Combined Insurance Employee Reviews about "combined insurance"

Pros

Supplental insurance policies; limited whole life options, but still great coverages.

Cons

Supplemental insurance; Niche market; Limited options for prospects who seek alternative insurance options.

Pros

I have worked here for about 4 years. One thing I noticed was the training is great!! It is for 2 weeks and encompasses ALL types of traininng; classroom, field, and role playing. Also, being W2 is great because company benefits are paid out. Combined is reptuable in the insurance industry and has been around for 90 years; so they are very established.

Cons

Communication is lacking. I feel the 'management' team is playing everyone's best friend versus actually being management and doing what is right. they tend to side with 'friends' and help them out then the other person. I dont agree with it.

Pros

6 month new agent subsidy makes it a good 'short term' opportunity. Employee position so you have taxes deducted and access to 'expensive' health insurance benefits.

Cons

Unprofessional distribution system cold calling! Don't let them try to tell you differently! Unethical business practices! Very expensive health insurance benefits! Very little support from management after your 2 week training in Chicago and 2 week in-field training (That is normally NOT followed). Products are NOT priced competitively AND their underwriting is WAY TOO RESTRICTIVE for their pricing! They put WAY TOO MUCH money into their high level managers and NOT NEARLY ENOUGH into their agents and territory managers. They also provide MUCH more recognition to high level managers, rather than to the agents and territory managers, that are responsible for their success in their high level management roles!!!! They hire anyone, so if you NEED a job while looking for a career, go take their money for several months. DO NOT expect it to be a career opportunity!!!!!

Pros

Work independently company equipment it’s a good place to start if you are interested in the insurance business.

Cons

If you don’t work you don’t see a pay check high pressure sales

Pros

Excellent Company where your earning potential is unlimited as well as advancement. I started my career with Combined in February of 2016 became An Account Executive within three months and a Territory Manager within my first six months with this company. We at Combined believe in always having and Positive Mental Attitude, with the tools no training I have received I can accomplish anything. I recommend Combined Insurance to anyone whom has the desire to help protect people along with making a great living

Cons

This is not an 8-5 job, if you want to be successful you must work hard. Sometimes in the evening hours or weekends. I don't feel this to be a negative because I knew my hard work and dedication would pay off.

Pros

This is a company that invests its human capital and money in training and developing people to grow and to strive to reach their potential. They sell supplemental insurance to individuals that is economical and beneficial

Cons

this is a full time position and requires obtaining an insurance license

Pros

Commission rates are decent. Benefits are decent, if you sell enough to qualify for them. Their accident-only insurance product (Accident Protector) is very good for how much it costs. The company is in the process of changing some of their more frustrating policies and starting to come into the modern era on their business processes and practices.

Cons

Their life core insurance product (Family Life Protector) is not particularly good. Lots of cold-calling businesses and sometimes residential areas. If you aren't particularly good at selling their products you will make very little money since it's a commission-only job at the sales agent level. You will be expected to go out and see current customers on a regular basis, sometimes as often as every three months. Many of these customers have seen an agent pretty recently and will not be thrilled to see you. You will probably be expected to work six days a week and long hours (>10 hours a day) depending on who your Territory Manager and Market Director are. You may have to spend an inordinately large amount of money on gas since the geographic area your sales office services will probably be very large. Expect to drive a few hundred miles every week

Pros

I liked the idea of maintaining a Positive Mental Attitude. It's about maintaining a positive mindset so that you are prepared to have a successful day. The employee benefits were good - they provide medical insurance through Aetna (HMO & PPO were both available at the time) and decent PTO. The training for my position (Enhanced Customer Service Rep - ie: Internal Sales Agent) was substantial and they helped me to obtain my Life & Health Insurance licenses during this time. The Chicago office is in a perfect location (right on the Chicago River with a view of Navy Pier) and the office is beautiful (lots of windows, a beautiful lunch room, etc...). The Glenview office isn't as 'pretty' but has an awesome cafeteria downstairs (with a great discount) and a positive culture. I enjoyed the values of the company - providing people with supplemental insurance policies designed to HELP when something goes wrong. They did promote opportunities for advancement & liking to promote from within but when jobs are posted, there is limited information on the requirements and I only found out during an interview that a law degree was required for an administrative position I was applying for when there wasn't even a suggestion on the job posting that it was preferred. Also, because management (this should really be in my Con section) was so restrictive, they tended to play 'favorites' and block many from promotion opportunities. While I have a few complaints (listed below), overall, I like the company itself and what it stands for.

