I'm new to insurance, and don't like my situation

[midwestbroker]

You may be an ethical person, and we are not looking to attack you personally. The company, however, is screwing people by selling them plans that "mirror" major medical and have all kinds of limitations.

This practice by UA, while not practiced by you, will reflect on to you since you are a representative of the company.

 

[Survivor]

Point taken and understood.

I'm trying to do some serious research now on these forums that I didn't do before.

Would some one be so kind as to point me in a good direction. I've spent the time and money getting licensed, so I don't want to just call it quits on this business just yet. I've got 2.5-3 months of expenses saved up before I have to start selling some of my stocks to pay the mortgage, so I need to slide into a better situation shortly (after more careful research this time of course).

 

[James]

Point taken and understood.

I'm trying to do some serious research now on these forums that I didn't do before.

Would some one be so kind as to point me in a good direction. I've spent the time and money getting licensed, so I don't want to just call it quits on this business just yet. I've got 2.5-3 months of expenses saved up before I have to start selling some of my stocks to pay the mortgage, so I need to slide into a better situation shortly (after more careful research this time of course).

Sell serious companies, you have Assurant, GR, BC, Aetna, Humana etc etc on the health side. Get out there and start doing B2B and cold calling! Sooner the better, sure you might make mistakes but sooner you start the sooner you get a good income coming in. What ever you do, don't allow anyone make it complicated, it isn't rocket science!

 

[STIBROKER]

But if you are writing these plans on healthy people when they need to be in a major medical plan that is how....and even the few sick people I have sent them ended up with a watered down plan that was not worth the money and ended up putting them into the risk pool ....asamof even on UA site they state these are not major med plans and should be bought to supplement a major medical plan which is stupid......
United American Health Insurance
"United American offers a variety of Hospital and Surgical expense plans for individuals and families. These plans are designed to supplement current health coverage or serve as basic coverage where cost or availability is an issue.
Some of our most popular limited benefit plans include:"

How exactly am I "screwing people" if I explain cost and explain benefits?

 

[Alston]

Have you ever bought an off-off brand tape player?

The super cheap tape players have no rewind button. You have to turn the tape over and use the fast forward button. I'm sure that nothing on the box says that they have a rewind button, so legally they are covered. However, if most people who buy the product expect a rewind button and if most of those people are disappointed when they aren't able to find one, an unspoken promise is broken.

This is the situation with basic or hospital only policies and a lot of health insurance policies sold by off-off brand companies. There are assumptions that clients make. These assumptions are in the head of the buyer and may not be legally binding. People expect to have most of their bills paid by their insurance company if they have a major expense. No one reads the contract but they make these assumptions. I don't think you want to be the person who makes these unspoken promises if they are not going to be kept by your insurance company.

By the way, these policies aren't always priced lower than more substantial policies offered by good companies.

 

[Frank Stastny]

Frank:
You have a very vaild point. When I encounter this objection, I try to explain, much in the same way you outlined above, why they should use bank draft. Problem is, I find that people have a general fear of bank draft or else like to count their expenses as they pay them. I understand a company's reasons for pushing bank draft, but I think I'm seeing too much of a disparity in my commissions if they opt for direct bill vs. draft. Either way you cut it, I wrote 6,000 in AP (assuming it stays in force for a year, of course) and I just can't see a reason for me to earn 75% less over method of payment. Are all companies like this, or is it more contained to UA and the like?

I can only speak for the senior market. I find that the vast majority of companies I represent either strongly encourage agents, or require them to write apps with auto bank draft.

As I said, I had the same problem when I first started selling. Among other things I mentioned, I would tell them that I have everything possible paid by auto bank draft. I think that helped a little when I said that.

I have no trouble now signing them up on Automatic Bank Draft (ABD), in fact, a lot of them specifically ask if the premium can come right out of their checking account.

You might look and see if there is a difference in the premium between Direct Bill and ABD. If there is, ABD should be a few dollars less expensive.

If they are adamant about not signing up that way, you can always suggest they pay annually.

 

[K-Dub]

Some very good points that were explained in regards to ABD. When I talk with clients it's either they pay annually (most people can't) or Bank Draft! If they don't want bank draft it's because they probably have $50 at any given time in the bank and are not financially responsible! <---This is from my experience!

A couple of reasons for bank draft, 1) The odds of lapsing are a lot less! 2) The odds of canceling are a lot less!

When people object say what has already been said on this board, it's keeps the cost of your insurance down (less paper and postage), and you really won't have to worry about your policy lapsing.

Try this: Mr. Client, just about all insurance companies are doing away with paper bills monthly, it keeps the cost of insurance down for one, and you won't have to worry about your policy ever lapsing. 95% of my clients are utilizing auto bank draft, the other 5% are paying annually. If you ever want to change accounts in the future let me know, it's pretty simple and I'm just a phone call away.

You most likely will not get an objection! Good luck!

 

[GP32765]

Here is what I do:
Mr. Jones we set it up where your bank pays us every month. Instead of this: Mr. Jones we draft the money from your account every month. Is sounds much better the first way rather than saying we are going to take it from your account.

 

[TheSalesWolf]

Here's what you need to do.

Go back and get your old job or something similar. Tell United American to shove it. Use your license to get appointed with real insurance carriers.
(Blue Cross BLue Shield, United HealthCare, Assurant, etc... )

Start selling the health insurance on the side to your friends, family and referalls. Make sure it is something that you feel confident that you can do and then make the decision to get into insurance.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, go captive to sell any health product. Any health product that makes you go CAPTIVE generally stinks.

 

[Expat]

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, go captive to sell any health product. Any health product that makes you go CAPTIVE generally stinks.

100% correct. The attachment is from the Texas Dept of Insurance Disciplinary Actions. July 2007

United American Insurance Company of McKinney
Order Number: 070569
Date of Order: 7/2/2007
Order Final In: July
Action Taken: $95,000 fine
Violation: Allegedly, through its agents, engaged in unfair and deceptive acts or practices in the marketing of Medicare supplement insurance policies; Allegedly misrepresented terms and conditions of an insurance policy

United American Insurance Company of McKinney
Order Number: 070570
Date of Order: 7/2/2007
Order Final In: July
Action Taken: $95,000 fine
Violation: Allegedly failed to establish required marketing procedures regarding Medicare supplement insurance; Allegedly modified policy form without approval; Allegedly failed to timely respond to requests for information from TDI