A Fond Farewell to Assurant

[taterpeeler]

assuring was a joke... at least here in texas..... never had rates that were in line with the market... they sold mickey mouse plans that were limited and when they tried to play ball with the big boys and do ACA plans they got hammered... assurant was a sucker bet

 

[tonyisme]

Assurant was a worthy insurer.

 

[DS4]

Whenever someone came to me and said, " I don't care about cost...... I just want a good network of providers", Assurant was the plan.

 

[foxmarble]

Really?? I can't believe the love for this worthless carrier. The only reason to write this was for Mayo in network otherwise I could put it side by side with almost anyone other and beat the tar out of it benefit for benefit and cost to cost. They were the reason I went independent years ago. Because the plans paid the highest commission but had the worst benefits and I could not sleep at night knowing that my GA only wanted me to sell them but for all the wrong reasons.

Their customer service was not bad but what a confusing carrier to work with via Time Warner and John Alden and other aliases. Any company who makes Dr Visit Copays a optional buy up--never really liked that. But thats just me up drinking as usual. Water under the bridge now, All I know is this year is going to be hell with certain big carriers blowing up and causing mass disruption. Love to write 180 plans all over again...not.

Gotta have another drink I think

 

[houcoogster]

assuring was a joke... at least here in texas..... never had rates that were in line with the market... they sold mickey mouse plans that were limited and when they tried to play ball with the big boys and do ACA plans they got hammered... assurant was a sucker bet

yep those plans had more holes than swiss cheese

I wish I got to experience "Health Insurance Nirvana" like Yagents. Maybe in my next life.............

 

[Yagents]

YMMV, and really based on each state.

But, their One Deductible HSA had no holes, and that's what I sold primarily. Which included mental health at the time.
If you sold their ACCESS product, then you're correct. Indemnity plan.
I used Core med to raise the OOP to $10-15k or more, to get down price.
They took people that would normally be declined (ex: Sleep Apnea)

They brought in the Aetna PPO, lowered prices, and offered 3 yr rate guarantees that I sold, and never regretted it. Their Sell Certainty policies, Pre-ACA, prices still have not gone up in over 2 years. In this environment, best advice I've ever given in retrospect.

They then offered the best ACA product, with best PPO and best drug formulary, and we put them out of business because of it. Everyone of my clients kept their doctor and their drug with Assurant. Generic or not.

They were always pro-agent, and were a useful tool in my bag of client solutions over the years.

 

[DS4]

They were always pro-agent

1% commission was pro agent?

 

[Yagents]

1% commission was pro agent?

It was there only bad move, and they moved it back to 2% after agents pushed back, but of course lowered FYC.

I only have about 5% of my Assurant book that actually got to that point of paying out only 1%. Either it is pre aca sell certainty, and they will be forced onto a new FYC plan this year, or they owned an ACA that's ending this year to move to new FYC.

Some agents were getting 10%-14% (plus 25k bonus) & 2-4% renewal like me. That's inline, if not more, than other carriers over 2-3 years.
Plus, there is no such thing as a renewal business with ACA, not until the plans and networks stop changing, and clients have be rolled over each and every year.

 

[Ann H]

Very, very true about some of Assurant's policies, but not others.

Also very true about the 1% and 2%.

I'm beginning to do math a little differently now, though.

Like this --- 2% of a high premium or Platinum plan is like 4% of a Bronze and 5% of an HMO Tin Foil plan's premium.

Or like this --- 1% of a high premium or Platinum plan is better than 5% of a "drive me crazy with customer service problems, billing headaches, and hc.gov nightmares" plan.

 

[MaryDallas]

So, nobody else feels love lost? Did I get the v.I.p treatment or something? I just lost my best friend and nobody cares.

Yes; I feel the loss. They were good to me as well. I still have a few hundred supplements on the books and still get paid weekly. They were definitely a class act. Farewell: you were one of the few that cared about your brokers.