I know that if there are a few of us that actually report, there are hundreds more that have been used and abused by this company.
PMA preys on new insurance agents promising them big money. I'm embarrassed to say I'm not a new agent, I am seasoned and i still got took. Being an insurance agent, I am very much aware of the expenses envolved in my occupation. Gas, car, liability insurance, leads etc. Not to mention the self disipline, unpredictable income from one week to the next. It is a tough industry to get started in and to stay in. Run as fast as you can from this insurance job, they are unethical and unscrupulous. You will not make any money, even if you make sales. When I think about what they are getting away with, and ruining peoples lives in this economy they should be reported to every department of insurance in the country. They should be shut down and not be allowed to treat agents like this. I don't know how they sleep at night. And yes all those managers know how PMA USA/CONSECO operate. They are scared to death to leave themselves because they know that they would get charge backs as well if they have been there less than 5 yrs.
THis is how they work: they recruit you, you memorize your script, run you around your whole state running up gas and hotel bills. You make a couple of sales and may break even. You stay 3 months or so, you want to quit b/c your exhausted, broke and disappointed. They keep your sales and charge you back the advanced commissions, due to some section in your contract that I still am not able to locate.
This grows their book of business and and it cost them nothing! They gain policies by recruiting and terminating. It's a vicious cycle. This is a form of money laundering. They pay, charge back, and keep the profits. The irony is as an insurance agent I have to take anti money laundering classes! An insurance sale is a tough sale no matter what product you represent. Carriers need agents to show and explain and impress the need for insurance. That is why they pay commissions. I don't get paid unless I sell. Most agent are 1099, which means, no salary, no benefits, no sick time or vacation, it's usually feast or famine.
I sold over a dozen policies with pma, most all of them were pretaxed, which means they are locked in that premium until their next enrollment period and had several groups i sold/opened during my short time. I got a termination letter in dec and just wrote business for nov effective. No reason, they knew they would get advances back by as mentioned before small print in contract. It was just spiteful and unethical. This had never happened to me before with an insurance company. If I was terminated, it was because of no production after being with them a year or two.
In my experience, the definition of a chargeback was if for some reason the policy was cancelled, death, not taken etc. The monies you received were expected back usually minus the months that the insured was paying premiums or your incoming commissions covered the loss. My policies were still in force and I got charged back for all I wrote. 2 yrs later I got a letter telling me my policies' premiums were under $250 mth. So they had received premiums on l my sales all that time. That's just wrong on so many levels! Of course after my termination, they turned me over to a collection attorney who added another $500 to my balance, my credit was ruined, they reported me to Vector one and I got 1099 from the year a was with them and another the next year that I wasn't with them. Every time I asked them to send me validation of debt, they would send me my commission statements. HA! I called conseco and they couldn't talk to me, referred me back to col. Atty. THey would not show me where any of my clients had cancelled because they didn't. If this has happened to anyone else, i feel that they are violating the unfair business practices act and maybe you can pursue them in small claims court or if enough of us report their behavior, a class action suit. This company should be banned from all job recruiting sites and every insurance agent should be warned.
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