Hi all, I'm new here and am rather new to insurance as well. I'm working for an independent agency and have been here since May 2017 after getting my P&C license. I work commercial lines. I am hoping to get some expertise advice on whether or not I am working for a questionable agency. One of the Producers, who happens to be my boss, has frequently asked me to do things that I feel may be less than ethical and I have really been struggling with figuring out if I am just questioning his motives because I'm so new to insurance or if my suspicions are accurate and I should start looking for a new Employer. Some of what I've seen is, purposely leaving out information on applications when it could increase the premium (such as stating the company does not do roofing work when they do), frequently asking to decrease the building values on a property by even 50% with no good reason behind it, changing the Payroll Audits after they are turned in by the Insured but prior to turning them in to the Companies we work with or completing payroll audits or questions on applications by seemingly guessing. Or quoting something at a very low value when he knows it's not accurate just to get a good premium.
But all of that aside. My question today is related to Surety Bonds, specifically Bid Bonds. I'm not sure if that exactly falls into insurance and if not, please just tell me!
An incident occurred where he asked me to "type up" a bid bond form and provide it to the customer without first getting it approved by the Surety company stating that he had authority to say when its approved. This was strange to me because I have always gone through the online bid bond requesting procedure on The Surety Company's website. At first when he told me to "type it up" I figured, because he doesn't use a computer he didn't understand all that goes into it, so I began the process as usual. I couldn't find the Insured listed on the Surety's website so I called and they told me it was because we had not sent in recent financials for the Insured and would need to do so prior to getting approved. I thought, "no big deal" but when I told my boss he got very agitated and once again told me he had the authority to say when something is approved and "he approved it" and he was very upset that I even went online or called the Surety company. That made no sense to me because he does not work for The Surety company so how can he say its approved?! He wanted me to just fill out the form and give to the customer. At that point I was too afraid to challenge him more so I filled out the form against my better judgement and gave it to them like he demanded. Needless to say, I got a stern talking to later about why I won't do what he asks, when he asks, how he asks. I don't know if I feel worse about that or the fact I handed out a Bid Bond to someone knowing it is currently nothing but a piece of paper.
Can anyone please shed some light on this? I would greatly appreciate any help. I am concerned I need to get out of there but am I just paranoid and just too new at this and I should just take his word for it and do "exactly as he tells me" like he says? Or is my conscience correct and something fishy is going on and I need to run far away from this place?
But all of that aside. My question today is related to Surety Bonds, specifically Bid Bonds. I'm not sure if that exactly falls into insurance and if not, please just tell me!
An incident occurred where he asked me to "type up" a bid bond form and provide it to the customer without first getting it approved by the Surety company stating that he had authority to say when its approved. This was strange to me because I have always gone through the online bid bond requesting procedure on The Surety Company's website. At first when he told me to "type it up" I figured, because he doesn't use a computer he didn't understand all that goes into it, so I began the process as usual. I couldn't find the Insured listed on the Surety's website so I called and they told me it was because we had not sent in recent financials for the Insured and would need to do so prior to getting approved. I thought, "no big deal" but when I told my boss he got very agitated and once again told me he had the authority to say when something is approved and "he approved it" and he was very upset that I even went online or called the Surety company. That made no sense to me because he does not work for The Surety company so how can he say its approved?! He wanted me to just fill out the form and give to the customer. At that point I was too afraid to challenge him more so I filled out the form against my better judgement and gave it to them like he demanded. Needless to say, I got a stern talking to later about why I won't do what he asks, when he asks, how he asks. I don't know if I feel worse about that or the fact I handed out a Bid Bond to someone knowing it is currently nothing but a piece of paper.
Can anyone please shed some light on this? I would greatly appreciate any help. I am concerned I need to get out of there but am I just paranoid and just too new at this and I should just take his word for it and do "exactly as he tells me" like he says? Or is my conscience correct and something fishy is going on and I need to run far away from this place?
