Complaint Review: Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company - Internet

 I was a agent for Lincoln Heritage Final Expenses. I urged you not to get involved with this company. They will force you to buy their leads and charge you for them. The leads are the worse ever and you will end up spending tons of money with closing a deal. They will try to blame it on you for not being strong enough to close, but we all know that forceful Sales are only for a minute. Don't get involved with companies that force you to buy their crappy leads and charge you a fortune for one.

That is the excuse all the managers make the agents are too lazy to work when in reality the leads are horrible!!

 Sir: I was recruited last November 2014 with an agent that lived in Florida but worked in Ohio.

I received one day of class room training and went out in the field with another agent on three work days. We wrote no business and it was a complete waste of my time. The Leads that we pay for are junk. We go into inner city areas and run leads that are abandoned buildings. The phone numbers on the leads are disconnected.

I was terminate from Lincoln the end of Feb 2015 because I made no sales. My Regional Manager told me when I was terminate I had no initiative and took no interest in studying the material they provided. That is not true. I studied the presentation that I was given and can still produce it in my email. I was also told that I was to buy my first batch of leads. This was not told to me in the beginning.

Now you talk to the company and they will tell you another story. The scripts managers insist we learn which to me are insulting to the public. I asked the home office about this and they said it was a training tool and not meant to be used on the public. You look on the company web site and their is no mention about buying leads.

I still have the rude and degrading text messages that were sent to me. My upper management was only interested in making money and that one sale a day for a total of 6 per week. They cared more about the profit to be made and not how they treat agents or the public they serve. My manager was so misinformed on the job they were doing I had to inform them that you can't just go and knock on peoples doors because there are laws that govern that kind of behavior. They were clueless.

Lastly I may be contacting the Ohio Board of Insurance as I personally witness and have evidence that other agents are offering gift cards as incentive to customers for referrals who signed and obtain a policy. This is clearly illegal in the State of Ohio.

I'll make this short, "big dog" & that should explain a lot with a name like that. I NEVER worked with you, I was under you and you made a lot of money from my production. Also my renewals rolled up to you & the other "big dog" you work under Once my MONTHLY renewals were UNDER 250.00 per month, NO other of the 14 or so I represent take your renewals no matter how low they are. PLEASE, if you are considering this company know that if your mOnTHLY not yearly renewals fall below 250.00 per month they roll up to the big dogs...

I was never disgruntled but questioned things & when you do they don't like being questioned expecially over leads & being responsible for agents charge back and lead debit even thought you have nothing to due with who they hire and pit under you and have no control with how many leads they give to those "new recruits" I was NOT given that information BEFORE I agreed to be a "manager or big dog" so my advise is to thoroughly check things out and not jump.

There are so many more companies with actual integrity and honesty to work for. This company is far from the biggest out there and the rates are more expensive in comparison. This is my 27th year as a licensed life insurance agent representing so many excellent insurance companies. I made a huge mistake and paid for it and then I'm dogged by big dog and bob for voicing my honest concerns. 

Run, do not walk if you are contacted by Lincoln Heritage in Pennsylvania.

They will ruin your insurance career. Most of the managers in PA are unprofessional, I would not recommend leaving my financial future in their hands.

Yes, the managers will wine & dine you with their 1099's but more people wash out than make it there.

I am not a disgruntled employee, I was there almost 2 1/2 years  and it actually was not bad until the big push for numbers started. Then it got out of control and ethics went out the window.

When working with the elderly on a fixed income you have a responsibility to help them, not hurt them so you make a sale and an extra few dollars in premium.

As you can see above by the " managers" rebuttals they obviously teamed up against my posting. The truth is the truth no matter how many reply to what is stated. FYI... I spoke to one of Lincolns main people the week and he was very sorry for what had happened and according to him I REALLY worked for a manager and not directly with Lincoln Heritage Ins co. I simply submit this... Make sure you know the people well enough before you commit your entire focus and livelihood to Lincoln because your destiny is in a managers control. I experienced much success with Lincoln as I have with many companies for years helping people with their life and burial insurance needs. People make any company good or bad. After my conversation with the company the week I really see this " ternination" as a God send and have used the most negative experience in my many years in the insurance business as a stepping stone to something much greater than Lincoln or its managers could ever offer. Get the facts and do your research before you commit, most certainly Lincoln is not the only final expense or life insurance company an agent can work for and being contracted with several companies has its advantages as does focusing on one company only. In a very hasty moment I posted this and wish maybe I hadnt but it's still the truth and I stand by that. My aim is not to put down but to open the eyes of anyone considering associating with the above mentioned company. I realize I won't put my career in the hands of any one person again if I had knew that I would have approached this position with Lincoln differently,

