HELP! Bought Book & Seller is Stealing Clients!!!!!!

[Norwayguy]

What does the attorney you had write up the contract have to say about this. I'm going to assume that the attorney you used put a restrictive clause not allowing the seller from the sale of insurance within a certain geographic area for a certain period of time...


And for the previous posters saying NonCompetes are unenforcable, they certainly are when a person sells a BOB with restrictive covenants.

The normal reason behind them not being enforceable is that you normally can't take the ability to earn a living away from someone such as restricting your salaried employee from competing with you...It is totally different when you purchase the persons livilyhood from them.

 

[superfly33]

Whether the contract is enforceable or not is not as clear as others have made it out to be. Just because it is not expressly written, doesn't mean terms cannot be implied. Courts imply terms all the time. Even though if you don't have a non-compete clause, voiding the contract would be not be impossible. Every contract has an implied duty of good faith and a gross lack of good faith can render a contract void.

Evidently, the OP said that the seller was either retiring or pursuing the medical billing industry and that she also dropped her personal policies within three weeks. That can be an indiciation of bad faith as it may show alterer motives on her part.

Talk with an attorney and see if there are any options before you throw in the towel. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Josh]

This is most likely a civil matter. Is it worth filing a complaint with the DOI? Sure, but they might very well say take a hike.

You can file something in small claims right away and claim that she owes you for X about for the business she's stolen so far (figure a reasonable projection of what the renewals would have been). I'm going to guess that if it's only a handful of them we're probably not talking about too much just yet, that in and of itself might make her back off a bit.

Additionally, you might want to talk to an attorney about getting injunctive relief pending a full litigation. My suspicion is that if you just gave her a pile of money she's ready to go ahead and spend it defending herself, but she might back off.

It's also worth considering that she was only going to steal a certain number of her close family/friends/etc and that would be the extent of the damage. She may not be trying to roll the entire book.

What's this agents name? Publishing what she's doing might also help motivate change.

 

[Bertolinoins]

MPS gives good advice. Go on the offensive and she will likely back off.

You can't go back in time but this is one of the reasons you never pay in full. The seller needs to have some skin in the game and a 2 year (or longer) buyout makes the transition much easier for the new owner.

 

[Guest]

Well, the OP hasnt come back to reply, so I guess its time to assume, there is no real contract and they paid in full already.....

 

[Mark]

Let this be a warning to other agents thinking about doing this.

Be sure to get everything in writing and make sure that they can't steal the clients.

 

[somarco]

Looking at OP"s post history, since he/she bought the book they have posted questions/comments about

Mount Joy Insurance
How much to pay producers
Allstate booting small agencies
Close ratio's as an independent


Reading between the lines it appears he was considering buying an Allstate agency as early as last April.

This does not seem good.

 

[insurance1822]

Hey Everybody,

Thanks for all your input. We're currently working with our companys internal legal department & prospecting different attorneys to move forward...

Many of your suggestions have come up up (demanding compensation for the policies already taken...etc...) however we are at the preliminary stages right now.

It seems difficult to get ahold of clients and verify who contacted who. As we progress w/ the attorneys I'll let you know how it plays out. I'm curious to see the legal ability we/our attorny will have to question clients who have left..

I have a fealing she's made a calculated decision to steal business knowing it's tough to really pin down. Either way...we are going at her 100%. It's just a shame, a true shame.

Again - all your input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Josh]

If this is an Allstate book then mother Allstate can probably step in and help too.

 

[b61mack]

comunicate with her first ! call her up.... talk with her... if you don't like what she says.... talk with the lawyers..