New York Life Insurance Options Dwindling

New York! New York!

The state of New York has always been challenging for those looking for life insurance. There are a lot of life insurance companies that don’t even seek approval to sell their products in New York. New York’s Department of Financial Services, their insurance regulatory agency has always been more restrictive than the agencies in all 49 other states and DC. New York life insurance options are dwindling as companies that do fine in other states are finding that financial and regulatory changes in New York no longer make it prudent to do business.

What That Means For You If You Live In New York

In a nutshell it means in New York life insurance options are dwindling, disappearing. I just received an alert from Transamerica life insurance that they are discontinuing providing term life insurance for residents of the state of New York. They summed it up in one sentence, “We will re-enter the term insurance markets in the state of New York when financial and regulatory conditions allow us to do so.” Transamerica is very good, competitive option for those looking for life insurance and it is being lost in New York.

They have recognized, like companies that have pulled products, or pulled out completely, that the Department of Financial Services is making it too hard to do business in New York. They would claim that this is an effort to protect residents from unscrupulous replacement of one life insurance policy with a new one, and other “protection” issues, but in truth it means they are making it difficult for you to choose to change even when it is the obvious, wise choice. You should also know that the DFS won’t allow you to go to, for instance, New Jersey, and buy life insurance. New Jersey has far more approved companies and is far more open to you making your own choices.

The Hope?

The only real hope with this unfair, almost tyrannical treatment of your right to be treated like residents of every other state, is to study the problem and then file complaints with the DFS. Ignorance is bliss, they say. You, as a resident of New York, may not even know there are laws and regulations that are choking out competition and some of the best life insurance options. Try this as a first step in education. Run on line life insurance quotes for yourself as a resident of NY and then repeat the process as a resident of any other state. I just did that and had 28 options to choose from in NJ and 15 in NY. There are more companies offering term life insurance in both states, but the results in the limited sample I ran don’t change.

If you have questions, or want to make sure you you are being quoted the absolute best of your limited options, call or email. My name is Ed Hinerman. Let’s talk.