You see it on advertising all the time, but is it true. Whether you are getting life insurance quotes from an independent agent or a captive home town agent, you need to know that it is absolutely true that you can save 70% and often much more than that.

There are two reasons that I’ve seen for this oddity. I mean, if a person wants $500,000 of 20 year term insurance, it should be fairly close in price from one company to the next, right? So, the two reasons!!

First is differences in underwriting from one company to another. For example, family history is an underwriting criteria with every company. It can be vary greatly from company to company. Say the policy above is for a 45 year old male in perfect health, whose mother died of cancer at age 59. That $500,000, 20 year term with Reliastar would cost $645 a year because they don’t count family history of cancer against you (heart disease is a different story). With Banner Life the policy would cost $1045 a year because they believe that history is significant enough to bump you two rate classes. Same person, same product, 62% higher premium because of an underwriting guideline.

The other reason for large differences is that a company really isn’t out to sell life insurance. Let’s say the guy above qualifies for the best rate available today because his mother didn’t have cancer. Coincidentally, Banner Life who bombed him for the family history, would give him the best rate available without it at $635 a year. Now if you happen to be swooned by an agent who represent Provident Life and Accident, the same policy will cost $1135 a year. That’s 56% higher and there is no difference in the rate class. The only conclusion I can come to is that Provident doesn’t want to deal with it, so if they have to deal with it, they want to make a lot of money for their trouble.

Yes, 70% is possible. Get a good independent agent and get a good rate.

This post is somewhat dated. Life insurance underwriting is changing and evolving continually. For more updated information check out some of the key word links. If you have a specific question or topic you need information for do a search. If you don’t find the answers you need contact me and we’ll make sure you get the information that is important to you.