Family Heritage Life Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America Deceptive HIRING... LIE and call themselves Christian Based Company Cleveland Ohio, Nationwide

               It is sure nice to hear from one of the successful agents at family heritage - mainly because there are so few. I was told by the guy who trained me that of the 35 who finish the sales school only 2 will make it more than a month in their business, so consider yourself "blessed". I'm trying to work another job and sell this cancer policy at the same time but they're not happy at all when you're not towing the company line and pouring your heart, soul, and money (from your own pocket) into it.
                There are a few things that they don't tell you about before you go to the sales school. A huge one is that one week a month they have what is called a Trainmore. This is where you have to travel to a town (usually at least a 3 hour drive) and stay there for the entire week (Sunday night until the following Saturday afternoon) with the other people in your group. You raid a small town near your hotel and try to sell their policies. Keep in mind that almost all of these towns have  solicitors permits that are required and were put in place because of people selling insurance door to door. You can be arrested if you don't obtain and pay for one. The last town I was in was $10/day. I brought this up to my trainer and he acted appalled that I would even let the policeman convince me that I needed one of these silly little permits. But I actually respect the local laws and bought them behind my bosses back.
                 Now legally they aren't supposed to be able to require you attend things like Trainmores because you're technically an independent contractor, so they dance around the subject with veiled threats because they cant just come out and require it. The Trainmore is where they weed out the ones who don't have this insane drive to work 90 hours a week and devote your life to them like a religion.   
               Which brings me to the subject that someone was commenting on about     the commission structure and why I started to comment. They have a couple of tricky little schemes that I think I am just now figuring out. By advancing you your commission, they are also charging you interest (which is never mentioned and eats up those other 5 months of commission). So on that $100 a month policy your yearly premium is 1200. 35% of 1200 is $420. You were paid 252 which is actually your annualized commission for that policy you sold. So Family Heritage is so great that they are going to take 40% of you earnings so that they can finance your business. Awesome.
                Here is one of the other scenarios that I'm now personally learning about. I will use your same numbers. Lets say that after you have been there for 1 month you have sold a total of 10 policies at the same 100 but you decide that it isn't for you. So your advanced commissions are 2170 but your  monthly income would've only been 350. If you quit you OWE Family Heritage 1820 (2170-350) regardless if your client pays their entire annual premium or not - with interest. They will not even employ you without you giving them your checking account number and say that this is for direct deposit of your check but in the end they have all of your banking info. I have emptied my checking accounts out in fear that they are just going to one day try and drain them. 
                 The reason that I bring this up is that even if you are employed by them and you don't sell enough policies, which seems to be discretionary,  or if you act even a little disinterested in the "opportunity" that they offer, they will turn on you as they did me. I was told that Family Heritage was a huge business (they were just purchased by Torchmark) and that  it was going to get ugly and get ugly quick if I didn't pay down my balance of what I owe them (sales school plus what I owe them from policies that I have sold) I was in shock !!  
                 So in my experience I---
1. Got licensed ( 45 hours of studying w no pay, $200 for the course, $80 for the state and national test)
2.Went to sales school ( another week of studying w no pay plus $1000 for sales school )
3.Worked for 3 weeks and sold 6 policies. ( Well I thought that I made about $550 but I guess I owe $500)
4.While I was working those 3 weeks I spent on average $40/day in gas 6 days a week( $720)
5.Paid $ in solicitors permit fees.
6.Am being threatened ( not sure what Im being threaten with yet)
            In my opinion I have wasted 5 weeks of my life and $2400+ under assumptions made by myself and from questions not asked by me to my "recruiter" ( I have been in direct sales for 5 years and I asked hundreds of questions, ). I thought that I had covered all of my bases but I was told what I wanted to hear some of the time, i.e. there is no competition for our product, and was not told the whole truth on many other things. In the end this may be the most elaborate and greedy scam I have ever seen.  
           

Having represented Aflac, Allstate, Colonial, American Public, Assurant, A. L. Williams (now Primerica) and others over the last 30 years, I consider myself a professional agent in Florida. Companies like the ones just mentioned and Family Heritage all use "independent contractors" as agents for the companies' sales force. They pay straight commission for all policies sold. You are in business for yourself, by yourself.

If you are not one of those 10%ers it is extremely difficult for an undisciplined person to make it the insurance industry. The recruiter may concentrate to much on the good points (like unlimited income opportunity and the freedom of owning your own business) and less on all of the hard, time consuming effort in building your business. In Florida it costs over $350 just to get a insurance license and if you are not ready for the hard work, it can be a long haul with a lot of hurt feelings.

