ComplaintsforFamily First Life

• Initial Complaint

  03/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  My name is ******** *****, and I am the Benefits Director for Knox County Government. In July 2022, the benefits dept started receiving calls from the public that individuals are calling them about life insurance through "Knox County Benefits." The individuals calling are telling members of the public they are going to come to their house to discuss their life insurance. They are very assertive and try to force individuals to meet with them. Several of the people who called to report this to us told these individuals they would call the police if they visited their house. I have attached the media release from the Knox County Mayor's Office when we learned about the impersonation. We found out that the company is Family First Life Knoxville. They are trying to sell life insurance to these individuals, but they are impersonating Knox County Benefits to get these individuals to meet with them to sell them insurance. Most of the individuals calling to report this to us are older individuals who have never been employed by Knox County Government. They are scared and these individuals are scamming them into thinking Knox County Benefits is coming to their house. The media reported this on local news stations, but they are still using this as a marketing strategy. We have reported this to Knox County Sheriff's Office, but nothing has come of it. We just received another call today from a member of the public who was told someone from Knox County Benefits wanted to discuss their life insurance. The contact information is difficult to find for the local division, but there is a Facebook page. I believe the individual in charge is telling other agents to tell members of the public they are with Knox County Benefits as a marketing strategy. This business looks legitimate, but they are unethical because they are impersonating a government agency.

  Business response

  04/25/2023

  It should be known that Claimant did not contact our office before making her complaint even though our company Facebook page (referenced in the complaint) lists our contact number. Had Claimant reached out to us, we feel her concerns would have been resolved.
  
  In response to Claimant’s complaint, Family First Life Horizon vehemently denies all allegations set forth in Claimant’s complaint.
  
  Misrepresentation Allegation: Our agency and our agents do not nor have ever represented ourselves/themselves to be “Knox County Benefits Office” nor another governmental agency. We are a life insurance agency proudly providing life insurance products that will help protect families in their darkest times. We do not have any reason or motivation to falsely represent ourselves as the Knox County Benefits Office which likely handles its county employee benefits and does not sell life insurance. It simply does not make sense that Knox County, a governmental agency, would engage in the private business of selling life insurance benefits. It further makes less sense to mispresent ourselves to be an entity that does not sell life insurance.
  
  To make the public feel at ease, we are providing our explanation with full transparency and are confident it will resolve any issue or confusion Claimant and some members of the public may hold.
  
  First, Family First Life is a corporation with several affiliated agencies across the United States. Our agency, Family First Life Horizon, is one of those affiliated agencies and we are principally located in Knoxville. However, any Family First Life agent from any agency can and do travel to Knox County to sell life insurance products (agents from all over the country can seek “non-resident licenses” to sell insurance in Tennessee.) This means there are several Family First Life agents out there that are not part of our Family First Life Horizon agency in Knoxville. We cannot control what agents outside of our agency do or say to members of the public but at our agency, we do not train nor encourage agents to mispresent information to the public nor do we condone such unethical behavior.
  
  Our agency is comprised of independently licensed agents who sell life insurance and final expense benefits. Our agents only call individuals who have previously filled out an online inquiry form for life insurance benefits and try to set up an appointment at their home or elsewhere to deliver the requested life insurance options. It is important to mention that selling life insurance at someone’s home is a customary business practice of the life insurance industry and has been for decades.
  
  Our agents inform potential clients that they sell state regulated life insurance benefits in their county because agents work across Tennessee and split up their appointments by counties. If a potential client has asked to clarify if we are affiliated with their county government, our agents will unequivocally confirm that we are NOT affiliated with any county and explain that we are a life insurance agency selling state regulated life insurance benefits.
  
  In her complaint, Claimant said “I believe the individual in charge is telling agents to tell members of the public they are with Knox County Benefits as a marketing strategy.” This is a meritless assumption. Our agency does provide training to our independently licensed agents regarding product knowledge and compliance training. We make sure agents are aware they must be compliant with state and federal laws and regulations. We do not train agents to misrepresent any information.
  
  Attached Press Release: The Knox County Press Release attached with the complaint states that people called in about calls they received on Wednesday July 27, 2022 from “scammers”. Our agents only call potential clients on Mondays and Thursdays and run home appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. If the public received calls on a Wednesday, we doubt the calls came from our agents or agency because the agents follow the schedule.
  
  News Media Report: Claimant stated in her complaint that the local media reported a story on the alleged misrepresentation. If the story Claimant mentioned were about our agency, we feel we would have been made aware of it. However, no one from the media has ever contacted our agency. This leads us to believe the story was not about our agency. 
  
  We sincerely hope this response will resolve any issues and concerns from the public. 

  Customer response

  04/26/2023

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  In my original complaint, I stated the agents are saying they are with "Knox County Benefits," not "Knox County Benefits Office." This is 100% happening regardless of your rebuttal, and I should not have to contact you to first to do the right thing. Whether individuals are completing an inquiry before they are contacted by you is a moot point. If your agents are then contacting those individuals claiming to be "Knox County Benefits" to get them to meet with you, it is inappropriate and inaccurate. These individuals are then contacting us thinking we are reaching out to them to sell them life insurance. You are an MLM company and your agents are pushy and demand to meet with these individuals whether they want to meet with you are not. This complaint is to make others aware of the situation and an attempt to stop your agents from saying they are "Knox County Benefits" when they contact individuals. We will continue reporting this issue to any and everyone who will listen to make this stop.

  Thank You,

  ******** *****

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