Combined Insurance Company Of America, AON Corporation, CICA Does not pay what is owed! False Manweeks, Lies, Misrepresentations,Unfair treatment from employee to employee. Chicago Illinois

I worked for Bonnie and Jesus in Arkansas in the mid 90's. Bonnie is strickly biz, but Jesus is an out right a*****e. I think he laid on his fat fungus laden a*s thinking of ways to screw his agents. My experience was mixed. Sold alot of policies.....did not count on training. Just went out there and did what I was told would work and by golly...it did. So I kept doing it and expanded my knowledge. In '94 I was the top commission earner and top premium producer for the state. I still use what I have learned to this day and have over $10,000/month cash flow from my insurance biz and I actually earn half that. The balance is renewals. I would not work in any div that has has Jesus Vega in it.

I am thinking about going back to work for them in the senior market. They have some good things going and with my wife's health problems I could use the health benefits. The 401k has made some very wealthy senior managers as well. Any advise is welcome.

As far as all the negative. I look at it this way. If someone has a Ford pickup truck and it is doing well........do they brag on it. NO If they have problems do they tell everyone......YES. Every insurance company that has used mass marketing such as CICA will have a higher number of complaints due to exsposure. And then you have to consider what is being carped about. A person that buys a $40/six month accident plan and thinks the thing will pay for a $2000 broke leg is crazy, stupid, and/or really disconnected from the real world. When I was in the field selling those accident plans and had someone grip about not paying a claim........usually it was that it was not enough in thier eyes. From my curious nature I knew a plan that would have paid for the $2000 broke leg (major medical) would cost 20 times what the simple accident plan cost. I would make it a matter of mathmatics and end up reselling the person gripping in the first place.
As far as making money. Going out of town was voluntary. A person like me, had the right to stay right there in his home town and sell new plans. Some of the chicken, unwilling to work the system, lack of faith agents that are claiming lack of success on these boards are the ones that would rather chase my renewals from what I sold last cycle for full commissions for 25% of what I got paid for it. You think an organization would fire someone selling? NO NO and NO. I refused several trips, Ardmores, and request to train new agents because it was not in MY best interest at the time. Bonnie got pissed at me several times due to my lack of comformity, but never would say the words, "your fired". Why......production. Good honest, solid, dependable production.
My wife does not have to work and if I don't want to mess with insurance for he next couple of weeks and goof off I can due to what I learned down those streets with CicA.

I'm going to address this to people thinking about working for the company.

The problem you face is that you don't know how to tell whether the district you're going into is ran be dedicated professionals or by professional bums.

The thing to keep in mind is that the good managers are aware of the problems that the company has in many areas and will respond to reasonable requests from you. Ask how the slot you're being hired for became available. See if they tell you 'growth' or 'promtions' or 'someone left the company'.

Ask for a chance to meet some of the most recently hired reps. Confirm what the mgr told you with them. Ask for names of recently departed employees. IF they remain in the ins business and as such maintain an office where they recieve calls from the public, ask for a chance to meet with them and discuss their CICA experience. (I'm NOT suggesting you do the same with someone who has gone into another, less public field).

Also, in respect to the question of whether or not claims are paid, ask the mgrs interviewing you what the companies Denial of Claims rate is for your state. Get specifics of what types of claims (accident, LTC, dread disesase, etc) are being sited.

Then, pass those numbers along to your personal ins agent, or if you don't have one, to the agent serving a friend or relative. Simply ask him or her if those numbers seem fair for the types of coverage in question (ALL companies deny some claims, as some claims are NOT legit).

This level of due diligence, which shows that you place high value on your time and ability, shouldn't discurage an honest mgr from hiring you . . .wouldn't discurage me if my organization had an opening for a individual of promise and potential.

Now, lets assume you're satisfied that your district is being lead by honest and ethical people. The question then becomes is CICA the type of ins co your want to represent. As a long time veteran of the ins field, I consider CICA to be insurance lite.

You'll have a very small portfolio of products, and your approach in the accident div which is CICA's backbone, will be one size fits all. You knock doors, get in the house, dominate the conversation from the onset, give a canned presentation, rebuttal, rebuttal, and rebuttal some more.

