I was terminated from my captive contract in August. They have refused to give me a reason why. Also, they have informed me that they will contact the dept. of insurance to inform them that my termination was for "cause". I have demanded documentation to that and they said that can't help me. I believe I have a case. I'm in Illinois north west of chicago. Anyone have a good lawer for me to contact or any suggestions?
First, review your Agent's contract and see what can happen. Most if not all insurance companies can terminate "at will" immediately or without cause with 30 days notice. Your contract will tell you if you have a case or not.
Back when this happened to me when I worked for a major player, they routinely put in every terminated agent's file "with cause". Sort of a piss in the well thank you for your service. It was only corrected if you went to the expense of a lawyer to draft a letter challenging them. Then it was a "clerical error" and they fell all over themselves apologizing.
It is very hard and expensive to sue an insurance carrier. Reread your contract first to see if it's worth it. In my case I would have won, but it would have just put off the firing for 30 days. See if it's worth it to you to fight or ask an attorny to send a letter.
Good luck and know you're not the only one this is done to.
I was terminated from my captive contract in August. They have refused to give me a reason why. Also, they have informed me that they will contact the dept. of insurance to inform them that my termination was for "cause". I have demanded documentation to that and they said that can't help me. I believe I have a case. I'm in Illinois north west of chicago. Anyone have a good lawer for me to contact or any suggestions?
Terminating someone for-cause is not to be taken lightly. I would suggest you research employment attorney to assist. If all you need is a letter written, it should be fairly inexpensive. All else fails, find yourself a Pre Paid Legal sales rep and get yourself a policy and then have them write the letter.
If you do not have a non-compete the best revenge will be to rewrite everyone of those high priced Bankers plans that you can. I know a guy who left who did that. Boy did they hate him.
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Last edited by xrac : 11-06-2009 at 09:07 PM.
Reason: Posts merged
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." Charles Darwin
Not to be difficult but I actually don't know what that means when they say terminated with cause. Your employment arrangement with your carrier is between you and your carrier (obviously state law may vary) but if an agent is terminated for cause as a result of an insurance regulation violation they would just be reporting the violation to the state and the state will take whatever action is appropriation on that allegation. If they terminated you "for cause" meaning that they gave you fifty leads to work and you didnt work any of them or you picked your nose in front of a client then that is between you and the employer.
Let me give you a little head's up. If you are captive and salaried and they let you go "for cause" it usually means that they are trying to get out from under paying unemployment benefits to you. They dont pay of course, the state does but they increase an employers rates unless a firing is for cause.
Not saying this applies. Then again, not saying it doesnt.
Most of these clowns are just trying to keep you on the defensive and themselves off the rope. If they have you worried about complaints against you then you just end out worrying and are thankful in the long run that they never happened. This tactic is often sufficient to keep fired agents from going to the DOI with complaints about all the shlocky things they learned about the company while they were there which is really what should be happening.
The company is playing a dangerous game. If you were an employee at will then they can fire you for no reason at all, however, if they give a reason and especially ti that reason is communicated to third parties where it could cause harm to personal and professional reputation, and it is without merit then they are subject to action. They will get away with it most instances so they keep on doing it.
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So...if a captive company terminates you "with cause,'....you mean none of the other carriers you were writing business with will let you continue to write business?
Captive companies often let their agents use their GA. If they are terminated, they just use another GA. Could this be a potential problem for someone?
The insurance dep't rarely gets involved in agent/agent or agent/agency disputes.
I agree with your statement, but not the sentiment. If an agent has their appointment terminated "for cause" and it's reported that way to the insurance department most will want to do an investigation as to what happened. Usually the only thing they would term "for cause" would be ethical reasons such as lying, stealing, etc, not just failure to meet goals or anything like that. The best thing anyone can do is contact the insurance department and ask what information has been communicated to them. If anything has been communicated and is not an open investigation an agent can make a Freedom Of Information request and get copies of anything that has been communicated to the state. Sometimes insurance agencies will tell an agent they were termed for cause but never report it to the state that way to avoid having to confront the truth of the situation which is usually that the agent has done nothing wrong.
I did not see the woman mention what company she had been terminated from. It would not surprise me if the company shes talking about is Humana or some other Medicare Advantage company. Those companies are already under extreme scrutiny by the department of insurance and turning agents into the dept of insurance is more then likely their idea of a pre-emptive strike to cover their own asses.
I did not see the woman mention what company she had been terminated from. It would not surprise me if the company shes talking about is Humana or some other Medicare Advantage company. Those companies are already under extreme scrutiny by the department of insurance and turning agents into the dept of insurance is more then likely their idea of a pre-emptive strike to cover their own asses.
Those of us who have conversed with her on other threads know it was BANKERS! We also know that that is the kind of thing Bankers is known for.
Reporting a separation for "cause" to the D.O.I is an entirely different matter than "cause" to the state employment service. As alluded to earlier in this thread, state employment services may require a notice of separation to be filed-- and the reason for separation. These don't mean diddly if you file a claim for unemployment benefits as EVERYTHING will be investigated at that time-- independent of any form filed by the employer. Notifying the D.O.I. of "cause" is an egregious act that carries much more weight. Keep on top of this and seek legal assistance such as the means referenced in this thread. If ANY captive (or otherwise) company threatened this of me, I'd have my attorney at their front door the next morning.
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"Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise."
- Benjamin Franklin
It was Bankers. My novice manager I worked for wouldn't tell me what the reason was. His manager was shocked that it had happened and said he would get me back into the office. I asked to be transfered if I couldn't work in that office. That manager came back and denied the transfer and still wouldn't tell me why. I contacted the person at the home office and she said she can't help me. She's the one that sent the letter saying it was for cause. I was never written up in my 7 years with them. So, who do I contact?
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Oh and yes, the contract has a 2 year non-compete clause. Still, I know that they rarely follow up with that or go further if you do replace business.
Last edited by Seniorgirl411 : 11-09-2009 at 06:03 PM.
Reason: Posts merged
Anyone Have a Good Lawyer?
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