Secret # 1: Don't forget about customer service.
Most people who buy insurance focus
on the companies with the lowest price and the best financial score.
Unfortunately, I know of some A + rated businesses with low rates that I
wouldn't hit with a ten foot post just because it's easier to give birth to a
porcupine upside down, so that's for get customer service from them.
Before I figured this out, I used a
life insurance company that offered a customer a great rate, but 2 years later
the customer called me and said, “I sent all my payments on time but I just
received a notice that my policy has lapsed. It turned out that the company had
made numerous back office mistakes and lost the premium payment!
We were able to fix it because we
detected the issue so early. But if the client had died during the short time
that the policy had expired, his family might have struggled to prove that the
premium was paid on time and they might not have received the money from life
insurance - a loss of hundreds of dollars. thousands of dollars in this case.
Secret # 2: Apply 3 to 6 months before you need the insurance, if possible.
Don't be in a rush to get a policy if
you already have coverage in place. But don't hesitate and apply right away
knowing that you might need several months to shop around if the first company
doesn't give you a good rate. Even though the life insurance industry is
increasingly automated, your application will often be put on hold for weeks or
months while the insurance company waits for your doctor to mail them a copy of
your medical records. .
If you're in a rush and buy a quick
no-underwrite policy without going through the full health checks and
underwriting that a traditional life insurance company requires, you'll end up
paying 20% to 50% more because the company insurance will do this
automatically. charge you higher rates because they don't know if you are
healthy or about to die the next day.
Secret # 3: Avoid purchasing extra life insurance through work if you are in good health.
I'm sure there are exceptions to this
"trick" but I've rarely found one. By all means, keep the free life
insurance offered by your employer. But if you're healthy and paying for
supplemental life insurance through payroll deductions, you're almost certainly
paying too much. What happens is that your "overpayments" end up
subsidizing the unhealthy people in your business who buy life insurance
through payroll deductions.
Usually the life insurance company
has made a deal with your employer and will forgo the required health exam for
all employees - instead, they just average the price for all employees and
offer one or two tariffs for men or women at a given age. Life insurance
companies know that they are going to take a lot of unhealthy clients this way,
so they jack up the price on everyone so that healthy people end up paying too
much for employees to pay too much. poor health get a cheaper policy. Plus,
unlike the guaranteed life policies we recommend, most life insurance policies
you buy at work will become more expensive as you get older.
Additionally, group life insurance is
generally not transferable when you retire or change jobs, which means when you
retire or change jobs, you may need to reapply. , although you will be older
and probably not as healthy and risk being turned down for a policy. While the
group plan allows for portability, it usually limits your conversion choices
and requires you to commit to expensive cash value plans.
I remember helping someone assess
their supplemental life insurance. He was sure it was a better deal than any
policy I could find him. Didn't he know that the price of his group plan would
increase every year? By the time he retired, his premium would have risen to
over $ 10,000 per year. I found him a policy of about $ 1000 / year that would
never increase. Plus, unlike his old group life insurance policy, he could take
the individual policy with him when he changed jobs or retired.
Secret # 4: Make a trial application on a COD payment basis.
Only send money with the application
if you need life insurance coverage immediately. Sending a check with the app
is a traditional practice for agents - I think mostly because it allowed them
to get their commissions faster. If you send money with an app you usually get
temporary coverage right away, but if you already have enough coverage and are
just trying to get better rates, ask your agent to request a trial. on a COD
basis so you only pay once the policy is approved. . If you don't send money
and die before you pay off the policy, there is no coverage.
Secret # 5: Wear your shoes when the nurse measures your height.
When the insurance company sends the
nurse to do your checkup, try to be as tall as possible if you are overweight?
In most states you are allowed to wear shoes and if you are a little overweight
your taller height-to-weight ratio will be a little better for the underwriter
who determines your health score and the price of your policy. Also do your
exam early in the morning without food - this will improve your cholesterol
levels and various health ratios.
Secret # 6: Be careful with the perks and extra jumpers.
Most policies have options such as
accidental death benefit, children's riders, disability riders, return of
premiums, etc. Life insurance companies are looking to make money and these
endorsements are usually cost effective because they cover something that
rarely happens or they are so strict that benefits are never paid. Keep it
simple and focus primarily on getting a life insurance policy to cover your
life without too many conditions. Again, a good agent can help you assess the
benefits of additional jumpers. But beware of an agent trying to tack on all
the extra jumpers possible.
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