[quote=babbling looney]Don’t ever do business with Midland.  They suck.  It takes at least 30 minutes to get in touch with anyone there through their phone tree system. 

  I set myself up to do fixed annuities and life insurance through them and they sent me a packet of paperwork to start to do business.  The paperwork was incomplete and didn't have all the disclosures.....and there are a ton of them.... so I have to keep going back and back and back to my clients to get initials, signatures etc.  My clients think I'm an idiot now.   In addition, instead of sending my commissions to ME as is normal for all other fixed insurance companies that I do business with, they send the commissions to my B/D where there is a haircut on the commissions.   Since these are fixed products I should be, and always have been paid directly and then get a 1099 from the insurance company for taxes.  Insurance that is variable goes through the B/D who takes a bite and my OSJ gets a bite.   Even though my b/d sent a letter releasing me for fixed business, Midland refuses to stop pay or reissue the checks and direct deposit to my account....for "tax purposes".  They won't even TELL me how much the commission checks that they sent to the B/D are, just that they sent them last week and the B/D hasn't gotten them yet.  WTF.....gives a whole new meaning to snail mail since the insurance company and my B/D are in the same freaking town.!!!   The commissions dept of my B/D is bending over backwards to try to get this straightened out, but when they get the checks they may have to run them through the grid and take a haircut after all.  We are discussing getting a credit elsewhere, perhaps for my license and FINRA office renewal fees.   Before I went on vacation I checked with Midland to see when and how I was going to get paid for these first pieces of business and was told that I would have a direct deposit on last Wednesday, so I wrote checks for bills and had them mailed on Friday.  When I got back on Monday I saw no deposits and now I have to move money from savings since I keep most of my cash in a high interest saving account and just keep enough to cover outflows during the month in a checking.  What a fucking mess.  
I've spent hours and hours trying to straighten this out.  I'm gonna start drinking early today!!!!  Maybe right now  [/quote]

That's what all the insurance companies do with agents that live in Zimbabwe.

Babs,

  AXA, MassMutual and NYLife have been a f-n godsend when it comes to service.   Answer questions promptly and on the first shot.  When youre staring down the barrel of a renewal and the client has a stupid question that might make or break the deal, its good to have it avaliable.   I rank Midland with AIG.  Dont use it.  AT ALL.