altered contract

[moneyman100]

I am a captive insurance agent in Missouri. 2 years ago I signed an agent appointment agreement with my insurance company. When I signed the contract, my name and the date the contract was to go into effect was left blank. 5 days later, the regional manager came in and signed the paperwork. At the same time, I signed another agreement stating that they would 'subsidize' my income by matching my commissions. At that time I signed 2 sets of the contracts and they kept both sets. A few weeks later, they mailed my copies to me. When I got my copies, my name and the Effective date had been inserted and a additional company had been typed into the contract (there were 4 companies before). Now, they may terminate my contract due to low production & say I owe them $20,000. I have 3 questions.

1) Since the contracts (especially the date and party to the contract) were altered by them after I had signed them, are they valid and will they win a lawsuit in court over the money?

2) Could I collect punitive damages against them for altering the contracts if they take me to court and I countersue them?

3) The contracts I signed don't allow them to terminate me for lack of production. I assume that is because I am an independent contractor and they don't want me to be considered an employee. However, they say a financial statement I gave them a week before I signed the contracts states they can terminate for low production. They never signed this statement nor is there a place for them to sign it. Is this a valid amendment to the contracts I signed a week later and can I sue them for Breach of Contract for not terminating me according to the contract?

Thanks for your help.

 

[lawrat]

Get a lawyer. You can certainly argue that what they did was fraudulent.


But if they did it to fill in blanks and you knew and still worked, then it it part performance and the terms of the contract may either be waived, agreed to by your performance or new terms are created by your performance.

 

[HomeGuru]

Thank you for responding my dear lawrat. I was going to respond but since it involved a captive insurance agent I refrained from getting involved in kidnapping cases especially if there is no ransom.

 

[lawrat]

homeguru, i thought writing a confusing answer might help a confusing question from a confusing captive.

 

[HomeGuru]

homeguru, i thought writing a confusing answer might help a confusing question from a confusing captive.

I'm confused, so un-confuse me again Baby.
That is now that you have a captive audience.