Best advice offered.. You won't go wrong by being honest, trustworthy and a person of your word.... If you do, you certainly will sleep better at night.
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Non Compete & Non Solicitation
- Thread starter JimYoung
- Start date
Yes, do what the insurance company wants, because if it's good for them, it must be good for you and everyone else.
Didn't say do what the insurance company wants.. I said 'keep your word". if it happens to coincide with what the insurance company wants, so be it. If you didn't want to abide by the terms of the contract, then you should not have signed it.
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Unfortunately, much to often the loophole we find is at the end of a rope. it is called a noose.
- 150
Before all these judicial geniuses come on here chest-puffing and showing the depths of their legal expertise, keep these in mind:
employers ALWAYS want to slam exited employees with non-competes, it seems to be particularly the case in my state......
the gist of it is, they are seldom enforceable, and their use is more to scare then to be enforced.
I was similarly threated with one in 96 as I went from one mtg company to another, before I opened my own shop.
that being said, obviously get all the input you can from Guardian, and dont activily solicit their employees.
Similarly, if the salesfolk at your previous POE get wind of your change (and they will) don't get excited about any loudmouth threats from some ignorant previous employer.
lastly, if you really want a definitive answer, get an attorney and don't trust anyone's advice on legal issues (including mine).
- 717
Something else you need to consider is the position you put these other 15 agents in..
You leave the company, go someplace new....your old agents make the move, threats of litigation begin, lawsuits happen.....and if you think the only problem is the old company, think again.....
Now you have 15 agents whose livelihood may be negatively affected and may be precluded from producing...guess who gets sued in that scenario???
You leave the company, go someplace new....your old agents make the move, threats of litigation begin, lawsuits happen.....and if you think the only problem is the old company, think again.....
Now you have 15 agents whose livelihood may be negatively affected and may be precluded from producing...guess who gets sued in that scenario???
- 15,041
There is a world of difference between a non-compete and a non-solicit. Non-competes are generally invalid, non-solicits almost always are. NWM has every right to ask this guy not to recruit away his former team or their policyholders he placed with them. They do not have the right to prevent him from soliciting new agents or policyholders to Guardian.
They can't keep anyone from "producing". The worst they could do would be to enforce he contractual penalty for replacing the business that you placed with them or learned about due to your being contracted with them. They cannot even prevent you from going back to your clients and writing new business.
As for recruiting agents away, that is a violation of most non compete clauses. However, they have to prove that you actively recruited the agent. If the agent comes to you without your encouraging them to do so, that would not be a violation.
As I said earlier.. Comply with the contract you signed and you don't have to worry about anything.. Don't actively recruit the agents and don't replace the polices you placed. It isn't that hard or that costly to comply with the contract unless you are planning on being a replacement artist that rolls clients from one carrier to another for new first year commission every time you make a change.
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- 582
Ditto.
My advice to the OP is this.
1)Have them leave NWM first and then apply to Guardian. There is your CYA. It is best for you if they are unemployed and then apply for a new job. You see non-competes were never designed to harm an innocent party, in this case the agent. You are more likely to get away with it if you hire an "unemployed" person then if you snatch one while they are still active.
2)They may send you a threatening letter.
3)Respond to that letter with HELLACIOUS claims (aimed the MGA or principal) stating that the reason you and the others in question left the agency was because of impropriety, fraud (forgery, lying on apps etc.), racial discrimination, use of the N word, sexual harassment, defamation, violation of Anti Money Laundering, etc., etc., (get creative and have fun with it). Be sure to emphasize that you have evidence to back all your claims.
4)The in house council will do a cost benefit analysis between pursuing their non-compete and having EEOC, Homeland Security, FBI, WI DOI, etc. raid their books and conduct separate investigations. They will decide to drop the non-compete claim and hope that you go away.
5) Problem solved!!!
Now for the record, I was joking and I went to the extreme. But, there is a lesson here. The lesson is that "dirt" is your leverage. I'm not talking about blackmail, I'm talking about an ability to counter. Your "dirt" can only be civil. You are obligated to report crimes.
Now you have to ask yourself 2 questions.
1) do you have any dirt?
2) do you have the stones to pull it off?
haha have fun!
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