insurance agent

account executive

claims adjuster

agency manager

sales representative

Combined Insurance

They send you to Chicago for training for a week (paid hotel, paid travel and little food stipend). Although it was all jumbled up in a short period of time, it was all very useful and disciplined. I had Nickio as my teacher, she made it enjoyable and fun and I had a great time learning. The money you make is all commission based and it’s not completely yours until a year passes from selling the policy. If the customer cancels the policy within that year, you owe the money back. There are benefits, residuals, free vacations if you sell a lot, which is nice. I was with the company for a little over 6 months and over the course, more then half the people I met in Chicago, left the company for various reasons. And most of the people I kept in touch with were making less to nothing. Although you make your own schedule, you really have to work early in the morning till late at night, sometimes in the AM to really make any money. You are out all day and everyday and you basically have no home life. For me, this job made me realize a 9-5 job was heaven. At least with a 9-5 I know I will be getting paid for the effort I’m putting in and I can at least go home knowing there will be pay. The reason I left was because of the unfair treatment and the unprofessionalism. It was promised that you will be trained for two weeks to get the hang of things. But my manager only gave me 3 days and then I was on my own. He promised he would make it up and train me every week but it never happened. And on top of that he would complain about new people for not being independent when he didn’t give the proper training. There was no quality, they rushed through everything. I basically had to train myself. I went canvassing with other newbies that didn’t know anything, learned how to make calls on my own and had to scrape for office materials like the policy papers and folders cause everyone would take too much. The management of supplies was horrible. My manager would push me into canvassing with other newbies when I asked for help (when it was his job to train us). I didn’t understand that because it’s the blind leading the blind. And the experienced people looked like they couldn’t bother with us besides giving us their two cents during meetings. Many people pretended to help with the PMA culture. And whenever I would ask for help, they would never get back to me or push someone else into helping me and then they didn’t have the time either so it was an endless cycle. There are morning meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays to motivate you and everyone gives everyone feedback which is helpful. But the culture of the company is more like fake positivity. They promote PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) and pretend to help you. It’s kind of like being in a bad relationship, giving false hope and making promises and breaking it all. I joined Combined more for experience then the money so in the beginning I didn’t mind not making anything. I think the only reason I stayed this long is because I have a lot of patience and they were selling hope to all the agents. There’s only so much “hope” a person can live off of, it was getting to a point where I realized it was a waste of time, I felt like I was in a loop. It was actually costing me more because of travel expenses. I worked there for 6 months and made close to 1K-1.5k, honestly who can live off of that? And I was not being lazy. I would buy candy and donuts to give to firefighters and nurses when I went canvassing and night merching. And it would be 5 days a week straight sometimes. I ended up with a lot of canceled appointments but stronger calves and a fitter body. I don’t have a car so I was doing it by foot. I saw myself improving with a lot of trial and error and I just needed help doing the close on sales. Being first time in sales and insurance, I definitely felt like I would’ve done better if I had the full two weeks of proper training. I know I have a lot of patience and a good work ethic. The managers were all similar and didn’t give you all the info you needed, just bits and pieces. I was taking tips from everyone and tried diff approaches and the only time I was able to make a decent sale was through a connection. My managers would tell us to ask a lot of questions and I feel like it’s hard to ask a lot of questions when there is an overwhelming amount of information in the beginning. In the beginning, we are worrying about learning the product knowledge. Asking questions comes after we’ve learned and processed everything. They give you no time for that. If I wasn’t backed financially, I know I would’ve been on the streets by now. Also, all though this company is legit, in the back of my mind, I felt like Combined worked sort of like a pyramid. Every time you recruit a new person, you get paid. You get paid when the recruit goes into training in Chicago and also when they make the first sale (usually with the help of managers during training). I noticed after I went to Chicago and made a sale, the managers didn’t have the same enthusiasm and didn’t put the effort anymore. I suspect it’s because whoever recruited me got their money and I’m no use to them. I also noticed people coming and going is not a big deal here. I don’t mean to be judgy but they will recruit anyone. There is a new person being recruited every week or so and there aren’t enough managers to train them (hence me only getting 3 days) but they recruit them anyway. All this was showing me, is that the recruiters just cared about getting paid instead of bringing in quality people. With all this, I was still trying to make the best of everything until another recruitment happened. Another girl was recruited, but she was special because she was the niece of one of the higher managers. My manager changed completely in front of her, he put the effort to dress professional (with me he wore the same sweater everyday, I didn’t care), took her canvassing when he didn’t do it with all the other newbies who have been there for several months, and gave her full two weeks of training that none of us got (I cared a lot about this). He was on his best behavior probably because all eyes were on him since she was connected. Everyone on my team was mad, not at the girl, she didn’t ask for it but just at him. The girl was really sweet. When people complained about the unfair treatment, he gave everyone supplies and made promises to do the same but overtime it didn’t happen and it was just brushed aside. There is definitely a culture of favoritism and unfairness. People coming in after me where getting more help from my manager. And I’m not a person to suck up to people. For me, with everything else, this was my last straw and my ending point. I lost all my PMA and didn’t feel important. I couldn’t trust the managers, everything that came out of their mouths didn’t seem genuine. Towards the end, I lost all motivation and didn’t take the job seriously anymore since it seemed no one took me seriously. I actually made sales when I didn’t try anymore but was still not enough income to live off of. With all this, I didn’t leave on a total negative note. I did gain some experience like discovering new places while canvassing and learning selling techniques from the Chicago training. And although the managers were not the best people, the newbies I trained with were all very nice, we were all in it together and I’m glad I met them. I would say, if you are new to sales, don’t have bills to pay, you can give it a try just for the Chicago training but don’t expect any income besides the short training. Also, if you already have the experience and the know-hows of the insurance business, have financial backing, maybe worth a shot. For the long term, it might be worth it because of the residuals but at the same time there are cancellations so honestly, it’s kind of like a gamble. I would say, if you need a steady income and want a family life, run the other way, it is a nightmare, you’re better off with a 9-5. I can go on and on about my experience in Combined, I did say a lot of negative things but I feel they were important to point out. It was fun sometimes, when you do meet nice customers. Onetime I was served wine and really good Cuban food on the job. One person owned a cheese business and gave me really good Italian cheese. I met people from all walks of life. I also met a lot of people that weren’t respectful. They automatically see you as sales people, maybe had a bad experience with a previous agent and will take it out on you. It all varies. You definitely need thick skin like any other sales job. I personally would never recommend this to any family or friends because it is very stressful and sometimes people treat you badly no matter how nice you are. I wouldn’t want anyone I cared about to be treated like that. You will find out through time that a lot of the customers will not respect your time that’s when you need your PMA. Most of the time you have to suck up to people and I hated doing that. You will feel like an inconvenience when you are trying to help. The only good thing about this experience is that it motivated me to go finish my degree and be thankful about having other options. I am very motivated and thankful at my current job that I don’t have to do this anymore.