When the prospect speaks you listen only for the cue as to which rebuttal to serve up next. Eventually you get asked to leave or maybe sell. This is not all bad, all prospects have to be lead to change, people by and large AVOID change, and the reason sales pays what it does is that it is HARD to get people to take action even when it is in their best interest and they're going to get fair value for their money.

Many people have collected large amts of money, money that kept their lives and families intact, from ins they resisted buying at the onset . . . many people have survived medical crisis with their finances intact ONLY b/c an ins agent worked hard to get them to yes.

That said . . . your limited product line means that you don't have solutions for everyone you encounter, and you don't have a lot of creative problem solving in the course of your day . . .you're like a small game hunter going through the woods, shooting squirrels and throwing them in your bag.

Because the job doesn't supply great mental stimulation CICA tries to keep you going with motivational pep rallies and contests and any short term gimmick it can come up with . . .

This is all different from what most ins professionals do. When I call on a prospect I (and tens of thousands like me) spend far less time talking than we do listening.

We learn about the clients current postion and we help him chart a course from where he is to where he wants to be . . . we spend two to three meetings consultanting with the client and putting together a plan. In addition to the money there is the day to day reward of challenging and engaging activity on behalf of my clients.

Part of why so many agents leave CICA is they see that as skilled sales people they can make as much if not more money elsewhere AND have the added bonus of mentally stimulating work of tayloring carefully thought out programs of interlocking protection and investments which translate to huge changes in the quality of their clients lives.

Read the 'careers' sections of any ins company's website. You'll notice that Combined puts far more emphasis on motivation and earnings for its sales reps than any other company. Sales pays very very well anywhere.

It is a wonderfully lucrative field, but the reason many of us chose to sell Ins over selling software or B2B services is because of the reward of creative and meaningful work serving our clients. Other companies recognize that on their web presence, Combined is all about money money money.

Go figure.

I am responding to Tim in Minnisota. I am saying that I enjoyed my time at Combined as well. However, I had to quit because of the lies told to me and others by Missouri Management. Not the Combined Comapany. I am sure that the Missouri Management have to put you in for the bonuses that you earn or you will never get them. That is what I am saying. It is no wonder that they have so much turnover in Joplin, Missouri. If I was paid what I earned, I would still be with the company today and looking for a promotion. It is a great company that has good insurance, just don't go to work for them in southern Missouri. That is what I wanted to say in retrospect.

I am responding to Tim in Minnisota. I am saying that I enjoyed my time at Combined as well. However, I had to quit because of the lies told to me and others by Missouri Management. Not the Combined Comapany. I am sure that the Missouri Management have to put you in for the bonuses that you earn or you will never get them. That is what I am saying. It is no wonder that they have so much turnover in Joplin, Missouri. If I was paid what I earned, I would still be with the company today and looking for a promotion. It is a great company that has good insurance, just don't go to work for them in southern Missouri. That is what I wanted to say in retrospect.

As someone proudly in their 4th year with Combined, I'm slightly amused but mostly surprised by what I read on here tonight.

To more appropriately put my comments in perspective let me say that Combined Insurance employs about 4,500 career sales agents across the U.S. To see 22 comments out of 4,500 career agents would seem...normal for any industry, but still surprising compared to what I know.

Of the 4,500 agents nationwide, roughly 150 of those are in the SENIOR divison. In Seniors we deal mostly with existing policyholders and purchased leads, we give each agent their own access from their home laptops to our vast database of policyholders and other lead sources.

In Seniors, we have never misrepresented our commissions or bonus structure and we have no dollar amount guarantee, you earn what you're worth and if that's zero it's zero. But to others, like me...it's an uncapped income.

In Minnesota we have about 35 agents, so we make up a high percentage of the 150 agents nationwide because we indeed "do the right thing because it is the right thing to do". We are professional, permanent, personal agents that run our businesses like any reputable franchisee would.

We understand that if there is a problem with a policyholder stemming from an accident, disability, cancer, or sickness policy...the only way they are going to by a Medicare Supplement or Long Term Care policy from us upon hitting their "Golden" age is if we make it right.

And we do.

Did you know that in 2003 Combined Insurance Company of America received the highly coveted Better Business Bureau Torchbearer Award? Yes we did. It demonstrates a continued tradition of ethical leadership and commitment to the highest level of service to our customers and to the community at large.

And that's how the SENIOR organization does it in Minnesota. If you want to join a winning team, we're right here.