything she shouldn't answer.
- New-lead follow-ups. A short sequence of texts to new leads that stops for good once the lead replies, books or opts out.
- Appointment confirmation and reminders. A confirmation as soon as an appointment is booked, however it was booked, and reminders the day before, an hour before and 10 minutes before.
- No-shows. A rebooking text the day an appointment is marked no-show, and later check-ins after that.
- Missed calls. A quick text a couple of minutes after Ava's or a rep's call goes unanswered, at most once every 3 days per lead, and never to a lead who is booked or already texting.
- After the appointment. Follow-ups tied to the lead's stage: didn't close, follow up, application started, underwriting, new client and declined.
- Clients. From the policies the agency logs in Polca: a welcome, a heads-up before the first payment, help when a payment has a problem, and periodic check-ins. A client with a death claim is never texted.
- Old leads. One text to old leads that never booked or replied. Off until the agency turns it on.
Ava Texting can run in preview first, with nothing sent, and a practice mode shows how Ava would answer a lead's text. The settings page shows what Ava will send in the next 48 hours, with a skip button on each text. An agent can pause Ava on one lead or take the thread back. Every text Ava sent, the opt-outs and the consent evidence export to a CSV.
Going live requires the agency to sign a texting-consent attestation. A lead who texts STOP is not texted again. Ava doesn't quote prices or give policy advice by text, the same as on calls.
How does texting fit with Ava's calls?
They share one lead record. Ava calls the agency's leads under the agency's name, confirms the lead's state, coverage need and age band, handles common objections such as “I already have insurance,” and books the appointment on the right agent's calendar. She never quotes prices, never takes applications and never binds coverage. When her call goes unanswered, the missed-call text follows; when a lead books by text, the confirmation and reminders go out the same way as for a call-booked appointment.
Per agent on Ava, each month (as of November 2026): 46 appointments booked by Ava, 5 clients signed by the agent (about 11% of booked appointments), and $9,856 in annual premium (AP) written, about $118,000 a year. That is about $10 of AP written for every $1 spent on Ava (9.9×, measured against what the agency pays for Ava). Top agents are on pace for $134,000 to $137,000 a year of AP from Ava-booked appointments.
Ava booked the appointment; the agent signed the client. A signed client counts when the agent signed them within 60 days of the appointment Ava booked; AP counts everything signed. Source: production records of the agency Polca was built in. Individual results vary. Hear real booked calls.
Common questions
What is the best AI texting tool for life insurance leads?
One that answers replies and books onto your agents' real calendars, stops on a reply, booking or STOP, hands off to a person when needed, and works alongside your calls. Polca's Ava Texting does this inside the same system as Ava's calls and the dialer.
Is it legal to text life insurance leads with AI?
Yes, with the right consent. Marketing texts sent with automated technology need prior express written consent, and a STOP reply has to be honored.
Does a text STOP mean I can't call the lead?
Not by itself: a texting opt-out covers texting. But if the lead asks you to stop contacting them, stop calls and texts.
Can AI texting replace an appointment setter?
Not for most life insurance leads. Texts confirm, remind and follow up, and many buyers still want a conversation before they book.
Sources
- 47 CFR § 64.1200 (FCC telemarketing and robocall rules)
- FCC Report and Order FCC 24-24 (revoking consent by any reasonable means), Feb. 16, 2024
- 47 U.S.C. § 227 (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)
- Polca Calling & Recording Policy
Let Ava call, and text, your leads.
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