A typical day at work while I was with Combined Insurnace was just like any other day that I spent with any other carriers. It's a sales job, you know it's going to be hard. 100% commission based/performance based. Thats what I have loved about the industry since I started working in the field in 2014. However when I came to work for Combined, I was horrified at their systems and processes.

Let me give you an example:

+ Claims Process: Expect at least 10 business days to process a simple accident claim. *Business Days. Zero updates provided along the way. No chance of getting that released any sooner
+ Agent Compensations: Its a guess at best. No precise structure on whether or not you qualified for bonuses. We were constantly auditing our own commission because it seemed we were always underpaid based off the comp plan! We were right 75% of the time..
+ Agent Training: This is the biggest headache I have ever experienced. 24 HOURS of mandatory training that you 100% cannot get around. Whether you come from the field or not, have prior experience. If you do not complete all of your training, they cancel your contract. Or anyone on your team - they're contract
+ No Admin Portal:
Once you close an account the plan administrator has no way of tracking/terminating/pausing/payingTheBill via an online method. Everything has to be done via pen to paper bill. (We are in year 2024 and no PA portal)
+ Implementation/Underwriting:
If you like calculating the risk rating for a potential client, this is the gig for you. Trying to build out your own case was a nightmare and we never got it right. Hoops after hoops, after webs of constant information to sift through only to find out that home office got your record but doesn't understand what your asking for. They at time don't understand what your asking for.
+ Enrollment Method: -Selerix
This was the only positive experience I had with them. The enrollment method was a breeze not to mention being able to download PA reports was almost autonomous.
+Product:
Unfortunately product did not compare with other carriers. You would think after putting up with all of the frustrations that it would be worth it on the product level right? No, sadly disappointing. A. No indemnity product for Cancer. Disability product does not cover pregnancies and half the time won't cover on the job accidents. Critical Illness product was very competitive** Hospital Indemnity was bare bones compared to other carriers - price not competitive for what it was, No Individual Term Life Available*** you read that right......
+ Upper Management with no field experience:
Our Support leaders were not helpful at all. For the exception of our VP of our zone, there was no assistance. Simply waisted phone calls and visits for the sake of saving face. Sad to say but they hired the wrong folks and it was pulling teeth to get any solid, real answers for many questions that I still have to this day.

