Working at Bankers Life and Casualty — Reviews by Employees

Bankers is a very poor "starter" company. They don't want any Verteran agents to recieve renewals after leaving. They will talk about any one that leaves as either dishonest, or criminal or incompentent. They are using people for a little while, expecting them to go. The fact that you might get another insurance position makes you automatically suspect, that you were only there for their customer/lead data. They routinally cancel any pending applications left by agents on their way out, then run to the applicant, imply the agent wasn't "right" and rewrite the same app. without the agent on it (who gets charged back). The company has made some lame attempts to stop this by charging a "rewrite" fee, so it's not like they don't know this is a common practice. That's why so many posts talk about losing money. They absolutely don't want new agents talking to old agents who have a clue about compliance/know too much, because the new agents would then question the "training" which simply is a CYA move for the company. Do not work for or buy from this company.

I work at Bankers and must say that I am having a positive experience....Its hard work but when I make a sale its beneficial to me...What some people don't understand is that it is your own business...its up to you to develop your client base not Bankers...but they are there to assist you.....So stop complaining and go to work....perhaps you don't realize you must work hard to succeed....

I've read a lot of good reviews and a lot of bad reviews. Either you love it or you hate it. I love it....

1) I'm one of the most ethical people on the planet and when I book appointments to meet with someone my goal is to leave that client in a better position than when I first met them. Not all agents are out to just write business without having any validity behind the sale - that is few and far between. When I do hear it happens, a lot, also is done unknowingly. The application process is tedious, the portfolio huge, all of the laws, etc. Writing business and managing it has so many layers, which contributes to the confusion.

2) Bankers has some of the best training models that I have ever seen, but it is up to the agent to take responsibility instead of whining - you are given the tools now use them, learn and grow from it. Its a shame that not all branch offices have good managers and mentors.

3) I have worked and/or represented many companies previously, and I don't care what company it is, they all have legal departments. I don't find Bankers having more lawsuits than some other ones out there. Shame on some other major corps (American General, Allianz, Smith Barney, State Farm, Met Life, etc.) Some of my clients have shown me contracts they have, which I felt were not done in the person's best interest. Even a local branch of BB&T Bank called up one of my "75 year old clients" and insisted he take his $10,000 and invest it in stock - come over to the branch and we will take care of that for you. Isn't that unethical? At 75 you should be preserving your assets not putting them into something so volatile.

4) For those people just starting out - I knew what I was getting into when I started and I also knew it would take time to build a client base. I looked at this as just any other start-up company - you have to work at it to be successful. Not everyone is cut out for sales so find something else.

5) The leads - I know some companies that all they give you is a phone book. And as far as recycled leads....how do you know for sure the previous agent was able to connect? I do wish there was a better way of managing this; though. It is chaos trying to keep all together and then you rarely get the territory you want because they have already been given out to someone else.

6) I love the product line - very well rounded, competitive in pricing and uniqueness in features that other companies do not have. I love having the opportunity to meet with a senior with the opportunity to help them in more than one area as opposed to being stuck in one specialization.

Overall, I believe everything to be great. I will take the flexibility of my time and the opportunity to learn as much as I want any day compared to being stuck in a corporate office, at a dead-end job with 20 other people shooting for the same promotion.

What I wish would change....

a) the lack of cross management between offices. It's like going to a restaurant - some are good places to eat and some are not. How can you control the corporate culture and what the managers are doing, which funnels down to the agents if the corporation is not working cohesively. Is someone listening to all the complaints and working on turning them around?

b) not commission, but providing more benefits to their agents as opposed to none - maybe if you are there in 6 months this is what you are eligible for, 12 months, etc.

c) look into the best practices and success of other insurance carriers and model some of those onto us

d) quit hiring everyone off the street - better job of screening new recruits. (can't blame all of that on the branch office; though, when your unemployed its easy to say yes to an opportunity even when you know - its not for you)

I worked for Bankers for around a month or so. I didn't make any money in commissions while I worked there, however I was very close to doing so. This timeline is expected however. Agents start to make money around week 5, give or take a couple weeks. I moved on to a new opportunity which provides a salary and benefits. The work environment, training and respect is great at Bankers. It is VERY difficult to get on your feet in the beginning. I busted my @ss working around 65 hours per week or more...and I am an extremely motivated person with a MA. The required hours (at first) include Saturdays and all day Tuesdays. There is no guaranteed salary and no benefits. This makes it tough for a young unmarried male like myself. My co-workers were extremely friendly and very knowledgeable in the insurance/medicare realm. I was invited out on a couple of occasions for drinks after work as well. I began to see many of my fellow agents as "work friends" even. All in all, for me, this was a positive experience. I really did learn a lot. I definitely LOST money however with all the driving on "field" days, buying lunches, paying for license, etc. The experience has opened new doors for me however as I am remaining in the field with a more reputable company. In closing, if you have benefits under a spouse, have some savings or are on unemployment, and are crazy motivated...you really can make TONS of $ at Bankers.. BUT BE PATIENT and remember, don't let the phones own you!

