I will tread carefully with this since the last time I questioned Zander Insurance, well, frankly I kind of over stepped my point and pounded on them a bit. I publicly apologized and we all walked away feeling OK and deciding that while we both believe Dave Ramsey is right on the money, Zander does business a little differently than I do.
A friend pointed out to me that Zander’s website had a few errors on it. I looked at it and decided that was no big deal. On one page they quote rates for a company that no longer sells insurance. US Financial hasn’t written business in a few years and it was just their rate on a child rider so really, as I said, no big deal.
While I was there though I decided to dig a bit like we all do to each other’s websites (checking out the competition), and I ended up on their tobacco use page. I ran rates on myself as a smoker since Zander stated that “Many of our competitors simply treat all tobacco users the same eliminating any potential savings but we have companies that offer competitive preferred tobacco.” The best rate they showed was Transamerica at $6295.00 annually.
I then ran the exact same scenario on our website and found both Liberty Life ($5210.00) and Western Reserve Life ($5375.00), around $1000 a year less. Let me just state for the record that “Many of our competitors simply treat all tobacco users the same eliminating any potential savings, but we have companies that offer competitive preferred tobacco rates.” And these aren’t impossible to get fantasy quotes. Both of these companies have been kicking everyone’s rear end for some time in the preferred tobacco arena.
Bottom line. Zander is a fine agency and they made a case the last time we conversed that they don’t do business with some companies for administrative reasons. And I respect their decision. What I don’t respect is them indicating their competition is doing something bad when their accusation should be spoken into a mirror. Personally, administrative reasons or not, I’m thinking Dave would have a problem with the fact that Zander isn’t really offering people the best option for their hard earned dollar. Dave busts his rear getting those dollars freed up after all.
Just an aside. I am currently facilitating a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University, which I’ve been through myself and highly recommend to everyone. Dave admits freely that he doesn’t sell insurance so his opinion isn’t biased and I agree with Dave’s philosophy on the best way to buy and use term insurance. I know I’ll get yelled at for this, but personally I think Dave has placed a little too much trust in Zander in the life insurance arena. So, holler away!
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.
No need to holler. You certainly keep us on our toes! I will take care of the error on US Financial right away. As you stated US Financial quit writing business approx. two years ago and we immediately removed them from our site. The child rider rate was overlooked when we revised it recently but as you said it is not really a big deal because no policy was quoted or coverage offered just a clerical oversight that we will correct.
With regard to the “Tobacco Use” page I think that you are viewing it in a very narrow context. Just as your website alludes to you not doing business like other national marketers and makes generalized statements our commentary was intended the same…not personally at you. There are still a large number of companies out there, some of the country’s largest writers, that just have a smoker class, not even a preferred class, and many of them don’t care whether you use cigarettes, snuff, chew or cigar. As you are aware since we share many of the same companies there are companies that do differentiate and offer lower rates. That is where we can help our clients save even further off the standard tobacco rates many of the other companies simply treat the same. This is what we were promoting in the “Tobacco Use” section of our website.
As you are aware, since it seems that our web quote engines operate similarly, there is an inability for the software programs to process this type of variation since each company has it’s specific limits and guidelines. Our Application Screening Unit is specifically trained to review all incoming requests and determine which company is the best option based on the individual characteristics of the applicant. At this time we move many of the qualified tobacco users to the alternate more competitive company. I assume you do the same since your quote engine has the same limits and as we both know quoting a rate via the web has it’s limits related to rate class determination.
With regard to the carriers we represent I am very confident in the competitiveness and quality of the programs we offer Dave’s listeners. Your comment about us not offering the most competitive option available can be interpreted in many ways but I can assure you that it is our utmost goal. We also commit ourselves 100% to term life insurance and that is a concern he also shares with anyone he endorses. Many comment that they agree with Dave’s principles but then will offer a cash value product if they can. His trust in us for over 10 years is based on a variety of elements and we work hard every day to maintain it.
I appreciate your comments and hope this helps shed some light on the situation. In the future if you have any questions or concerns I am more than happy to have you call me and maybe I can clarify things before they become “blooging” issues. Thanks again.
Jeff, Thank you for the clarification. There is no quote engine confusion on this issue. Preferred smoker was the rate class referred to and there isn’t anything ambiguous about that. You had expressed in the past that you had administrative issues with Western Reserve Life and for that reason didn’t quote them. All I’m saying is for the kind of money that you are asking people to go ahead and pay, it seems you should lay out all the options and if you have some issue with the company administratively, let the customer decide if they want the lower rate or not.