I don't want you to think that I am a disgruntled employee, I am not. I left the company 6 months ago - I gave it a shot but they have too many problems and systems they need to work out before mass scale recruiting. I am only writing this review because I was reminded once again about how awful they are after trying to submit a claim for one of MY* clients. We submitted the claim on June 26th and today is July 8th. No Update - I am not surprised.
I am pulling Combined away from all of my clients and throwing this garbage system in the trash. 

Thankyou for reading and I truly hope the information posted is helpful. Whether you are considering a career with them or you are trying to figure out why many former employees have left. 

My typical day at work started at 8-9am with meetings to discuss sales and provide training opportunities.  I learned to sale insurance to the needs of the customers.  I was taught how to listen to key things in a person's response to cater our product to what they sell as insurance policies.  The policies are really not that great for people over 75 which is understandable when its insurance and a person is nearly in the end stages of life.  They workplace is at times stressful, but very supportive.  Training in Chicago is fantastic, but when you hit your home office, its at times too fast paced to really help effectively.  They will train you to death on their product but not necessarily how to understand your pay and access your pay stubs with tax information.  They really need to spend just as much training on teaching sale representatives how to access their full pay stub and benefits as they do teaching their products because sometimes that affects the mental attitude when you can't see where all your money is going until you get a W2 once a year.  Great job for young people with a lot of stamina and limited sales experience but not necessarily for a single parent.  The hardest part of the job is getting appointments, but once you get them  they prepare you to sell the customer well.  They provide leads but not great ones.  The hardest part of the job is the work hours and being able to find a good balance of home and work life.  The other difficult part of the job is when you don't sell and get a low paycheck, but the high paychecks make up for the low pays as long as you can handle money and are responsible about your bill payment. Usually it balances out.  They have a lot of incentive programs to get people to sell and your first 6 months with them is packed with bonus opportunities weekly, potential for growth is always available, but you do have to be prepared to work hard for it.  Nothing in life is easy, but if you do the right thing because its the right thing to do, the positive things in life will follow you.  It also gives you a great feeling when someone calls and says that they utilized something you sold to them and without it they would have been in a bad situation.  Combined teaches you to be the best insurance person you can be with great work ethic.  That is simple, but in some cases necessary to actually say because not all companies want the best for their employees.  And yes, I said employees because their insurance agents at employees with a W2 not independent contractors expected to pay taxes themselves after earning substantial money after a year.  My day usually ends about 7-8pm after setting up for the next day.

8:00 am - conference call with Vice President of the company and my peers discussing staff results, goals, challenges and solutions

9:30 am - office meeting with my staff where I reviewed their results, goals, challenges and offered solutions.  designed and implemented daily product and skill training. reviewed each agent's daily plan, providing guidance and motivation to reach set goals.

11:30 am - interviewed applicants scheduled by company recruiters

1:00 pm - LUNCH!

2:00 pm - field trained new employees

5:00 pm - brief conference call with my staff gathering daily results

5:30 pm - prepare management reports and update spreadsheets with team's results

6:30 pm - email reports to VP and Regional Director

What I Learned:
How to efficiently manage a large team of agents in various locations throughout the state.

Management:
Was very structured, caring and supportive

My Co-Workers:
Friendly yet competitive

Hardest Part of the job:
At the time, managing long hours with young children

Most enjoyable part of the job:
The people!  Bonding with my peers at Regional meetings gave me an opportunity to travel to new places and experience new activities while team building.  Connecting with my amazing staff and their families during company events and getting to know them through our normal daily interaction.

Phoney hype  promoting a  constant barrage of never ending positive mental attitude, which of course is needed to sell their over priced under performing insurance policies.  This is done on basically a random basis and constantly changing locations,  hitting up people and businesses that were solicited 6 months prior.  Most insurance companies are now doing credit checks because the agent is self-employed and 80 to 90 percent of them end up spending way more than they make, ruin the value of their car and end up Big Time in the hole financially.  So, if you have great credit scores, they love you!  Also a lot of the Big Insurance companies run credit checks on the application you fill out online.  So, if you have bad credit the application is programed to stop processing your application and either send you back to the beginning or just plain Quit Working!  Imagine that!  It's important to realize that even after you sell a policy, they can take your commissions back, sometimes for  many, many years.  So, let's say you quit, they have ways to attach your bank account for years!  The odds of actually succeeding in Combined or other insurance companies is very, very long and remote.  Thus their constant push to hire new agents. Now if anybody wants to prove I'm wrong, go ahead,  Make My Day!!!!!