I am not saying that this individual was not sold a bill of goods, because I was not there it hear the recruiters comments. And definitely there was some type of miscommunication! But the recruiter was not a Family Heritage employee. He or she was a inpendendent contract representing the company tring to find other independent contractes to sell more policies. If anyone who is considering a change of career and a move into the insurance industry, please ask to ride with a career agent for a week to see if it is a fit. I take people out with me all the time after they go through a three step interview process and can recite the compensation plan back to me verbatim. I even have the spouses participate in the interview process so they have support from home and I have still had people fail at this business. So there is no perfect system.

The insurance business is fantastic to be in - you get to help protect individuals and families; the freedom of owning your own business; and income opportunity is unbelievable - I just wish that people would go in with "eyes wide open" and every recruiter would due their best to explain the opportunity - good and bad!

I have been with Family Heritage for just under 1 year and I am astounded at the report about Family Heritage as a "rip off". The flaw that I found most significant in the complainant's report is the information about withholding commission until an agent is 5 years vested: fully vested; meaning lifetime renewals on all policies written for the rest of the agent's life (even if the agent never writes another policy after that point) AND if the agent dies with policyholders still active the agent's family continues to recieve that agents renewals until the last policyholder is no longer with the company.
 Now, in referrence to Family Heritage withholding "full" commission payment until the agent is fully vested at 5 years...that is just not true at all. Depending on the success of the agent and the level that has been reached in the company an agent is paid 30%, 35%, or 40% commission on each sale made. Not only does the company pay the commission rate in full, and in less than a week from the submission date, they also give each agent a 60% advance on the first year total premium.
 So, if I sell a policy with a $100 per month premium with a monthly draft set up with the policyholder I collect and send the company $100. If Family Heritage paid my commission on the amount that I have collected for them I would get paid $35 for that sale. Instead, Family Heritage has set up their compensation policy to pay a 60% advance-trusting that the policyholder will continue to pay their premium for at least 6 months, even though that is not always the case. So instead of only paying 35% of the amount received, $35 in the example above, I am paid a 60% advance plus the 35% commission, bringing my initial compensation on the sample policy to $252. That is a difference of $217.
This company, my company: Family Heritage trusts their agents and their products so much that they pay their agents more than twice as much as they have received for each sale.
My experience with this company has been so positive that I do not ever plan to go back to nursing, yes nursing...one of the best paying professions out there.
The only reason that I can percieve that anyone would call an assignment with Family Heritage a "rip off" has more to do with the person, not the company. This career opportunity provides its agents with great freedom; we do not have to punch a time clock, I can go eat lunch with my kids at school any time I or they want me to, if I have a sick child I don't have to ask anyone if I can take of work to care for my child, if I feel sick I dont have to call in sick.
With this freedom comes responsibility. I must have the self discipline to go to work. I must continually learn and grow as a person, agent, and professional. I must also be accountable to my family, myself, and my family at Family Heritage, as we truly are a family.
I am so sorry that the author of this report did not have a positive experience with Family Heritage; Family Heritage has changed my life in so many positive ways that I have a hard time restraining my enthusiasm about this company and the opportunity that it presents to those who are cut out for such freedom; this is my business,each agent is a business owner. I've been told that those of us who find it within ourselves to embrace this opportunity are 10 percenters. I dont know if that is true but it makes me feel good to think that I am an exceptional person and Family Heritage makes me feel like an exceptional person in so many ways.
I would like to address the comment that this is a Christian company that does not opperate with Christian values. Family Heritage does NOT represent itself as a Christian company. Many of us are spiritual and we have the freedom to express our own beliefs and feelings, whether those are Christian, Jewish, Buhddist, or any other belief. Family Heritage bases it's company ethics on a simple set of principles that can be linked to most religions: be honest, polite, considerate, thoughtful, and selfless. We are here to be of service to our communites. 
We present a product that is head and shoulders above any other product on the market. Our job is to give as many people the opportunity to see what is available with our company. Many people are not interested in hearing about or signing up for our products and that is ok. We do not push. There are also many people who listen just to be polite but when they see what an incredible service we provide they are so happy that they opened their minds to just listening and they become believers. There are also people who have been waiting for something like this but didn't know how or hadn't made the time to look into it.
This company is not set up make anyone a slave but it's also not a job...it's a career.  any successful business person will attest to the fact that you must put in long hours, at least in the beginning. After you have "done your time" your time and effort in the field can slow down. The men and women "of no integrity who steal from you" are actually men and women of such great integrity that they have put in their time or "been a slave" to their business and have earned the income and renewals from their work in the field, as well as a rather minimal income and renewals from the people that they have brought into the company, invested their time in, and given the great opportunity that they have taken advantage of through hard, consistent work and persistence.
If this career was wasy everyone would do it because the income potential is unparaleled. The only person who will "use you up and spit you out" of Family Heritage is you.