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AGENCY CONCERNS
Every month thousands and thousands of
agents call and send emails to UFAA
expressing their
concerns with the direction of Farmers
and the behavior of certain management
individuals that impede and interfere
with their ability to service and sell
insurance policies.
It
is probably fair to say that the
majority of management individuals are
academics in the sense that they have no
real concept of what it takes to sell
and service clients in an insurance
agency. For them it is all academic,
something they read about or learned in
a classroom. They are given quotas from
upper management and their only concern
is achieving their quota by whatever
means necessary.
Which brings me to the purpose of this
article. Most agents know that
September 2010 is hump month for Life
insurance so that district managers,
DMM's, State Directors and other
management individuals can try and hit
their assigned quotas.
This is critical to them personally as
their bonuses, maybe their very jobs are
based on the
achievement of their quotas. So the
pressure has begun. Agent's are
starting to report that they are
receiving letters from their State
Directors informing them that they have
only sold X amount of policies in the
last 12 to 18 months. The agents have
noticed that the letters are being
copied to their DMM, District Manager
and agents file.
They are also starting to receive
letters from their DM's concerning the
same issue. This infuriates most agents
as it is implying that the agent also
has some type of quota. Most state they
could care less if a copy goes in their
agents file, as it doesn't really mean
anything.
Let us be clear, that agents should
always strive to sell life insurance
protection, auto insurance, homeowners
insurance, disability insurance, etc.
whenever there is a need by their
clients. That is the professional
responsibility of every insurance agent.
UFAA
will be watching the behavior and
actions of management individuals very
closely in September to see if any of
their actions violate the Independent
Contractor ruling. To refresh your
memory, that means that production
quotas, mandatory meetings and mandatory
reports are a violation of Federal law.
If any of these activities are breached,
then the agent may be reclassified as an
employee by the IRS and FGI could be
responsible for the agents Social
Security taxes, paying vacation, etc.
The AAA also specifically states that
there are no production requirements and
nothing in the contract shall be
construed as an employer/employee
relationship.
Please inform UFAA, whether you’re a
member or non member at
no@ufaa.com,
if you feel your Agency Contract or
Independent Contractor status is being
threatened.
Tom Schrader
President
United Farmers Agents Association
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