Oxford Life - Why or Why Not?

[rousemark]

I think a go-to company has to be more open to health conditions. They want ONLY the healthy, which means another company that is willing to take healthy/mildly healthy/and unhealthy has to be stuck only getting the unhealthy since we send all the healthy ones to Oxford.

So technically what they are saying is "We want to be your go-to company and ONLY want healthy clients. You can send all the other clients to another company and let them have em." Why not just make the more open, secondary company the go-to carrier?

I have never made a penny from Oxford and I am not missing anything.

Also, they contract direct. I work hard and spend a ton of money on building my company and recruiting. If I find an agent, train them, put them on a lead program that I am financing and then I decide the agent should write a company other than Oxford, Oxford could just call them up and offer them to go direct? Oxford would not even know the agent existed if I had not got them contracted with Oxford. But they all of a sudden have the right to allow them direct?

That is kinda like what Todd is dealing with in the other thread. I am not sending 50-100 agents that I spent money/time finding/training to a company that would just take them away if I decided to stop doing business with them.

Unfortunately, it appears Settlers wants to be the next Oxford..

 

[FinalExpenseDojo.com]

If they want to be a big player they have to do something DIFFERENT. Right now the only difference is they're $2 cheaper then most carriers. That's not enough to convince us.

Only 2 FE carriers have an instant decision e app right now. If they made one just as good as Americo's where it can be completed in 5-8 minutes, I think agents would find a use for them.

It has to be a simple accept/decline system with no possible tele interview or underwriter review. It must allow signatures on the screen & provide a policy number instantly at the end.

Many FE carriers are making the mistake of using the iGo platform to release their eapp. My opinion is that iGo is great for fully underwritten cases where the paper apps are 40-50 pages. FE is a different story. While it might be nice to not have to fax in paperwork, the iGo eapps take way too long to complete compared to paper apps (for FE) which makes the old fashioned paper app the easier way of submitting business. In all honesty, if I'm not getting a guaranteed UW decision on the spot & it's not saving me time I have no incentive to use an eapp.

Here is a video demonstration I did of the Americo product that I referred to above.

 

[kuhn123]

Their phone interview is better now, without any health questions or additional digging. Oxford says that they have it down to less than 5 minutes. Most of our agents say that it is now taking them around 8-10 minutes. Still not bad though for a final decision.

The biggest problem with the e-app they have coming out is that the client MUST have an e-mail address (that they actually know how to access), as they will receive an e-mail during the process which they have to respond to. That's a pretty tall order for the average FE client.

 

[FinalExpenseDojo.com]

Their phone interview is better now, without any health questions or additional digging. Oxford says that they have it down to less than 5 minutes. Most of our agents say that it is now taking them around 8-10 minutes. Still not bad though for a final decision.

The biggest problem with the e-app they have coming out is that the client MUST have an e-mail address (that they actually know how to access), as they will receive an e-mail during the process which they have to respond to. That's a pretty tall order for the average FE client.

Too bad they didn't ask us before hand.

 

[Todd King]

Good feedback so far. Keep the thoughts coming!

 

[jacobtn]

They used to have in house marketer that harassed me to death, called me weekly wondering why my team wasn't selling more (and actually had the nerve to tell my receptionist to ask me why I haven't been sending them more business lately). I heard he works for a logistics company now. I don't know who took his place, quit using them around that time, got tired of the the other issues and that guy pushed me over the edge.

 

[Allines]

I had Oxford at one time but they canned me for non production as I was recovering from a hospitalization. No problem. Oxford wants " the best of the best". Well I have a P/C agency (fe is a add on for us but we seem to do a fair amount). I'm hear to tell you that EVERY company wants the best of the best. I think in Fe, as in personal auto you have to have the product to meet the situation as it presents itself. The days of you need to write us because we are so wonderful are long gone. Oxford needs to clean up it's act and develop products that will meet the market place, however it may be presented.

 

[NSRH]

Carriers are trying to tighten up on their health niches that get exploited by independent agents. These niches only work, when business is coupled with other, less adverse, medical conditions.

This is forcing carriers to look for strategic partners, who they can earn more business from. I am seeing this shift in the market.

Independent agents/agencies will always be around, in my opinion, however I believe the biggest issue for them is marketing cost, rather than carrier issues.

Carriers that are paying good commissions and offer marketing allowances are the ones that indy agents seem to be picking to have as their number one carrier. The cost of marketing continues to rise, and agents need as much cash as possible to continue to stay in business.

You do this by either offering higher commissions, or giving out marketing money based on production.

 

[Scotty1980]

Let's be honest here. The main reason why most agents do not use Oxford is because of their paltry renewals. If they want to be a contender, then renewals need to go up a lot. I too would start using them as my "top go to", as I have no issues with underwriting or the pos interview.

 

[florinsure]

last time I did a phone ap with them---they were still making applicant feel like a criminal---am I to believe that this has changed?