The financial stability of a life insurance company is very important. When shopping for term life coverage, don’t just look at the lowest cost premium from an insurance company you recognize. Make sure you look at the ratings by A.M. Best, Moody’s and other rating agencies. Consider the Comdex ranking also. The Comdex ranking is a composite of all the ratings that a company has received relative to all other insurance companies. The Comdex ranks companies on a scale of 1 to 100.
When purchasing a life insurance policy, sometimes the desired result isn’t obtainable. Less than 20% of all applicants qualify for the best underwriting classification. It can be quite upsetting to find out that your rate is substantially higher than what you were originally quoted. However, unfavorable underwriting decisions can often times be challenged — especially in borderline cases. Find out exactly why the Underwriter decided to give you the lower rate class. Your agent should be able to assist you in determining if the decision was borderline or based on inaccurate information.
I am often asked my opinion of Return of Premium life insurance — ROP for short. Like most products on the market, ROP can make sense for some and not for others. When ROP products were first offered several years ago, I heard Clark Howard offer his opinion on the product and I was a little suprised by what he had to say. He said that it was a good move for those people who are very diligent about paying their premiums on time and plan to keep the policy for the full term period.
There are lots of knowledgeable, experienced life and health agents in Georgia. However, there are many, many more unexperienced agents in the marketplace. I would venture to guess that the ratio is 1:10 at best. With our current recession and high unemployment rate, there has been a huge influx of people entering the insurance industry. There is an extremely low barrier of entry compared to other business start-ups. It’s almost too easy to get licensed to sell insurance. In a sense,
There is not a single “right way” to apply for health or life insurance. Although their are some general guidelines followed by most carriers, each carrier has it’s own set of unique underwriting guidelines. This is why it is very important to apply for coverage with the assistance of a knowledgeable agent. People who apply directly with a carrier or through an inexperienced agent are much more likely to get declined or receive an unfavorable underwriting decision.
As an example,
If you are a homeowner who recently closed on a loan or refinanced a mortgage, then it is likely that you have been inundated with offers for “Mortage Protection” or “Mortgage Life Insurance”. The letters appear official — as if they are sent by your lender — but in 9 out of 10 cases, they are not. Often times, your lender will partner with an insurance company and send out an offer for Mortgage Life Insurance, but these are far outnumbered by the others.
When purchasing life insurance, it is important to determine what is important to you. In today’s fast-paced world, we place a high value on time management and efficiency. If we have a choice of shopping online for a gift or visiting several brick and mortar stores, we quickly see the benefit of the Internet. However, when shopping for life insurance, getting things done as quickly as possible isn’t always the best policy.
One of the popular mega-sites offering life insurance received the following review from U.S.
The term “laddering” is commonly used with reference to financial products such as CDs, but it can also be used with life insurance. Simply put, laddering is a strategy employed to have more than one financial product “expire” or mature at different dates to benefit the owner. With respect to CDs, this concept protects against reinvesting a large amount of money in a poor financial climate. This concept has been applied to life insurance since the need for life insurance tends to diminish over time as debts are paid off and assets grow in value.
