ACA IMO Legit or Concerning

[Jay Dozier]

Sorry this is long (and a little rambling...)

Is it normal to talk to one IMO and then when it comes time to contract end up contracting through a different one?

I am brand new (got my license Friday) and really don't know what I don't know.

I contacted an imo a couple of weeks ago and spoke with their ACA onboarding person. It sounded good and he sent me all the info about what I would need to do in order to move forward after I got my license.

Saturday I followed the link he sent to get contacted, that link took me to a page that had the original companies name "in partnership with enrollinsurance.com" everything in that process continued to say the original companies name.

Today I start getting carrier contracts from a THIRD company. From what I gather this third company is the parent/sister company to Enroll.

I guess my question is who am I really doing business with? The original company, Enroll, or the sister company?

I am also concerned about this because I was under the impression (again I'm new and don't know anything, literally) that independent agents got paid by the carriers DIRECTLY, but at least two of the carrier contracts I looked at today were explicitly paid by the imo (which one I have no idea, see above ).

Am I being overly cautious or should I cut and run?

The reason I went with the original company to start with is that it had a good reputation on here and elsewhere and seemed like it had a reliable system in place for the kind of sales I wanted to do. Now I am unsure of who I am dealing with and what their reputation is like and have no idea what system they are offering.

I tried emailing and calling the onboarding person I originally spoke with but haven't heard back yet.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Jay Dozier]

Wow 143+ views and 0 replies!
Did I:
1. Ask the wrong (stupid) question?
or
2.Ask a the right question in the wrong place?
or
3.Ask the right question in the right place but what I am asking is so unusual that no one has an answer to it?
or
4. What I wrote makes no sense at all and I should question my ability to communicate with other humans at an adult level?

 

[Cole Lawrence]

As a new agent myself... I'd hoped for any answer here as well. I'll keep checking too.

 

[goillini52]

Sorry this is long (and a little rambling...)

Is it normal to talk to one IMO and then when it comes time to contract end up contracting through a different one?

I am brand new (got my license Friday) and really don't know what I don't know.

I contacted an imo a couple of weeks ago and spoke with their ACA onboarding person. It sounded good and he sent me all the info about what I would need to do in order to move forward after I got my license.

Saturday I followed the link he sent to get contacted, that link took me to a page that had the original companies name "in partnership with enrollinsurance.com" everything in that process continued to say the original companies name.

Today I start getting carrier contracts from a THIRD company. From what I gather this third company is the parent/sister company to Enroll.

I guess my question is who am I really doing business with? The original company, Enroll, or the sister company?

I am also concerned about this because I was under the impression (again I'm new and don't know anything, literally) that independent agents got paid by the carriers DIRECTLY, but at least two of the carrier contracts I looked at today were explicitly paid by the imo (which one I have no idea, see above ).

Am I being overly cautious or should I cut and run?

The reason I went with the original company to start with is that it had a good reputation on here and elsewhere and seemed like it had a reliable system in place for the kind of sales I wanted to do. Now I am unsure of who I am dealing with and what their reputation is like and have no idea what system they are offering.

I tried emailing and calling the onboarding person I originally spoke with but haven't heard back yet.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

It's not unusual to have several above you in your hierarchy. Call them and ask them

 

[Jay Dozier]

Update:
I called the company that was sending the contracting emails and they confirmed that they ARE part of the upline. And they told me all questions have to go through the original company.

That is cool, except I haven't been able to get in touch with my contact there. From previous history I really do think he must be out of the office for some reason.

So I guess I'll wait (I hate waiting, I am not an overly patient person by nature) until he gets back in the office. I'm just hoping that that is this week and not next...I'm ready to move to the next step so I can get to work!

 

[Newby]

Sorry this is long (and a little rambling...)

Is it normal to talk to one IMO and then when it comes time to contract end up contracting through a different one?

I am brand new (got my license Friday) and really don't know what I don't know.

I contacted an imo a couple of weeks ago and spoke with their ACA onboarding person. It sounded good and he sent me all the info about what I would need to do in order to move forward after I got my license.

Saturday I followed the link he sent to get contacted, that link took me to a page that had the original companies name "in partnership with enrollinsurance.com" everything in that process continued to say the original companies name.

Today I start getting carrier contracts from a THIRD company. From what I gather this third company is the parent/sister company to Enroll.

I guess my question is who am I really doing business with? The original company, Enroll, or the sister company?

I am also concerned about this because I was under the impression (again I'm new and don't know anything, literally) that independent agents got paid by the carriers DIRECTLY, but at least two of the carrier contracts I looked at today were explicitly paid by the imo (which one I have no idea, see above ).

Am I being overly cautious or should I cut and run?

The reason I went with the original company to start with is that it had a good reputation on here and elsewhere and seemed like it had a reliable system in place for the kind of sales I wanted to do. Now I am unsure of who I am dealing with and what their reputation is like and have no idea what system they are offering.

I tried emailing and calling the onboarding person I originally spoke with but haven't heard back yet.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Sounds like you may have spoken to someone (usually on Facebook) that is putting you in their hierarchy. Could be good or bad but you don’t want to get there by accident. You need to know exactly who is in your Upline and have their cell phone number on speed dial.

Most of those guys that hang out on Facebook and when you new agents ask a question they say Hey I like my people. Private message me and I can tell you who it is. Those guys are recruiters that want your info to get placed in your Upline and make an over ride.

That doesn’t mean everyone in a Medicare heiracy is bad. Some of them are great. But you want to choose them. Not get tricked into some dead weight guys heirachy

And if you are not paid directly from the insurance company, you definitely want to cancel that one. That is the best way to get screwed over they ever invented.

 

[Jay Dozier]

Sounds like you may have spoken to someone (usually on Facebook) that is putting you in their hierarchy. Could be good or bad but you don’t want to get there by accident. You need to know exactly who is in your Upline and have their cell phone number on speed dial.

Most of those guys that hang out on Facebook and when you new agents ask a question they say Hey I like my people. Private message me and I can tell you who it is. Those guys are recruiters that want your info to get placed in your Upline and make an over ride.

I totally understand what you're saying.
I actually found the imo I'm talking about in these forums, and one of the main reasons I went with them is the seemed to have a good reputation with a lot of the "guru's " on here.

I actually did quite a bit of research on them and talked to them on the phone a couple of times along with emailing them. Facebook never entered into the equation.

I'm happy to DM you their name but I don't want to say anything publicly because I still think they are a good outfit and that more than likely the issue is my contact there is out of the office.

I prefer communication over no communication, but I guess I just need to trust in their system...at least in the short term.

 

[Newby]

I totally understand what you're saying.
I actually found the imo I'm talking about in these forums, and one of the main reasons I went with them is the seemed to have a good reputation with a lot of the "guru's " on here.

I actually did quite a bit of research on them and talked to them on the phone a couple of times along with emailing them. Facebook never entered into the equation.

I'm happy to DM you their name but I don't want to say anything publicly because I still think they are a good outfit and that more than likely the issue is my contact there is out of the office.

I prefer communication over no communication, but I guess I just need to trust in their system...at least in the short term.

If they are a regular long time active poster on this forum they are usually going to be fine. Scammers don’t last long around here. But if they private messaged you (unsolicited) then they are most likely not good.

Yes if you will PM the name to me, I can give my opinion privately and will not pubically out them.

 

[wolf5150]

I've run into this scenario in my past life. In my current life, I utilized my exisitng medicare carrier appointments to just go direct with the carriers for all things ACA. This made things neater and less cluttered for me.

 

[Jim Wright]

Hi Jay,

I'm a little late here but I'm new to the forum. I work for an FMO that has a strategic partnership with Agility (enrollinsurance). We prefer to be direct with the carriers we work with but sometimes that's not possible. I would ask the original person you spoke about the nature of their relationship with them and any other uplines they may work with. You should be able to tell from their answers (or lack thereof) whether or not it's a good partnership for you.

As far as commissions getting paid direct by the carriers, some will do it and others will only pay the upline. I would also ask the person you're speaking to how they pay commissions and see if it's possible to get your commissions paid direct.