Agents

Training, Knowledge, Ethics, Recruitment, Lawsuits, Government Testimony, Academic papers, FSP Paper,

No difference how well-intentioned and honest an insurance man's advice may be it may prove very expensive and harmful if not based on accurate knowledge. (p28)

--  Isaac Miller Hamilton, President of the· Federal Life Insurance Company

1914 - Conference on Life Insurance and Its Educational Relations - [link-GooglePlay]

  • In my presentation, I will be talking about the views of the regulators in the U.S. on the illustration problem.
  • Some of the comments that we have heard from regulators about the illustration situation suggest feelings of, if not outright despair, growing frustration.
    • A couple of them spoke sadly of the futility of regulating an illustration when the real issues involve the agent or the company.
    • Larry Gorski of the Illinois department mentioned that in states that do not regulate advertising or promotional materials, misleading statements can be rampant in those materials even if the illustrations are made pure.

 --  Benjamin J. Bock, Transamerica Occidental

1992 - SOA - Life Insurance Sales Illustrations, Society of Actuaries - 16p

  • (p460) - Jay C. Shaffer (Oversight Task Force Counsel)
    • Advertisements for agent training materials appear frequently in the National Underwriter magazine.
    • One such ad states, "Selling is 98 percent understanding human beings; 2 percent product knowledge."
    • Wouldn't you agree that a salesman should put more than 2 percent of his effort into understanding the product?

1978 0807, 0814 and 0815 - GOV (House) - Life Insurance Marketing and Cost Disclosure, Congressman Moss (D-CA) - [PDF-1049p-GooglePlay] 

  • walker v lsw
    • Why would you pay more
  • Commissioner Wilcox (Utah) responded that, in many companies, the actuary did not have the ability to control illustrations; this regulation would bring credibility and integrity to the process.
    • Problems that occur now are sometimes because the company did not see what the agent had prepared.

1994-3, NAIC Proceedings,  p565 (607)

  • Mr. Montgomery asked how companies would control brokers who were selling insurance.

1994-3, NAIC Proceedings

  • Mr. Coleman (Prudential) agreed that by law a company is responsible for its agents.
    • If an agent fails to act as its company requires, the company must deal with the agent.
  • Mr. Nepple agreed that the law is clear that a company is responsible for its agents, but he saw some value in having the redundancy.

1994-4, NAIC Proceedings

  • First of all, I believe there is cause for concern arising from the repeated inferences, both in this paper and elsewhere, that the agent is somehow obligated to provide "service" long after the sale on the policies that he has sold.
    • Certainly the insurer has an obligation to provide such service, but I cannot agree with the rationale that it must be done through the agent.
    • No other industry expects its salesmen to double as servicemen and technicians. 
  • The normal agent's contract authorizes him to do three things:
    • submit applications,
    • deliver policies, and
    • collect the initial premium thereon.
  • ⇒  In no way is he authorized to do such things as secure policy loans for the insured, let alone to answer questions about policy provisions and dividends, which he probably is not qualified to do.

--   Albert Easton

1974 - SOA - Consumerism and the Compensation of the Life Insurance Agent, Anna Maria Rappaport - 68p

  • In the state of Maryland, a recently enacted disclosure regulation has two special features.
    • First, there must appear a statement in the disclosure form which warns that any oral statement of the agent should be considered in the purchase decision, but only if it is reduced to writing and given to the applicant.

--  Richard C. Murphy

1979 - SOA - Cost Disclosure (Moss Report), Society of Actuaries - 18p

  • Illustration Usage / Policy Summary/ Policy Overviews
    • George Coleman (Prudential) said it had been his understanding that illustrations would not be required at the point of sale.
    • He said some agents did not use illustrations and he thought it more appropriate to get a signature on an illustration at the end of the process so that the one illustration signed matched the policy applied for.

1995-1, NAIC Proceedings

NAIC

Life Insurance Buyer's Guide

NAIFA

Birney

TW

Wicka - How do Agents use these?  It would be good to hear from agents.

2010 - Blumenthal v New York Life
2018 - Vogt v State Farm

TO DO:

  • Slott/ Veralytic - Video
  • SOA
    • Agents aren't actuaries
    • 1979 -vWho is going to tell them...$, Plan of Insurance
    • Servicing
    • 2002 - Nobody understands UL
    • Walker v LSW - Stemler
    • GOV - Agent - Sales Seminars vs Training
  • Lawsuits
    • Crowne
    • Maloof
  • Gov
    • 199x - Agent

Government Testimony - 
-199x- Metzenbaum
-197x - Father

Lawsuits

  • 2010 - LC - Maloof vs John Hancock - [BonkNote]
  • 1999 - LC - Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Haney - Google Scholar
  • 1998 - LC - Casteel v Crown Life Insurance Company  ---  [BonkNote]   
    • 1997 - LC - Casteel v Crown Life Insurance Company,  August 28, 1997  / Publication Ordered July 6, 19 - Google Scholar
    • 1998 - LC - Casteel v Crown Life Insurance Company, Argued November 19, 1998. - Google Scholar
    • 1995 - SOA - Sales Illustrations, Society of Actuaries - 14p
      • Kevin A. Marti: My next comment relates to the vanishing premium "payback."
        • I guess I'd have to say I'm disappointed that companies haven't defended themselves more vigorously in this whole situation.
        • Maybe the reason is that their agents didn't do the proper job at the point of sale.
        • But if the agent did, and if the agents have a good file, and they've been following up since the point of sale/issue and have communicated properly to their clients the impact of interest rate changes on at least an annual basis, I don't think we would have this problem.
        • I found it fascinating that the agent in the Crown Life case got $40 million for mental anguish.