Combined Insurance Company of America?? Pls advis...

[james2005]

My mate has been offfered an accident hospital benefit plan from Combined Insurance
think he says its £10 a week or £10 a month something like that and if he is off sick they will pay him £70 per day... what do you know about this company.

My friend is a carer for his disabled father, so if my friend was hospitalised for a period of time , would they pay him £70 per day? as he not effectively working..?


Thanks

[mattymoo]

This seems to be the plan - http://www.combinedinsurance.co.uk/A...efit_Plan.html

I think the crucial word is accident. No doubt dunstonh will be along to explain better but a simple illness will not result in a pay out as I understand it.

[james2005]

What are they like etc?

[dunstonh]

in a word. AVOID.

These are cash cows for the insurance company. For £10 he is better spending it on real income protection and use a PHI policy instead.

[rcrow]

Dear Dunston, as an IFA you will have no access to Combineds products so hardly makes you qualified to advise. FSA Directive "only advise on products you have been trained on". Some history of the company, they were formed in 1919 so to still be trading says a lot. In 2006, they paid in excess of £800,000 in benefits each and every day. Not bad I would say.
There is not anything misleading about the policy as it is called the "Accident Hospital Benefit Plan", therfore covers accidents only, which is how it would of been sold. As the company provides the same cover for sickness it would be pretty pointless to mis-represent.
The policy is one of the few that pays with no waiting period and covers any conceivable accident from stock car racers, motor bikers, rugby, football and the day to day self employed, to which there are not many policies that do infact cover ANY accident with no waiting period.
I have worked for the company for 6and a half years. Along the way I have helped hundreds of people make claims to which they were very gratefull, and in some cases without the benefits paid would of lost everything. I can honestly say that in my time with the Company I have never had a claim turned down by one of my customers, and in some cases we have paid claims that we didnt have to as no more than a goodwill gesture!
I am not interested in people contacting me for cover, I have actually only registered to put right others' short-comings on the question asked.
The most important thing is that the prospective customer can see a need for the policy and can afford it. If the customer is ever unfortunate enough to make a claim, I can assure them they will be well looked after.
Remember, Insurance is only as good as you understand it to be. Therefore, make sure you understand it, and as much as Dunston says to avoid, I am proud to represent the Company and dont like hearing bad things when I have had so many positive experiences with them.

[jonesMUFCforever]

I would rather take on board Dunstonh's advice myself.
Just because a company has been trading a long time doesn't mean its any good or will be there in the future. I bet the shareholders of Bear Stearns were thinking the same only a few months ago.
It's nice to know that they are paying out £800k in benefits every day - is this for this particular product or all company policies?
The bit of information I was looking for is missing from your post how much income does this product produce for your company??

[raskazz]

Originally Posted by rcrow

Dear Dunston, as an IFA you will have no access to Combineds products so hardly makes you qualified to advise. FSA Directive "only advise on products you have been trained on".

His signature obviously eluded you.

"I am an Independent Financial Adviser.

Anything posted on this forum is for discussion purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice. Different people have different needs and what is right for one person may be different for another. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser who can advise you after finding out more about your situation."

[dunstonh]

Dear Dunston, as an IFA you will have no access to Combineds products so hardly makes you qualified to advise. FSA Directive "only advise on products you have been trained on".

That rules applies to tied agents and not IFAs. IFAs are independent and can make any opinion they like on products. That is what they are paid to do and are authorised to do. Unlike tied agents of a company, IFAs are employed by the client under FSA rules unlike the tied agent who is employed by the insurance company and can therefore only discuss their own product range.

Therefore, make sure you understand it, and as much as Dunston says to avoid, I am proud to represent the Company and dont like hearing bad things when I have had so many positive experiences with them.

Doesnt change my views. These are cash cows for providers. Not just yours but others that have issued similar policies.

[rcrow]

Im not employed by the Company. I am self employed and choose to represent them as I rate their products. Lets face it all insurance companies are cash cows, thats why all companies trade in any nature of business, with the hope of makong profit. As for profit, it depends on IF a customer claims. I sold to a guy this time last year and within two months was putting in a claim in excess of 50k, so obviously on his policies the company will make absolutely nothing, but it is swings and round-abouts, win some lose some.

[iceicebaby]

I used to work for combined, stayed 2 weeks after the "training"

I didnt rate them and their practices at all and I have worked in insurance of some sort ALL of my working life.

[dunstonh]

Im not employed by the Company. I am self employed and choose to represent them as I rate their products.

You may be self employed but you represent them.

Lets face it all insurance companies are cash cows

Not all. Car insurance and pensions have been loss makers in recent times. Home insurance profitability has sunk big time.

Some policies are more cash cows than others. However, plans like this are the worst. The claims stats need to be considered and the claims ratios on plans like this are far worse than Life, PHI and CI.

I didnt rate them and their practices at all and I have worked in insurance of some sort ALL of my working life.

I have never come across a good product from them and have only ever cancelled the policies I have found. Nothing personal rcrow. There are bigger insurance companies that I am more critical of but I dont see that CICA has anything to offer that makes them stand out.

[cajef]

Originally Posted by rcrow

Im not employed by the Company. I am self employed and choose to represent them as I rate their products.

In other words you are a salesman who gets commission for selling this product, hardly an unbiased view.

Most would prefer an independent advisor's opinion.

[jamesd]

rcrow, the interesting number for the cash cow argument is what is the profit margin on the product for the insurance company? 70-80% profit margin on PPI is getting that product line attacked greatly.