Cons

There is a MAJOR disconnect between the Glenview, IL and Chicago, IL corporate offices. In Chicago, the office I was employed at, employees were pretty disgruntled because of the micro-managing, negative attitude, and lack of additional training and support. In the call center areas, if you take a bathroom break, you are monitored and if you take too long or are having a bad day & take too many bathroom breaks, you will get written up. Here, you are simply a number. In the Glenview office, things are much more relaxed. Dress code is less enforced, people are happy to be there, and even in the call center areas, there is a little flexibility and compassion if you need to make an adjustment (like taking a bathroom break), they don't care. It is also important to note that because we still have field sales agents (door-to-door sales), there is not a good monitoring system for them & no way to make sure that they are following all rules and regulations. In my department, we had quite a few complaints about field agents who replaced policies (against company policy and outside of legal regulations), scammed a policy holder, or were just rude and inconsiderate.

Pros

You can make lot's of money if you're willing to work hard and get your hands dirty from time to time. You more or less set you own hours.

Cons

First, do your research on Combined. Google 'Combined Insurance FSA UK' and you will see why they shouldn't be trusted. The problem I had, as a sales agent, was I didn't feel like I knew enough about the insurance market to best advise people on what coverage they needed. And it all starts with the training. The training is in a classroom setting for 3 weeks with other individuals who are able to breathe oxygen. I don't mean this to be pompous in any sense, but when you're sitting next to someone who can barely speak English, you wonder how they made it past the interview. And this problem is systematic with Combined Insurance. They’re more concerned with quantity over quality of sales agents. Your first week is to get you past the exam. You have to score a minimum 60% on this provincially mandated exam to determine whether you're qualified to sell health and accident insurance - life insurance is a different ball game. The teacher will ensure they can do everything in their power to get you through this exam (practice quizzes, group help, etc.) The teachers are honestly great. However, I scored 85% on the exam and still felt like I wasn't qualified. This leads in the two subsequent weeks of learning nothing but Combined products. Specifically on how to sell Combined products. Can you memorize their sales script you've been hammered over the head with for the past two weeks? CONGRATULATIONS! You're now eligible to advise people on important financial decisions regarding their health. Oh, all of this is done while slowly being indoctrinated into their cult-like club. You practice chants and are must sacrifice your first born to their founder (see deity) W. Clement Stone. Okay, the last part isn't true, but hopefully you can see how this is structured like a start-up religion. Now you're out in the field with your sales manager. You're ready to take on the world, with the help of your manger of course. Except your sales manger never attempts to make a sale or pushes you to make a sale. Rather, you drive around aimlessly collecting renewals and spending whatever money you made that day on your four break stops. Now, I realize this is somewhat of an isolated incident and you may very well have a sales manager who pushes the very foundation of your existence, however, this all comes back to the 'quantity over quality' theme presented in this post. You’re simply not given the support you need as a new trainee. The majority of sales managers are not interested in developing you as a sales agent. Sure, their incentive is that they get a small percentage of your sale, but why take the time to develop someone new, who, due to the high turnover, will probably leave at some point, when the sales manager can just focus on their sales. Not to mention that many sales managers are simply not qualified to be a good trainer. And this is where the system fall flat on its face. I'm now on my own and decide to start it off easy with some renewals. WRONG! I cannot tell you how many people said, 'another new face!?!' - Quantity over quality. You immediately realize that even through the renewal process, arguably the easiest part of the job, you have no idea what you're doing. Simply put: clients will ask you questions your training did not prepare you for. You either have the option to call the underwriters at head office (a process that takes 3-8 minutes) or you simply say you don't know. This really inspires confidence in the client that the company has their best interests at heart. Again, I consider myself to be a pretty smart guy. I mean, after all, I am able to assemble IKEA furniture in a relatively, non-rage induced fashion - yet I was ill-equipped to deal with clients' concerns. Within a month of selling NOTHING, I was offered a sales manager position from not my sales manager, not my district manager, but from someone higher up. WHAT!?! Maybe they saw something else in me, I don't know, however, what I do know is that they were adamant that I could head my own sales team - quantity over quality. So I was quickly whisked off to sales manger training, where, guess what? The main focus was on finding individuals for your own sales team and, in general, just finding personnel to join 'our growing and exciting company!' - Quantity over quality. If you made it this far through this post, I congratulate you. Thank you for sticking with me through this review. This company is a farce, unethical, and wolf disguised as a sheep. Do not work for them. I want to warn as many people as I can and I hope this review helps. TL; DR - This is a baaaaaaaahd (sheep noise) company. *I fully expect the combined PR to be in full force.

Pros

Independent work day, flexible B2B or residential direct sales, city or suburb clientele opportunities, basic supplemental Accident/Sickness policies - STD, Critical illness, Cancer Care, Whole Life, Medicare Sup, PLUS new Out-Of-Pocket Minimizer. Fills many family needs.

Cons

6 day/week, long days. In terms of selling to the public, educating the client on the obvious need but then met with 'no thanks'. Realizing how the lack of job security, unpresidented politics, and uncertain future of healthcare costs/coverage adds to apprehensions and slow decision making to buy. Takes a veteran insurance agent to consistently win the battle and achieve the 1 policy per day sale goal and maintain 90% persistency rate. However, it CAN be done, I've seen it first hand!