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Edit: Have to give credit where credit is due. Chad Knies called me back and said that they are going to make an exception, accept the case and pay the full commission. Still, for future reference, at this time they do not pay any FYC on re-writes.
Thought I'd share a recent issue I had with Oxford that turned into a big time learning experience. I had basically given up on them because of silly issues with customer service, but recently decided to give them another look and sent them a few apps. That was a mistake.
First off, the lesson: in case you weren't aware (I was not), Oxford will not pay any first year commission on a re-write under any circumstances. They will accept the case, but they will not pay you. This is their policy.
Here's what happened:
Ran across a prospect in June who had a six-year-old whole life policy that was current (meaning that he has shown himself to be a good payor) who had mailed a card in because he wanted to add coverage in October when he would start drawing social security that would add about $600 a month to the military pension he and his wife had been living on.
After looking into his policy, I discovered that he had taken out a $1000 loan and had let it go for a couple of years. He was paying $25 a month toward the loan now, which combined with his premium took him up to $110/mo. He also mentioned that he had been a little tight thanks to some recent issues. The policy had around $200 in cash left. I was able to get him a new policy for the same face as the original face of his current policy for $101/mo. Of course he would then receive the surrender value as well. He loved it, we went ahead.
First premium went through the bank fine, the second didn't. Mind you, this is a guy who had paid well on his other policy for six years, so I looked at him a little differently than some of the others we deal with.
He was in a panic because the coverage is very important to him but really worried about the financial situation until his income increase in October, at which time he actually wanted to add a little more coverage. I called customer service at Oxford, explained the situation, and asked if we could re-date or go ahead and lapse this policy then start anew in October. The guy at Oxford said I could re-write it. Based on this information, I sat down with the gentleman and after discussing the options, risks, etc. he decided to go ahead and lapse the policy and have me re-write rather than pay two months' back premium. The new policy was to be for $127/mo. for increased coverage which also played into his decision.
Made an appointment for the day after Labor Day, went out there, wrote it, got it approved. After submission I got an email asking me if I would accept the "commission adjustment" (exact phrasing) or if I would be reinstating the old policy. Since this was the first I had heard of a commission adjustment, I called again to clarify.
I was told on the phone that they do not offer re-dates after the policy has been in force (another thing FE companies should allow as many do to serve this clientele) and that the commission adjustment meant that I would receive no advance, but would be getting "as earned" commission on the new amount. This was fine with me, an advance is neither here nor there.
This conversation was recorded, and the regional manager who called me acknowledged that this is exactly what was said. Long story short, the girl on the phone didn't know the difference between "as earned" and "renewal." Oxford was going to take this case and pay me 4% commission because it had previously been in force for two months. For those keeping score, that would have been a $1500 AP that they would have paid exactly one month's FYC to obtain.
The justification I got from the regional was that history tells them that once someone lapses, they are likely to lapse again. He also tried to blame the cost of "underwriting" a final expense policy, a comment at which I scoffed. He agreed that it costs them around $100 total to process an app with the rx and mib checks. Regardless of the situation, they were not bending. I told him that their willingness to accept this premium without paying a commission on it was unethical - particularly since they weren't even going to pay on the $26/mo. increase, which as I told him is outright theft.
Worked out fine as I was able to move the client for only a couple bucks a month, but it still is another example of both the incompetence of the front staff at Oxford as well as the road blocks this company puts in place to serve a clientele that they apparently either don't understand or don't care to understand. That incompetence and their unwillingness to bend, even with evidence that their own staff contributed mightily to the confusion, cost them $200 to underwrite two apps on this case and they have zero premium to show for it.
My persistency is lower with them because they don't give us the latitude to preserve business the way some of our carriers do, and with the renewals as low as they are, it makes you re-consider why you'd bother.
Your mileage may vary, but consider yourself warned.
Thought I'd share a recent issue I had with Oxford that turned into a big time learning experience. I had basically given up on them because of silly issues with customer service, but recently decided to give them another look and sent them a few apps. That was a mistake.
First off, the lesson: in case you weren't aware (I was not), Oxford will not pay any first year commission on a re-write under any circumstances. They will accept the case, but they will not pay you. This is their policy.
Here's what happened:
Ran across a prospect in June who had a six-year-old whole life policy that was current (meaning that he has shown himself to be a good payor) who had mailed a card in because he wanted to add coverage in October when he would start drawing social security that would add about $600 a month to the military pension he and his wife had been living on.
After looking into his policy, I discovered that he had taken out a $1000 loan and had let it go for a couple of years. He was paying $25 a month toward the loan now, which combined with his premium took him up to $110/mo. He also mentioned that he had been a little tight thanks to some recent issues. The policy had around $200 in cash left. I was able to get him a new policy for the same face as the original face of his current policy for $101/mo. Of course he would then receive the surrender value as well. He loved it, we went ahead.
First premium went through the bank fine, the second didn't. Mind you, this is a guy who had paid well on his other policy for six years, so I looked at him a little differently than some of the others we deal with.
He was in a panic because the coverage is very important to him but really worried about the financial situation until his income increase in October, at which time he actually wanted to add a little more coverage. I called customer service at Oxford, explained the situation, and asked if we could re-date or go ahead and lapse this policy then start anew in October. The guy at Oxford said I could re-write it. Based on this information, I sat down with the gentleman and after discussing the options, risks, etc. he decided to go ahead and lapse the policy and have me re-write rather than pay two months' back premium. The new policy was to be for $127/mo. for increased coverage which also played into his decision.
Made an appointment for the day after Labor Day, went out there, wrote it, got it approved. After submission I got an email asking me if I would accept the "commission adjustment" (exact phrasing) or if I would be reinstating the old policy. Since this was the first I had heard of a commission adjustment, I called again to clarify.
I was told on the phone that they do not offer re-dates after the policy has been in force (another thing FE companies should allow as many do to serve this clientele) and that the commission adjustment meant that I would receive no advance, but would be getting "as earned" commission on the new amount. This was fine with me, an advance is neither here nor there.
This conversation was recorded, and the regional manager who called me acknowledged that this is exactly what was said. Long story short, the girl on the phone didn't know the difference between "as earned" and "renewal." Oxford was going to take this case and pay me 4% commission because it had previously been in force for two months. For those keeping score, that would have been a $1500 AP that they would have paid exactly one month's FYC to obtain.
The justification I got from the regional was that history tells them that once someone lapses, they are likely to lapse again. He also tried to blame the cost of "underwriting" a final expense policy, a comment at which I scoffed. He agreed that it costs them around $100 total to process an app with the rx and mib checks. Regardless of the situation, they were not bending. I told him that their willingness to accept this premium without paying a commission on it was unethical - particularly since they weren't even going to pay on the $26/mo. increase, which as I told him is outright theft.
Worked out fine as I was able to move the client for only a couple bucks a month, but it still is another example of both the incompetence of the front staff at Oxford as well as the road blocks this company puts in place to serve a clientele that they apparently either don't understand or don't care to understand. That incompetence and their unwillingness to bend, even with evidence that their own staff contributed mightily to the confusion, cost them $200 to underwrite two apps on this case and they have zero premium to show for it.
My persistency is lower with them because they don't give us the latitude to preserve business the way some of our carriers do, and with the renewals as low as they are, it makes you re-consider why you'd bother.
Your mileage may vary, but consider yourself warned.
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