A client I worked with this week was a little miffed because Met Life didn’t come through with the rate the agent said they would, even though he had divulged his health history and his labwork was perfect. Apparently he quoted the client $1800 a year and it was approved at $2400, just a little 30% surprise.
The Met Life agent said he shopped the industry and couldn’t find anyone that would beat the price. The client enlisted Accuquote who also claimed that the $2400 range was as good as it would get.
My client’s health history? Mild sleep apnea and well controlled ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder). The industry average on this client would be a standard rate at $2400 a year for the coverage he wanted. I shopped this and found some companies that were well above that, two companies that were in the $1800 range and one company, a major player for a long time said that as long as both issues are well controlled, they will approve it for just under $1200, their best rate class.
Think about it from an mortality assumption point of view. Sleep apnea, if not well controlled, can lead to number of other health issues such as high blood pressure, stroke and heart problems. If it is diagnosed early and well controlled, it has virtually no impact on morality.
And ADHD!! I think the best determinant of whether ADHD is a factor in life insurance is if the control is good enough that a person can carry on with a normal productive life. In the case of my client he is a professional and a stable family man. Being successful and stable at either of those, let alone both, pretty much negates any mortality impact that ADHD might have.
So why would a Met Life agent and a major internet agency like Accuquote miss the better rates? Or did they have some reason not to quote the better rates? Folks, it’s called commission, with a capital C and that rhymes with G and that stands for Greedy. They didn’t want to quote the best rates available because they come from a company that pays below average commission. They would rather take their chances at snowing the guy into believing they’ve done their homework and that, well, “it just doesn’t get any better Mr Professional.”
Call me simple, but 100% of a lower commission feels better than coming in second and I’ve found that making sure clients get the best possible price seems to build more loyalty and get more referrals.
Bottom line. There is not a perfect ADHD life insurance company out there. Not one of them is strong in everything. It takes an independent agent who puts customer service ahead of compensation to put you in the winner’s circle.
My 20 years of experience give me the knowledge and leverage to find reasonably-priced life insurance for people who have been declined or are paying more than they need to.
I want to commend you for finding this client the best rate available for his health and lifestyle situation.
However, I wanted to clarify some things about AccuQuote and our business. First, we believe it is our responsibility to be honest with consumers regarding their likely underwriting class, up front. There is no conspiracy to charge more, in order to make more money. If we did that, we’d soon find ourselves quoting all day, but taking no applications.
After having placed nearly 100,000 policies in force, we have become pretty good at anticipating what the various underwriters will do regarding certain conditions. The fact is, when presented with a fact situation like this, based on our experience, we have two options:
• Knowing that standard is very likely the best case scenario (even though preferred is a long shot possibility) we can be “aggressive” and quote preferred, which inevitably creates a large number of disappointed consumers who will yell at us when the carrier underwrites it as standard… often rejecting the policy as something more expensive than we “quoted”…! Remember… we don’t determine the rates. We simply make some very experienced and educated guesses as to what the underwriter will or will not do.
• Alternatively, when we expect possible underwriting issues that would likely make preferred rates unlikely, we can quote standard, knowing that if the proposed insured qualifies for preferred rates the underwriter will issue preferred, in which case our clients are elated. If however, it comes in standard, as expected, our clients are not disappointed, but rather satisfied, and more importantly they are covered!
We have absolutely no incentive whatsoever to quote higher rates on the front end. In fact, we risk losing the opportunity to handle their application. Why? Because there always seems to be another agent… either inexperienced at what to expect from the underwriting process, or knowing full well what to expect, but willing to lie (by quoting a lower rate) in order to induce the consumer to apply.
As you know, quoting and delivering are two entirely different things. The issue has absolutely nothing to do with compensation or commission.
When I’m wrong, well, I’m willing to admit it. In this case you say I’m wrong and I will take you at your word. I’ve been rebuffed by Accuquote in the past for alluding to a link between compensation and what companies are recommended. I promise never to do that again.
You say “we have become pretty good at anticipating what the various underwriters will do regarding certain conditions. The fact is, when presented with a fact situation like this, based on our experience, we have two options”.
Paraphrasing those two options, you can conservatively quote standard, which you did, or quote preferred and take the chance that you may be wrong.
The third option, which you didn’t mention, and apparently because of your experience, didn’t employ, is to lay the information in front of underwriters on an informal basis and see what they recommend. Frankly, in today’s underwriting climate, to “anticipate” what you believe an underwriter will do, rather than asking an underwriter what they will do, seems inadequate on behalf of your client.
Your insinuation that lower quotes come from either inexperienced or lying agents is occasionally true, but, as you know, lower quotes quite often come from good agents that do legitimate homework and produce lower approved and placed rates.