Commission Plan Rates (commonly referred to as Commission Rates) are associated with Contracts and provide the rates and factors used to calculate commissions. A Plan Rate is selected during a commission cycle for new Policies based on the Policy’s commissionable product and submitted or effective date, and the Contract assigned to the Agents receiving commissions.
Commission Plan Rates can be entered manually or created through imports and are accessed from the Contract list page.
Contract List page – detail of line options.
Accessing Commission Plan Rates
From the Contract list page, each Contract provides links to manage its Commission Plan Rates:
- Add Commission Rates
Opens the page to create a new Commission Plan Rate - View/Edit Commission Rates
Displays a list of existing Commission Plan Rates for the selected Contract
From the list page, users may:
- Select Edit/View Commission Rate Details for an existing rate
- Select Add New Commission Rate to create an additional rate under the Contract
Commission Rates list page:
Selecting Add Commission Rates will bring up a page to create a new Contract Plan Rate.
Commission Rates Detail page – showing minimal details until Product Type selected:
Add Commission Rate for Product Types that are not MAPD or PDP:
Add Commission Rate page when Medicare Advantage Product Type selected:
Creating a Commission Plan Rate
When creating a new Commission Plan Rate:
- Select the Issuer
- Select the Product Type
- The system dynamically displays the remaining fields based on the selected Product Type
Product Type‑Specific Behavior
- Medicare Advantage (MAPD) and Medicare Prescription Drug (PDP)
Pages display Medicare‑specific fields, including Street and Override rates.
Consult the Medicare User Guide for more details. - All other Product Types
Pages display fields to configure:- Advance values
- Monthly commission rates
If a value is entered for Advance Months, an additional field will appear:
- Admin Fee Rate, which is calculated based on the advance amount
Commission Rates list page
Selecting Edit/View Commission Rate Details will open the detail page for an existing Contract Plan Rate.
Commission Rates detail page. 
Commission Plan Rate Fields (Non‑MAPD / PDP)
Product Identification Fields
These fields work together to identify the specific Commissionable Product:
-
- Issuer
Selected from Issuers (Carriers) associated with Commissionable Products - State
- Individual States may be selected
- Selecting ANY allows the rate to apply when no State exists on the Policy
- If both State‑specific and ANY rates exist for the same product, the system:
- Applies the State‑specific rate if matched
- Applies the ANY rate if no specific State match exists
- States include US territories:
- Issuer
-
-
- American Samoa (AS)
- Guam (GU)
- Northern Mariana Islands (MP)
- Puerto Rico (PR)
- U.S. Virgin Islands (VI)
- Product Type
Selected from Product Types associated with the Commissionable Product - Plan Name
Selected from Plans associated with the Commissionable Product
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- American Samoa (AS)
- Guam (GU)
- Northern Mariana Islands (MP)
- Puerto Rico (PR)
- U.S. Virgin Islands (VI)
Advance and Administrative Fields
- Advance Months
The number of months commissions may be advanced.
This value is only one factor; additional rules such as Agent settings, Pay Codes, and Custom Settings may further affect the total number of advanced months applied. - Admin Fee Rate
Applied as a percentage to the total advanced amount (including both percentage and fixed advances) and used to calculate an administrative fee.
Advance Admin Fee Rate appears when Advance Months entered:
Effective Date Logic
- Effective Date (From – To)
Defines the date range during which the Commission Plan Rate is eligible to be selected during commission calculations.
Maintaining date ranges allows:- Future rates to be added in advance
- Historical rates to be preserved
- Date Range Based On
- Submitted Date – Uses the Policy Submitted Date
- Effective Date – Uses the Policy Effective Date
This selection should align with how the Issuer applies commission rate changes.
Examples:
- Medicare (MAPD & PDP) typically uses Effective Date (January 1)
- Some Issuers apply rate changes based on Submitted Date
Conventional Rates and Locked Rates
Commission Plan Rates may be configured as Conventional Rates or Locked Rates.
Commission Rates detail page with Conventional and Locked Rates outlined:
Conventional Rates
With Conventional Rates, commission calculations are based on:
Agent Rate – Previous Agent Rate
Rules:
- Rates must be equal to or greater than the rate of the prior Agent in the hierarchy
- If rates are equal, the higher‑level Agent receives 0% or $0, which is valid
- If a rate is lower, the commission cycle will error and cannot be processed
Percentage Example:
- Writing Agent: 35%
- Next Level Agent: 45% → receives 10%
- Top Level Agent: 50% → receives 5%
Fixed Amount Example:
- Writing Agent: $40
- Next Level Agent: $50 → receives $10
- Top Level Agent: $60 → receives $10
Locked Rates
Locked Rates ensure an Agent receives a fixed rate or dollar amount, regardless of downstream rates.
How Locked Rates work:
- The locked amount is added to the previous Agent’s rate
- The combined rate is stored in the Commission Distribution
- All commission calculations then proceed normally using the stored values
Why Use Locked Rates
Locked Rates are commonly used for override commissions, such as when a manager is contracted to always receive a fixed percentage or dollar amount.
Locked Rates eliminate the need for manual Commission Distribution adjustments when:
- Downline Agent rates vary
- There is no Agent below the override Agent
⚠️ Locked Rate Interval Requirement (Important)
When using Locked Rates:
All From Month and To Month intervals must match across Contract rates for the same product.
Locked Rates are additive across matching month intervals. Mismatched intervals create ambiguity and cannot be resolved by the system.
Commission Rate Structure
Each Commission Plan Rate contains one or more rows defining how commissions apply over time:
- From Month – Starting month
- To Month – Ending month (for example, 999 for ongoing)
- Contract Rate – Percentage (e.g., 50.00%)
- Fixed Amount – Flat dollar amount
Multiple rows are typically used to differentiate first‑year and renewal commissions.
Additional Commission Plan Rate Details
- Commission Plan Rates may be created or updated using the Commission Plan Rates import
- Imports support both Conventional and Locked Rates
- Locked Rates are identified in the import using a Locked Rate indicator
- A Commission Plan Rates Report can be used to:
- Export existing rates
- Make changes
- Re‑import updates
- List pages display only rates where today’s date falls within the effective range
- Advanced Search must be used to view past or future rates
- If a Commission Plan Rate was previously deleted, re‑adding it allows reactivation
- Only Issuer, Product, and Plan are validated when reactivated
For full logic used to determine which rate is applied during calculations, see Rates and Calculations under Commission Calculation.
Viewing Commission Rates for Different Dates or States
If Commission Plan Rates exist for the same product with different date ranges and/or States, an additional section appears on the rate detail page displaying those variations.
- Selecting a record switches the displayed details
- Navigation is performed using the page numbers in the lower‑left of the section
This comparison view only works when the same Commissionable Product is used across periods and/or States.
If new Commissionable Products are created each year with a different Plan Name, this comparison will not be available.
⚠️ Hover your cursor over the page numbers to select another page:
