Healthcare.com refusing to release me; Won't pay me

[dude90]

Long time lurker first time poster,

I'm having a terrible experience with a brokerage firm called "Healthcare.com". They are refusing to allow me to move my carriers to another brokerage firm and they are refusing to payout my final check.

I have been begging them to provide me a release since June and I'm super worried they will continue to stonewall me into open enrollment. The CEO of the company Don Loonam is gone and all the other executive officers have moved on to greener pastures as well.

I feel like the company is about to enter bankruptcy and all the employees are unwilling to help me move on because their hair is on fire! How do I escape this inferno before it engulfs me as well?

The book of business does not belong to me (healthcare.com is the "agent of record"), but they are unwilling to follow their commission schedule. Do I file a complaint directly with the carriers or should I go to the director of insurance? They are threatening to destroy my reputation if I file in small claims court. At this point I just want a clean release and start up my own business for open enrollment, but they just refuse to collaborate with me OR they've simply quit/fired.

 

[Newby]

Long time lurker first time poster,

I'm having a terrible experience with a brokerage firm called "Healthcare.com". They are refusing to allow me to move my carriers to another brokerage firm and they are refusing to payout my final check.

I have been begging them to provide me a release since June and I'm super worried they will continue to stonewall me into open enrollment. The CEO of the company Don Loonam is gone and all the other executive officers have moved on to greener pastures as well.

I feel like the company is about to enter bankruptcy and all the employees are unwilling to help me move on because their hair is on fire! How do I escape this inferno before it engulfs me as well?

The book of business does not belong to me (healthcare.com is the "agent of record"), but they are unwilling to follow their commission schedule. Do I file a complaint directly with the carriers or should I go to the director of insurance? They are threatening to destroy my reputation if I file in small claims court. At this point I just want a clean release and start up my own business for open enrollment, but they just refuse to collaborate with me OR they've simply quit/fired.

I’m no lawyer but I’ve been in this business for over 25 years. If you were not the Agent of record and you chose to assign your commissions over to the Upline agency you may as well forget suing anybody. You’ll never win that. You voluntarily assigned all your rights to them and the only reason that companies will generally do that is so that any time there is a conflict between you they win 100% of the time and you have no rights.
Just move on and start over. Sell different companies this season and pick your old ones up if you want them the next season.
And don’t ever assign your commissions to anybody ever again. Especially with anything related to Medicare or health insurance where it’s renewal based.

 

[Mike Siegal]

I’m no lawyer but I’ve been in this business for over 25 years. If you were not the Agent of record and you chose to assign your commissions over to the Upline agency you may as well forget suing anybody. You’ll never win that. You voluntarily assigned all your rights to them and the only reason that companies will generally do that is so that any time there is a conflict between you they win 100% of the time and you have no rights.
Just move on and start over. Sell different companies this season and pick your old ones up if you want them the next season.
And don’t ever assign your commissions to anybody ever again. Especially with anything related to Medicare or health insurance where it’s renewal based.

I thought that was the deal with FMO's....you assign your commission and then are released upon request?

What am i missing?

 

[Newby]

I thought that was the deal with FMO's....you assign your commission and then are released upon request?

What am i missing?

You have it 100% wrong. With good FMO’s you are appointed directly to the company and you are paid directly from the company and you own all the business that you write. The FMO is paid his override directly from the company and can never take your renewals from you or control your business.

If you have a greedy FMO he will want you to assign your commissions to him. That’s the worst thing an Agent could ever do and it always ends up with you losing all your commissions. You gave up all your rights when you did that.

 

[Newby]

I thought that was the deal with FMO's....you assign your commission and then are released upon request?

What am i missing?

And no. 90% of FMO’s will never release you. The only way you can leave them and go elsewhere is to shut down those contracts for 6-months and then start over elsewhere.
And when you do that and choose a new Upline much more carefully, question #1 is Am I paid directly from the insurance carrier?
Question #2 is What is the release policy?

 

[Mike Siegal]

And no. 90% of FMO’s will never release you. The only way you can leave them and go elsewhere is to shut down those contracts for 6-months and then start over elsewhere.
And when you do that and choose a new Upline much more carefully, question #1 is Am I paid directly from the insurance carrier?
Question #2 is What is the release policy?

I haven't experienced this in Life sales
Thank you Newby;
So, even if you get commissions assigned, you still need a Viable Release that protects you... ???

Can you get that release up front?

 

[Newby]

I haven't experienced this in Life sales
Thank you Newby;
So, even if you get commissions assigned, you still need a Viable Release that protects you... ???

Can you get that release up front?

No. Some agencies will give you one but it’s useless. All they have to do is just call the carriers and tell them to not release you and they won’t. A proper release is going to need the new IMO agreeing to accept you and accept debt responsibility.

You just have to look at what your IMO puts out there publicly about releasing. If they are very upfront about it publicly they pretty much do release or they would be in online wars daily with agents going public that they don’t.

 

[Mike Siegal]

No. Some agencies will give you one but it’s useless. All they have to do is just call the carriers and tell them to not release you and they won’t. A proper release is going to need the new IMO agreeing to accept you and accept debt responsibility.

You just have to look at what your IMO puts out there publicly about releasing. If they are very upfront about it publicly they pretty much do release or they would be in online wars daily with agents going public that they don’t.

So rule is; If you are going to market/sell Health Ins., 'make sure' commissions are assigned to you (not agency). AND if you leave, keep your fingers crossed for a Release ?

 

[Newby]

So rule is; If you are going to market/sell Health Ins., 'make sure' commissions are assigned to you (not agency). AND if you leave, keep your fingers crossed for a Release ?

Just don’t expect a release at all unless you see the IMO addressing releases openly on their website or in Forum and/or Facebook groups. Very few of us release.

And never, never, never assign your commissions to anyone for ANY type of insurance. You are to be paid direct.

 

[goillini52]

And no. 90% of FMO’s will never release you. The only way you can leave them and go elsewhere is to shut down those contracts for 6-months and then start over elsewhere.
And when you do that and choose a new Upline much more carefully, question #1 is Am I paid directly from the insurance carrier?
Question #2 is What is the release policy?

I've only had 2 older contracts that I couldn't get a release (Aetna and Oxford) and I had to self terminate and wait 12 months on Aetna (they're 6 months now) and 6 months on Oxford. I always get the release policy in writing now, but everyone I deal with has open releases and mention it on their website.