by Ed Hinerman | Dec 30, 2008 | blood pressure, cholesterol, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
As life insurance agents we are provided with a set of underwriting guidelines for each company we represent. It tells us, rate class by rate class, what cholesterol, build, blood pressure, family history and so on are acceptable. In the good old days which ended a...
by Ed Hinerman | Dec 23, 2008 | Anxiety, bipolar disorder, Depression, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
There is probably no better feeling for me (and my clients) than turning their previous experience of being declined for life insurance into an approval for the insurance that they want for their family. For those who have been declined, it’s the same feeling as...
by Ed Hinerman | Dec 22, 2008 | Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, term insurance, universal life, whole life
I try very hard to get out relevant life insurance information in a timely manner and would hope never to jump the gun and potentially mislead. In this case it appears that while I was a few days ahead of the event, the wolf was in fact on his way. In a post last...
by Ed Hinerman | Dec 19, 2008 | cancer, cigar smokers, diabetes, heart disease, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, smoking, Type 2 diabetes
One of the biggest life insurance rate hits is for those who smoke. There is some logic to that given the link between cigarette smoking and cancer and heart disease, but are the underwriters throwing apples and oranges in the same basket and assuming they all taste...
by Ed Hinerman | Dec 18, 2008 | cancer, conversion, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, term insurance, universal life, whole life
Term insurance policies have a golden egg buried in them call the conversion option. This option allows you to convert all or part of your term insurance policy into a permanent policy without evidence of insurability. This is huge in several ways. Let’s use me...
by Ed Hinerman | Dec 15, 2008 | bait and switch, DUI, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
I very seldom “go off” on individual life insurance companies. Our experience in the impaired risk market is that company underwriting can go through cyclical changes, so we have learned to stay away from companies who aren’t being consistent until...
by Ed Hinerman | Nov 17, 2008 | Anxiety, bipolar disorder, decline, Depression, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, seizure disorder
Still fresh in my mind is the story a client related to me about her experience of being declined for life insurance due to bipolar disorder. This was news to her since she didn’t have bipolar disorder. In talking through the situation with her she did bring up...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 31, 2008 | angioplasty, bypass surgery, cholesterol, diabetes, heart attack, heart disease, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
For as long as there has been life insurance and heart attacks there has been misinformation about the impact of the event on future ability to obtain the insurance. Two of the most common myths are that 1. If you’ve had a heart attack then you are simply toast...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 29, 2008 | angioplasty, decline, diabetes, heart attack, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
You don’t buy life insurance, rather, you apply for it. Because there is an application there should be a common understanding that there is a chance that your application will be rejected. The industry term is decline. While declines are far more the exception...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 29, 2008 | decline, hepatitis, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, liver functions
Well, no…..or maybe yes……it all really depends. I hope this information has been helpful. Seriously though, underwriting of Hepatitis C really comes down to a few key factors. First, is the disease in remission and second, how much damage has the...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 27, 2008 | bipolar disorder, cancer, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance
We certainly have our good days and our bad days in helping those with bipolar disorder obtain life insurance. Fortunately the good does outweigh the bad. I think we do need to throw a reality check water balloon on this party though. I have often mentioned that one...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 16, 2008 | breast cancer, cancer, Independent agent, life insurance, prayer
As many of you have so graciously tolerated my use of my Mom’s breast cancer to discuss the life insurance take on the subject, you may remember that prior to Mom, there was Dad and his stage 4 bladder cancer. About a year and a half ago Dad was given a few...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 14, 2008 | blood pressure, cholesterol, Depression, diabetes, heart attack, Independent agent, insurance, life insurance, long term care, private pilots, stroke
You know the rates I’m talking about. You see them advertised everywhere and it makes it seem as though life insurance is almost free, simply there for the picking. In the industry those rates are called things like preferred plus, preferred elite, select...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 7, 2008 | blood pressure, cancer, decline, diabetes, Fat March, heart disease, high blood pressure, Independent agent, insurance, Juvenile life insurance, life insurance, obesity, stroke, term insurance, universal life
If you talk to most life insurance applicants who fall into the obese or morbidly obese categories according the their BMI, they have usually been told that they aren’t insurable or that the prices are so high as to render uninsurable because they can’t...
by Ed Hinerman | Oct 6, 2008 | decline, diabetes, Independent agent, insurance, Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes
Talk about a topic that has changed with the wind over the years, diabetes underwriting would be that animal. There was a time not all that long ago, at least if you’re my age, that diabetes was treated by most companies with a swift decline and by the few that...
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