by Ed Hinerman | Jul 25, 2007 | cholesterol, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, liver functions
You know the rates I’m talking about. You see them on TV, in magazines and on the internet. Rates so low that they make even the most seasoned, die hard, disliker of life insurance consider running right out and getting some. They’ve been called Superman...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 21, 2007 | Alcohol Treatment Life Insurance, Depression, DUI, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
Clients are always surprised that their alcohol use can be an underwriting issue. Whether a person has been through alcohol treatment, has had a DUI, or just consumes higher than average amounts of alcohol, they present an underwriting challenge on more than one...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 21, 2007 | basal cell carcinoma, cancer, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma
Skin cancer is probably one of the most common forms of cancer, especially here in the sunny southwest and growing up in the Rocky mountains as I did with very little between us and the sun’s UV rays. Sunscreen didn’t show up on the scene until I was in my...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 20, 2007 | Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, private pilots
The life insurance industry has had a love/hate relationship with private pilots going way back. Most of the companies hate to insure them. A handful love to insure them. For most insurance company’s underwriters there must be this sense that the only way a...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 20, 2007 | breast cancer, cancer, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
While the word cancer mostly causes distress to the average life insurance agent, many independent agents are well educated and connected to help survivors of breast cancer and many other types of cancer find affordable life insurance. The key for you as a consumer...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 20, 2007 | cigar smokers, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, private pilots, prostate cancer, Sleep apnea, term insurance
My grandfather used to do that. He would smoke them and chew them and spit and……well, he had a nicotine habit. Use of nicotine with life insurance companies is a pretty clear cut issue. If you use it, you are in the same rate class as a cigarette smoker....
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 19, 2007 | Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, term insurance, universal life, whole life
If you are a Northwestern Mutual agent you are bred to believe that life insurance without cash value is, by it’s very nature, evil. Northwestern Mutual has term life insurance products, but they are priced so outrageously high as to lead the casual observer to...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 19, 2007 | Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, universal life
Every universal life policy sold, is sold as a permanent product. I don’t think there is anything left to the imagination when the word permanent is used. It should never go away. I can assure you that no agents sell universal life policies and tell you that the...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 17, 2007 | cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, term insurance
The thought of a life insurance agent, for many, conjures up a picture of someone showing up at the house and sitting in the living room with you and very often using a flip chart type of graphic to drive home the point about why you need exactly what he came there to...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 16, 2007 | heart attack, heart disease, high blood pressure, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, obesity
The average person who purports to be a life insurance agent will a rather adverse reaction if you tell them you want life insurance and openly admit that you have heart disease. It doesn’t matter if you have just had minor blockage that was treated medically,...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 16, 2007 | cancer, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, prostate cancer, PSA
The very thought of trying to find life insurance for someone who has had prostate cancer would send 98% of life insurance agents screaming into the dark. Most would just tell you, without asking any questions, that you are uninsurable. About 80% of prostate cancer...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 12, 2007 | cholesterol, high blood pressure, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, obesity, Sleep apnea
The industry norm for underwriting sleep apnea has been the same for years until the Rock rocked the boat. Mild to moderate sleep apnea has historically been underwritten at a standard or possibly a standard plus rate depending on compliance with cpap use and a sleep...
by Ed Hinerman | Jul 2, 2007 | diabetes, heart attack, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, private pilots, Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes
This, for me, just falls into the “go figure” category. Two of the best companies from a product and underwriting stance, MONY and US Financial, were purchased within the last year by AXA Equitable. For a while nothing changed and then snap (my imitation...
by Ed Hinerman | Jun 27, 2007 | diabetes, high blood pressure, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, private pilots, Sleep apnea
Most sleep apnea is diagnosed first by the person sleeping next to the apneatic. While on a trip to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina I got to experience firsthand the room shaking impact of sleep apnea. Having some knowledge of the problem and knowing that I could...
by Ed Hinerman | Jun 19, 2007 | DUI, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
I am often asked why I need to know someone’s driver’s license number when they are applying for life insurance. “What’s that got to do with it”? Life insurance companies have found a glance at a motor vehicle report to be helpful in...
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