- 7,066
Yea but I think they are on life support.
1st Post / Physicians Mutual Agent Job Offer
- Thread starter mojo1633
- Start date
Yea but I think they are on life support.
- 301
I contracted with them for awhile about 10 years ago. They suck! The manager did nothing but lie to me and their products were high then too. Still are I guess. They just suck all the way around- I have NOTHING positive to say about them!
- 2,103
I must admit, the office I was at had like 2 people making money, the rest were not. It's just not a great system for some reason, I think the overpriced products may be the problem. The people who worked there were great. I really liked the folks, I just could not get the sales thing going there, oh well. Part of it was my fault, though. I could be the one or two percent making money, if I wanted to. Anybody could be, it's our fault as agents-if we do not. Either make it work at a large captive, or on our own, but make it work!!
- 7,066
I understand that you may have been able to do more but there is only so much one can do if the product is not as competitive as it needs to be. The best of agents cannot be successful selling a product that the competition is beating like a drum when it comes to premium.
The days of an agent being successful working the senior market as a captive agent are sadly long gone. One must be independent and have the flexibility to always be representing the most competitive companies. That can literally change from one week to another.
- 2,103
Yet the large captives still recruit, even though they are not competing, they are just recruiting organizations, I guess. I guess the new recruit sells a policy here or there, they get a few policies on the books, it's all good. I agree, though, to be sucessful in the senior marketplace, one needs a lot of products and a lot of prices. One moment it's Mutual Of Omaha, next moment it's somebody else... the seniors must feel like a football being knocked around!!
- 7,066
Actually being a "football" is the game that they all play and they know how to play it extremely well. They are active participants.
Seniors know that when premiums go up that there is most likely another company they can switch to where they can save money. I have some clients who I can count on a call from at least every six months or so asking me if I have a cheaper company I can move them to.
I ran into a PM final expense poilicy a few weeks ago. It was written about a year ago. It was a 2 year ROP product and waaaayyy overpriced. I was able to get the client immediate coverage and double her DB for the same monthly premium. That was probably the easiest sale ever. I don't see how anybody could make it selling that product exclusively.
- 1,183
Some of the info here on Physicians Mutual looks wrong unless they've recently changed WRT what contracts they offer. I looked into it 2-3 years ago and it was several years before you were vested and there was no salary. The hook would have been their bonus program. Otherwise working with them would make no sense at all. With general trends as they are, I would be surprised to learn that they now offer a draw and 100% vesting unless they simply cannot field a sales force otherwise. If they've had enough veteran agents defect, that could be the case with them probably being increasingly overpriced coupled with competition from MA plans.
In some zip codes their supps were a lot more competitive (i.e. in the ballpark) than in others, where they weren't competitive at all. Maybe 15-20 years ago they were more competitive or at least so I am told. Everybody sort of "rebooted" in 2010 with the new blocks of business but I haven't seen any of their rates since then. A few years ago, while not the cheapest, they were definitely cheaper than UA and on average probably were not as shady as them or Bankers.
As mentioned, they do have Issue Age in some states. If it is in the ballpark it might be worth a look, but I don't know if they are offering broker contracts presently. They have in the past but weren't when I looked into them a few years ago.
They also had a plan that was a High Deductible F for 2 or 3 years and then converted to a standard F at the same premium (IIRC) at that point. But my recollection on that may not be 100% accurate.
They did have a lot of leads, but a lot of them, perhaps a majority, were for their Hospital, Medical, Surgical plan, (non-med/limited benefit) which as noted, was withdrawn due to Obamacare. That plan may have been better than other similar plans, but IMO due to price and underwriting it only fit with those who couldn't afford a major medical but who wanted some kind of coverage. You couldn't have much wrong with you or you would be declined. Maybe it was good for someone 50+ or even 55+ who was on a limited income and not yet Medicare eligible. Younger people in many cases could get a major medical for a price that was not much more expensive. But maybe the rates were better in other states. In my state at least, I don't see how an honest agent with the client's interests in mind could have sold many of those.
About the only plus for them with regard to still being able to write business is that some who don't do their homework will still go with a company like PM or Blue Cross or AARP because, without a trusted agent to come and sit down at the kitchen table, they only trust a name they've seen on TV no matter what the price is. Many don't know that Supps are standardized and don't want to know, unless an agent who focuses on educating clients comes across their path. Once enrolled with one of the big boys, many have their mind made up. I've known a number of T-65's who will do this but who are more willing to listen once they start taking rate increases or else find out from a friend that they could have done a lot better.
In some zip codes their supps were a lot more competitive (i.e. in the ballpark) than in others, where they weren't competitive at all. Maybe 15-20 years ago they were more competitive or at least so I am told. Everybody sort of "rebooted" in 2010 with the new blocks of business but I haven't seen any of their rates since then. A few years ago, while not the cheapest, they were definitely cheaper than UA and on average probably were not as shady as them or Bankers.
As mentioned, they do have Issue Age in some states. If it is in the ballpark it might be worth a look, but I don't know if they are offering broker contracts presently. They have in the past but weren't when I looked into them a few years ago.
They also had a plan that was a High Deductible F for 2 or 3 years and then converted to a standard F at the same premium (IIRC) at that point. But my recollection on that may not be 100% accurate.
They did have a lot of leads, but a lot of them, perhaps a majority, were for their Hospital, Medical, Surgical plan, (non-med/limited benefit) which as noted, was withdrawn due to Obamacare. That plan may have been better than other similar plans, but IMO due to price and underwriting it only fit with those who couldn't afford a major medical but who wanted some kind of coverage. You couldn't have much wrong with you or you would be declined. Maybe it was good for someone 50+ or even 55+ who was on a limited income and not yet Medicare eligible. Younger people in many cases could get a major medical for a price that was not much more expensive. But maybe the rates were better in other states. In my state at least, I don't see how an honest agent with the client's interests in mind could have sold many of those.
About the only plus for them with regard to still being able to write business is that some who don't do their homework will still go with a company like PM or Blue Cross or AARP because, without a trusted agent to come and sit down at the kitchen table, they only trust a name they've seen on TV no matter what the price is. Many don't know that Supps are standardized and don't want to know, unless an agent who focuses on educating clients comes across their path. Once enrolled with one of the big boys, many have their mind made up. I've known a number of T-65's who will do this but who are more willing to listen once they start taking rate increases or else find out from a friend that they could have done a lot better.
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- 2,103
You mean two years graded? Not ROP?
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