Is A Second Opinion In Order?

A life insurance policy can be a static document if 1. You buy it at an age where you’re sure the term length will outlast your needs, 2. You get the very best rate class and 3. There are no surprises in life after you take out the policy.

If, for some reason, you’re figuring or finding out that the term length you purchased may fall short of the life insurance needs mark you had based your decision on, it’s probably time for a reality check. It may not mean that you have to completely sack the life insurance you have and start over. It is far more likely that what you have in place can be and should be an integral part of the plan and that all you need to do is arrange your life insurance to tie up loose ends.

If you are a CEO and you have to carry life insurance for business purposes and you also have the burden of watching the company bottom line, don’t settle for something less than you think is possible. If you took the life insurance you now have in force because you were told that it was the best you would be able to get due to some impaired risk, a history of a melanoma, well controlled mood disorder or the like, it’s important to know that not all agents and companies aren’t created equal. Underwriting from one company to another can vary to a huge degree. Case in point a melanoma life insurance case I just shopped, a stage T1a, where the best company was willing to underwrite the case at a standard plus rate, several companies at a standard rate, some more companies with table rated offers and one that just said “decline”.

Why the big swing when all of the underwriters are looking at the same information and theoretically the same risk? Some companies are big enough to use their own life insurance mortality experience. Some life insurance companies simply have better underwriters while others are completely dependent on their underwriting guidelines and those of reinsurance companies. It’s that second set of companies that often make poor underwriting decisions because they truly don’t study medical records to understand the overall picture, but rather to find the faults to back up their underwhelming decisions.

Bottom line. If you’ve found yourself in a life insurance situation where your agent told you “that’s as good as it gets” and that agent doesn’t continually strive to find you a better company and a better rate, you have the wrong agent. Every year I review my entire block of life insurance clients for ways to improve their situation and frequently, because of some change in their health or being further away from some event, or a new underwriter joins a company, we succeed. If you have questions about the rate you’re paying for life insurance or if the decline you were given was really “as good as it gets”, call or email me directly. My name is Ed Hinerman. Let’s talk.