There is one thing for sure. You need to be a special type of person to go after senior citizen's retirement money. Any part of the job that employs deception of any type is unethical and unlawful in most states. There is alot of upfront money one needs to dole out to get started and stay running in this game. Insurance companies will list you as self employed so they don't have to deal with you as an employee or your mistakes. You may start with an 8AM meeting and finish your last appointment at 10 or 11 PM. This is the reality of insurance sales. Cold calling is tough and not very productive but managers will have you do most anything so they can get their cut of what you sell. That is the pyramid part of this business. Someone is always getting a slcie of someone elses work. Genuine insurance opportunities are where you are actually an employee, you recieve paid training, and you have a mentor to assist in developing you into a quality agent that is an asset to the company and the policy holder you represent. The people who wrote negatrively about their experiences have put forth what they have gone through with this company and are not idiots or any other such foolish title. They have explained their experience with this company so you won't have to go through this ordeal and if you choose to at least you know what to expect and should be able ask the right questions before getting involved Bankers Life of any other insurance company.

Find it a great company to work for. I came to Bankers after knowing several older people who had policies with Bankers and liked working with them. For those who want to validate the accuracy of claims made by other on site check with the Insurance commission in the state you live in, also check with the Better Business Bureau and you will find that Bankers has an outstanding reputation

I worked at Bankers for a few months, and it turns out that I paid more to work there than I actually made. Then, 6 months after I left, they hit me with a bill of $1,000 with no prior communication. The managers are good salesmen and make the job sound so wonderful and promising, but they fail to mention you have to go in 200% or it won't be worth the time. If you enjoy a rootless job, with the potential to get charged back a crap-load of money, then maybe Bankers is for you. I wish I could get back all the money this experience has cost me. I don't look back on this experience with fondness AT ALL. This is a terrible company to work for. What an expensive mistake I made.

Where do I begin. pyramid scheme. Managers that are just into themselves. Mass hiring, bad training and limited success ability unless you are the manager of the office. I joined wanting to get into insurance and wanted to make a great living and wanted flexibility and I was "sold'' that bankers was the options. Don't be sold by the local manager to just pocket his wallet. i left bankers and joined Aflac locally and it was the best thing I ever did. I got was I was looking for from sales and insurance and then some. Great product, great manager, great training and i get to actually worked with business owners versus trying to sucker a senior into buying subpar coverage. If you are seriously looking into a career with bankers, please make sure you at least take a look at Aflac first.

Two years I've been at Bankers and now moving on to a brokerage. Best recomendation I can make is take the training sure it is worthwhile if you want to continue in the insurance industry. In Philadelphia at least it is a churning business. An agents life expectancy there is less than a year. You pay to get licensed and when you work there you will end up paying 4800 dollars a year. If you end up employed take an average of what annual income is there and you will find it to be less than 30k. Also you have to take in consideration the number of expenses you incur from travel wear and tear on your car, gas have a fuel efficient car. The bright side most agents dont end up having to pay income taxes because the income is not much greater than the expenses. If you want to make it there look for it to take you five years or have a instinct for sales. Products are so so the supplements are good. Long term care is ridiculously bad compare them to Genworth john hancock, and you will find Bankers does not compete well. Plus the front of the application is mired with rate increases. It is a product that is not even trained or really marketed. Annuities and life are competive. If you are planning to make a career at it sell renewable products. I would recommend take the training and move on to another company as fast as possible. Two agents have made it 10 years or more a retired guy who I never met and some guy who I met a few times who had 50k or more in renewals this guy would be your model not the most personal but supposedly you get to know him he is a stitch. This is the best I can tell you about Bankers life and casualty in the two years I have been there.

I worked for bankers for only a short time. Although I'm sure some people may have success at this job I was rather frustrated. I wasn't expecting to make much money at first I understood that this business was tough. But when they expect you to pay for everything and you have a negative cash flow there is only so long that you are willing to lose money. My trainer had been with the company less than a year if that gives you an indication of how high the turnover is. The so called manager of the branch was hardly ever there. I also noticed the discrepancy between the leads given to new people and people that have been there for a while...and by a while i mean more than a few months which is rather sad. How can they expect new agents to set appointments on lists where the people have been called multiple times. They give you a script and a bunch of hoopla that if you stick with the system it will work. With people quitting left and right and nobody seems to care, I would think that this suggests their "system" is flawed. Management also tells you that they belive in their products and that they are helping people when really they are taking advantage of older people. You are told to always warm up to them and gain their trust. Once you have this trust you can sell them stuff they may not even need or an inferior product which could be bought cheaper from a better company. I would advise anyone to heed these warnings before agreeing to work for bankers. I unfortunately didn't and now I regret it. I'm much happier making a guaranteed salary and investing what I am able to save. Bankers is filled with empty promises and deceitful management