God Bless,

I have been a manager with Lincoln Heritage for several years and I would not still be with them if there were unfair practices going on. Agents are not terminated after a few months and anyone with any common sense would realize how ridiculous that Idea actually is. Managers make their living  recruiting and developing agents, with longevity in mind,  helping them to become successful in their own business, and to say that a manager would invest his/her time, money, effort... and then terminate for no reason, other than some small renewal monies is fantasy.   The only agents that I have seen that have lead cost build up are agents who do not work the program properly. The most common reasons that I have encountered are that the agent is too lazy to work  hard or that agent is using Lincoln leads to place business with other companies. In my opinion an agent with these type of business practices should be terminated, but our regional manager has always gone out of his way to give agents chance after chance.  As far as an agent having large chargeback issues, that is the agent's doing, an experienced agent that chooses not to sell"clean" knows that the chargebacks are coming, once again, personal ethics and practices. I have never known of an agent terminated for having appointments with other companies, placeing business with other companies off a Lincoln lead should lead to termination. I mean, come on now, we are not stupid, if an agent is doing several thousand per month in production and then contracts with other companies and his production with Lincoln basically stops, pretty obvious what is going on. I think any agent that has been in this business for several years and is still company jumping has issues, and will create problems where ever he or she goes. I feel blessed to be part of the Kentucky team and Lincoln Heritage, and have never had a manager that cares about  an agent's future as much as our regional does.

It's been said that, Truth exists, only falsehood has to be invented"....Also a truth that's told with "bad intent" beats all the lies one can invent.
With this in mind, I am posting the Kentucky agency policies on termination and while I cannot speak for Lincoln, I can assure you they will pretty much dove tail each other. I will limit my comments to an experienced agent....one who is a good producer so as to make this rebuttal relevant.

We have enjoyed the good fortune of being able to recruit some of the top producers in the state. We know without a doubt as to which companies they are appointed with. We also respect the fact that these agents are Independent Contractors and they have the right to have as many appointments as they desire.

My thinking is somewhat elementary in that I target the very best and make a private vow that I will treat these agents with the respect they deserve, I will make exceptions for them when possible for any of their requests, I will monitor their financing so as to keep their business strong, I will stay active in the ordering of leads, since the lead program is the engine that powers this agency. I keep the agency transparent making sure all are treated equal....I pay bonus money based on production alone, and I will even at times give a lead credit for a bad lead, without considering the level of production from the one with the request. and finally commission levels are based on production levels and our agency sales meeting are open to all of our agents. 

On the other hand we have some items we feel are very important to the well-being of our group and we do not tolerate the abuse of a few guielines. First due to the fact that we target sales to Seniors who have special needs,we demand total respect and we have a "First time you are out" policy if we find they have been abused or taken advantage of....we expect total respect when our agents are talking with Home Office Associates....  we expect our generated leads to be shown Lincoln Heritage products....We do not allow gossip, back biteing, and negativity to exist and for this reason an open door policy is in affect with all of our managers as well as myself. In general, we expect the agents/managers to help solve problems....not create them.

This rebuttal is not meant to to give an individual's reason/cause for their termination, because for the most part (99% of the time) it has been a mutual decision based on the fact that the relationship is just not a good fit. I can count on a few fingers agents terminated for any of the major guidlines and they were several years ago.

Lincoln Heritage did not become the leader in the Final Expense Business, nor did this agency  enjoy the moderate success by practicing the moronic, unfair, unjust, injurious practices that the writer created in his world of imagination....I could not sit back and give him a pass.

Respectfully Submitted,

I would like to respond to the recent post and negative comments regarding Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance  company in Ky. I am also an insurance agent appointed with Lincoln Heritage. I have worked with the gentlemen who posted the negative comments, and I must point out that I strongly disagree with his views.

Lincoln Heritage does not terminate agents for carrying appointments with other insurance companies. If they did, they would have to terminate 90% of their agents. As a matter of fact, I am also appointed with several agencies.

Having worked with several different companies myself, I feel qualified to state that Lincoln Heritage offers more to their agents than anyone. They have a very strong lead program that delivers fresh leads in any part of the state that an agent wants to work. A strong agent can easily close about 3 out of 5 of these leads. Now, what Lincoln and our regional manager does frown upon, is an agent using Lincoln Heritage leads and selling them with another insurance company. This act WILL get one terminated and rightly so. Lincoln Heritage and their regional managers spend thousands of dollars generating these premium leads. They have every right to assume that their agents will take these Lincoln Heritage leads and sell them Lincoln Heritage products. The trouble starts when the customer calls Lincoln and wonders why their policy is written with another company. They were marketed with Lincoln Heritage and wanted Lincoln Heritage and the great benefits that they offer. One can easily see how this would upset a regional manager.

I must point out that the poster of the original complaint was recently promoted to Area Manager. He grew disgruntled when he lost an agent or two, and their lead balances were rolled up to him. He was perfectly fine earning overrides on his agents, but blew a gasket when they left and he was stuck with their lead balances and chargebacks.  Shortly thereafter, he angrily demanded that he be removed from his management duties.

I want to point out that I was not asked to post a rebuttal to this e-mail. When I saw it, I felt compelled to include Lincoln Heritage's stance on leads and lead loyalty. I will also say that I could not be more happy working for Lincoln Heritage and the regional manager of Ky. He is honest, fair and hard working. From my experience working with other companies, this can not be said about too many regional managers.

I am proud to work for Lincoln Heritage and would hope that any one reading his inept attempt to smear their good name, would surmise that he is very angry and hurt at his dismissal. I can assure any one reading this, that there are two sides to every story, and his dismissal was for just cause.