[presterjohn]

I used to work for combined many, many years ago. To be honest they were not a terrible company. the policies were hardly class leading though. Accident insurance was a lot better than sickness though. It was a tough job though and I think I did well to last 9 months at it. Cold calling and being presented with booklets of very duff "leads" every morning could be soul destroying some days.

[stephenni1971]

In my own experience I have handled a slew of policies sold to people who would not qualify for a claim through the nature of their profession.

Not exactly confidence inspiring...

[OshayAway]

When you consider that PHI policies that will pay out for any health reasons (very few exceptions / exclusions if any) they show that accident claims account for something like 6% - 8%. of total claims.

Therefore, it just goes to show that accident and hospital cash plans cover very few bases. The most expensive plans are those that don't pay out!

[very angry]

Originally Posted by james2005

What are they like etc?

Avoid them like the plauge having worked for the company and also personally tried to claim they are a scam. Not only do they do anything they can to get out of paying but also if they do pay out it isnt the amount stated stay well clear

[very angry]

Originally Posted by rcrow

Dear Dunston, as an IFA you will have no access to Combineds products so hardly makes you qualified to advise. FSA Directive "only advise on products you have been trained on". Some history of the company, they were formed in 1919 so to still be trading says a lot. In 2006, they paid in excess of £800,000 in benefits each and every day. Not bad I would say.
There is not anything misleading about the policy as it is called the "Accident Hospital Benefit Plan", therfore covers accidents only, which is how it would of been sold. As the company provides the same cover for sickness it would be pretty pointless to mis-represent.
The policy is one of the few that pays with no waiting period and covers any conceivable accident from stock car racers, motor bikers, rugby, football and the day to day self employed, to which there are not many policies that do infact cover ANY accident with no waiting period.
I have worked for the company for 6and a half years. Along the way I have helped hundreds of people make claims to which they were very gratefull, and in some cases without the benefits paid would of lost everything. I can honestly say that in my time with the Company I have never had a claim turned down by one of my customers, and in some cases we have paid claims that we didnt have to as no more than a goodwill gesture!
I am not interested in people contacting me for cover, I have actually only registered to put right others' short-comings on the question asked.
The most important thing is that the prospective customer can see a need for the policy and can afford it. If the customer is ever unfortunate enough to make a claim, I can assure them they will be well looked after.
Remember, Insurance is only as good as you understand it to be. Therefore, make sure you understand it, and as much as Dunston says to avoid, I am proud to represent the Company and dont like hearing bad things when I have had so many positive experiences with them.

What are they bribing you with, you quote "The policy is one of the few that pays with no waiting period " this is so far from the truth its laugh able. You have obviously never tried to claim through them. I also worked for the company untill recently and yes the product seemed amazing however having undergone an injury myself i can assure you this is not the case. I cant believe that i have been misleading people for so long with the brain washed product. I have been out of work for 70 plus days and still not recieved a payment (5 days turnaround?) yeah right it takes that long for the staff to look at the envelope of your claim let alone open it. And the customer service is non existant. Due to this i will not be returning back with Combined as i refuse to misell a non existant policy.

[very angry]

Originally Posted by rcrow

Im not employed by the Company. I am self employed and choose to represent them as I rate their products. Lets face it all insurance companies are cash cows, thats why all companies trade in any nature of business, with the hope of makong profit. As for profit, it depends on IF a customer claims. I sold to a guy this time last year and within two months was putting in a claim in excess of 50k, so obviously on his policies the company will make absolutely nothing, but it is swings and round-abouts, win some lose some.

I have worked for them and it is a scam hence the reason i am no longer there please do not advise people to use them, they dont even pay their staff out when they claim so what chance do the general public have

[daveylawson]

Originally Posted by dunstonh

I have never come across a good product from them and have only ever cancelled the policies I have found. Nothing personal rcrow. There are bigger insurance companies that I am more critical of but I dont see that CICA has anything to offer that makes them stand out.

My first post as I joined specifically to respond to dunstonh:

I worked for Combined for 7 years from 2001 until 2008, firstly as a Representative and then as an Area Rep (Area Manager).

There is nothing wrong with the policies sold by Combined, especially the "introductory" accident cover - the last policy I sold for them was called Accident Hospital Cashback Plan and was £10/month for an adult and £5/month for a child (+ 5% Insurance Premium Tax). After 10 years, you will automatically be returned 100% of your premiums paid in, whether or not you have claimed. Minus the IPT of course. It only covers accidents involving hospitalisation or fractures, but DOES pay out for ANY accident involving these - no matter what job, sports or hobbies you do!

The problem is not the products (although the sickness cover is quite expensive) but the people that they employ - I left because I was sick of lying, cheating reps getting away with miss - selling the products time and again.

An honest rep (as I was!) can make very good living selling good policies (as can an IFA selling policies - let's face it, you don't work for nothing!) and I have personal experience of decent claim handling.

My reason for posting is, however, to point out that you as an IFA would much rather your clients were putting their £10, £20, £100/month into a CI, PHI or whatever which earns you money! Right or wrong?

I think you should have a good look at what Combined have to offer policy-wise before generalising like you did earlier - they will cover professional footballers, rugby players, boxers, motocross as well as your normal average punter who does nothing more dangerous than cross the road on the way to work! All for the same £10/month (or whatever it is now).

So as in any business, there are the bad apples (have you ever heard of an IFA steering clients towards a product that suits the IFA more than the client - Endowment Mortgage, anyone?) but generally, Combined have some decent products which DO suit a lot of people.

Anyway, that's my tuppenceworth, I don't work for them anymore (got a real job now!) but do have generally fond memories of my time with them selling the policies and helping customers claim.

Daveylawson.