4 Years Later, You guys were right

[Life Hawk]

Sorry to hear of your story... more direct response would be, sorry you didn't take sage advice which would have helped avert a situation like this.

The forum is a mixture of truth, lies, opinions... and toolbelts.

It also is a place of cranky, smelly,old farts who are graced with years of experience and stories... wise to listen and formulate good questions, then follow good advice when offered.

 

[Kb4391]

If you have no non-compete (not sure they are even a valid thing anymore), I would put a plan together to regain that book as an independent. Get your contracts moved to independent and send out a generic mailer to that book of business just letting them know you have updated your contact information and that you'd love to hear from them on how their current plan is working out. It's OEP, maybe you can move a chunk of them to you if you can get contracts taken care of before the end of march. Worst case scenario, maybe they need a cancer policy or hospital indemnity to supplement their current plan. That at least makes you their agent of record for something so permission to contact moving forward isn't an issue. I would never suggest going after a book of business if it wasn't deserved but it sounds like you're getting the short end of the stick. Feel free to PM me if want to chat.

 

[LostDollar]

Sorry to hear of your story... more direct response would be, sorry you didn't take sage advice which would have helped avert a situation like this.

The forum is a mixture of truth, lies, opinions... and toolbelts.

It also is a place of cranky, smelly,old farts who are graced with years of experience and stories... wise to listen and formulate good questions, then follow good advice when offered.

Let's not be too narrow here. There also some nice ladies who I suspect would be willing to give her experience based advice on running a woman owned Medicare agency.

 

[renee15]

Here's the picture that was in my mind when I made the comment:

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Last year during my saga of finding an agent to sell me an annuity, I was driving up a street near my house around 5pm and I saw a sign for an insurance agent which included "life" in the line items, so on a whim I stopped and went hunting for his office.

The door was unlocked so I went in. It was an older office, a bit on the ragged side. The reception desk was empty, but there was a light on in his office and I heard him on the phone, so I just sat down to wait.

He was starting to have a challenge coming up with different ways to tell Mrs Franklin she was going to save $1K or $2K on her insurance, but the call finally ended.

He did not sell annuities but I got to see something else. Kgmom talks about agents getting referrals from financial planners. This was the reverse and it was so smooth, and it came about as the result of a totally unexpected meeting between two people and the turn of a conversation.

He said his wife worked with a financial planner for their finances, spoke very highly of the guy, and gave me his card. Just like that. (That one did not work out either but it gave me another set of experiences talking about annuities with financial people.)

So I thanked him and apologized for keeping him late. He then pointed to his desk where he had a 2-4 inch high pile of file folders and said he had to be there for awhile anyway.

He visited with me briefly. It turned out he was primarily a P&C agent who had left a major carrier a second time and was starting his own independent office. He told me those folders were some of his clients with the former carrier who wanted to come with him in his new business.

I later had reason to mention him (the p&c) agent in a nextdoor post to someone looking for an auto agent, and there were at least 3 of his clients that chimed in on the thread talking about the concern he had for them as clients.

That type of concern is exactly the same thing I have seen k&k'sM express in some posts here.

And the overall conversation with the P&C guy is what led me to make the comment I did to k&k'sM.

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So what you are telling me is that the Medigap/PDP world is enough different than P&C that k&k'sM can't go out the door and then start contacting those former client people and writing them with new business?

I can't remember exactly where she is -- but if it is a smaller community in the northern part of Maine, I can certainly see how the cash demand for a new startup against a limited prospect pool outside of her current agency could be a serious problem.

UHC would be a no. They do not offer AOR you could never transfer the Med Supps. You could rewrite the MAPD during AEP-if they want to change their plan... I left a 20 year exclusive P&C agent career behind 16 months ago and had a one year non-compete. (I was paid a years commissions on those policies as I left). I couldn't move those people for a year, and the agent you referred to, could be in hot water if he takes his clients back too soon.

 

[Life Hawk]

Let's not be too narrow here. There also some nice ladies who I suspect would be willing to give her experience based advice on running a woman owned Medicare agency.

Hmm...wonder how many people are willing to pay 129k for people to be nice and not narrow minded. Has nothing to do with nice. It's business. Advice was given and not taken. Steep price for not listening.

Just a fact.

 

[LostDollar]

Hmm...wonder how many people are willing to pay 129k for people to be nice and not narrow minded. Has nothing to do with nice. It's business. Advice was given and not taken. Steep price for not listening.

Just a fact.

You are beating a dead horse and you are also missing my point.

She does NOT need a bunch of "you shoulda" at this time.

And,

If she chooses to stay in the Medicare business, she is most likely going to be running her own agency, regardless of whether she chooses to buy the BOB she built at $129K, or less, or whether she chooses to start an agency of her own from scratch. (I am not a negotiator, but from my point of view her past posts suggest she has grounds to find help from someone who is and discuss the situation with them and then go back to this agency owner with a counter offer -- as opposed to just leaving or trying a breach of contract lawsuit.)

There is another post above which is likely to be more helpful to her current situation and state of mind than what you are dishing out.

 

[annon123]

If you have no non-compete (not sure they are even a valid thing anymore),

Unfortunately the non-compete law that was passed and was supposed to be implemented in April 2024 has not been due to challenges to the law.

 

[somarco]

Valid or not, a former employer can make your life miserable, and costly, by harassing you to the point you may give in rather than fight.

My former employer offered to settle early on for $50k but I refused. It still cost me about the same but I was able to keep writing business during the almost 2 year battle and came out ahead.

Not everyone can or will do what I did, but if you roll over you will be digging an even deeper hole.

 

[KandKsmommy]

You must have been paid a salary. Or free leads.

I had a base pay of $14 and hour 34 hours a week but work 40-60 hours a week. She bumped it to $16 for 40 hours the last 6 month I was working for her. I was never paid overtime or the states minimum salary because she was supposed to sign them over.

 

[KandKsmommy]

if the arrangement was fairly informal and you did not have to sign any non-competes when you started this arrangement, you may have the ability to just walk out the door, get a small office, and take at least some of those folks with you. if you are "the face" the clients are used to dealing with, you could have a very strong advantage there, even if this agent would try to hire someone else to replace you.

Best wishes for your continued success.

I was forced into the purchase agreement and had to buy my books for more than $30k more than she ever paid me in wages.

We weren't friends before I started with her just colleagues but I trusted her.

There was no non-compete but my carriers wouldn't sign over my books without the sales agreement even though I was listed as the principal.