1. Most managers have not degrees or the appropriate training. 
2. Managerial culture is more like a military academy, where you stay straight up, reply "yes sir", and have not opinion at all. 
3. The company lacks a structure for advancement or professional grow. The few people I saw getting promotions, where people who were close friends to the manager, which btw, took longer breaks/lunches, missed many more days of work, and/or were given vacation whenever they "need it", and did little work (but were always praised for it)
4. HR gets lost in translation and replies once in a blue moon.
5. Life/work balance is almost non-existing. They used a first come-first serve type of method to assign vacation time which can get very frustrating.
6. The culture of the company its just bad. Although, I meet people who worked there for many years and where happy; however, they were happy because they had higher positions and consequently more flexibility. 
7. They like to preach a new culture and are trying hard to change the old one; the problem is the old cats remain the same way and the new ones are the ones taking all their "frustrations", which makes it difficult for you to change when everyone else is not required to. In other words, there is a lot of "blind eyes" for some people.

I find the compensation to be outstanding but the benefits are almost too expensive to be worth it. I enjoyed the work and everyone i worked with had an excellent attitude and was incredibly friendly. My only dislike about the job its self is the door to door sales. You are expected to go door to door and business to business to acquire new business. this means you need to be able to transition from hello i've never met you and you've probably never heard of the company i work for to I am now your insurance agent and you trust me implicitly. in most instances this is incredibly difficult to do. Most people won't even listen to a word you say so you need to be very creative on your approach. Also there can be a lot of travel involved so you need to make sure you can sell enough to afford driving every day all day as well as pay your bills. I loved working for this company, but it is a lot of work. If you can stick it out however it is worth it. I met and worked with more millionaires than i would have imagined, and anyone can be one with this company if you have the ability to put n the time and effort required.

My day starts early as 4:30 a.m. daily. I generally start my day by planning the area and then people I will need to work with. Usually it will involve researching their current coverage with us to see what protection is potentially available to offer. While appointments are preferable I often have time daily to cold call on small and medium size businesses. Upon engaging a customer or potential applicant I'll always seek to find out as much background information as possible. Starting with any current health issues to covering financial condition as well as family financial goals. This position has allowed me to truly serve the needs of families. I am sometimes a bit of a counselor, informational resource but mostly just a sympathetic ear for those who just need someone to listen to them. My managers and co-workers are very supportive and offer assistance in any areas needed. The hardest part of my job is to have a potential applicant who wants coverage but are unable to afford it or qualify for coverage due to health issues. The most enjoyable part of my job is at the end of the day, when I am able to look back over my day and review all the families I have helped to protect the financial assets.

There is no future with Combined Insurance.  They claim to be a Positive Mental Attitude company, but they aren't.  They come from the old school of management where you get a bigger stick to increase productivity among the agents.  I was hired to find out why the agent retention rate was so low........I did, the training, comp, and attitude of the upper management was to blame.
A day with Combined begins with a meeting either by phone or in person with your manager, you are asked for your objective for the day as far as sales go, if it isn't enough the manager creates his or her own number and passes it on to the marketing director who will hold your feet to the fire if you don't reach it.  You then go business to business (door knocking) for the rest of the day, hoping to sell anything to the owners or if your lucky the employees of the small business.  
The training consists of 2 things, an approach to use when you canvass business to business and internal leads, which are policy holders already and have been harassed on a monthly basis as the new agent turn over is so high.

The products themselves are fairly priced and are competitive, but the  daily grind is not worth your time

Strengths / advantages
	1.	Established brand / backing
	•	Combined Insurance is not a fly-by-night start-up; it’s part of a larger insurance group (under Chubb, via its parent structure) and has an established history.  ￼
	•	Having a recognizable brand can help with credibility when leading an agency, recruiting agents, and building customer trust.
	2.	Flexibility, entrepreneurial potential
	•	Many reviews of agents reference that you “make your own pay” — in other words, there’s a lot of upside tied to performance and self-drive.  ￼
	•	Some employees note that there is time / location flexibility, which can be appealing (especially post-pandemic) as operations shift remote or hybrid.  ￼
	•	For a leader, having leeway to build your team, set standards, this can be attractive.
	3.	Growth & change potential
	•	The pandemic forced many companies to reevaluate how they operate, invest in digital tools, provide remote support, and in highly competitive markets (like Raleigh / Durham) there is more pressure to modernize, improve leadership, and attract good talent.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Insurance agent 1 salary reported	$45,000 per year
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Claims adjuster 3 salaries reported	$54,333 per year
Agency manager 1 salary reported	$58,000 per year
Sales representative 3 salaries reported	$75,000 per year

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