Disability insurance is a key component of individual’s financial plan, and provides valuable coverage to guard against the risk. To further reinforce the need for disability insurance, the CDC has reported that nearly 40% of people will have a long-term disability of at least 90 days before they reach the age of 65.

Since a long-term disability can ruin a person’s financial health, it would make sense that everyone would have the coverage. However, only 58% of full-time employees say they have disability insurance protection, according to the 6th annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends.

Disability Insurance Expensive but Necessary

Nevertheless, many individuals do not have coverage because they are turned off by the high price tag that typically comes with a stand alone disability insurance policy. As a result, they are putting themselves in a dangerous position that could have severe financial ramifications for themselves and their families.

There are alternatives for getting coverage that do not involve purchasing a stand alone disability insurance policy. A disability income rider is one approach that one can take to hedge against the possibility of incurring a financial tragedy. These riders are usually sold as an attachment to an individual life insurance plan.

Buy Term Life Insurance with a Disability Insurance Rider

Obtaining a life insurance policy with a disability rider is fairly simple. First and foremost, since every life insurance plan doesn’t offer this feature, you will need to find a company that offers this type of policy. After applying for coverage, the life insurance underwriting process is generally used as a starting point to determine whether or not you will be able to qualify for the additional disability coverage. In addition to the life insurance questions, the company may come back to you with additional questions in order to prescreen you for the disability insurance rider as well.

After the underwriting process is complete, you are usually either approved or denied for the coverage, as there usually isn’t any type of rating scale like there is with traditional life insurance. DI riders are usually very attractive due to the fact that they are cheaper in price than most stand alone disability plans. In addition, the insured can kill two birds with one stone instead of having two separate policies with different billing cycles.

Please keep in mind that the DI rider’s coverage tends to be much more limited than it would be if you were to purchase an individual DI policy. Most life insurance companies that offer DI riders only offer benefits of up to $3000 per month, and the coverage only lasts for 2-3 years. As a result, this type of policy usually serves as a great resource for disability insurance coverage if you have none, but doesn’t truly protect against a prolonged disability situation.

Height and Weight and Life Insurance Ratings

 

You may or may not know, but your height and weight is a critical component of the life insurance underwriting process. There is probably no other factor that proposed insureds become more upset about than when an underwriting offer is received, and you do not get your desired rating class due to your height and weight. In this post, we will examine the reasons that height and weight are so important to underwriters, the medical conditions that can result, and the life insurance companies that do the best for this situation.

Underwriters look first at height and weight

One of the first things that underwriters look at when a life insurance exam is received is the figures for height and weight. Every company has steadfast guidelines for their build charts, and it is something that is fairly cut and dry. For example, if your height and weight were, 6’1 and 220 pounds, most underwriters compare this to their charts, and can immediately determine that you will receive no better rating than preferred. In addition, a person’s height and weight are telling stats for other potential health problems that may arise down the line.

Heath conditions stemming from having poor height and weight

There are quite a few medical problems that are a direct result of being overweight. If you maintain a heavy figure for a long period of time, it leaves the door wide open for diabetes, high blood pressure, poor cholesterol numbers, and many others. Furthermore, as time goes on, carrying around a bunch of extra weight can start to take quite a toll on your heart, and result in numerous types of cardiovascular problems. As a result, even if you do not currently have any of these problems, it is statistically probably that you are at much greater risk of developing these problems later in life, ultimately raising the risk of passing away and triggering a claim for the life insurance company.

Some Life insurance companies are more liberal with height and weight

If you have read any of our other underwriting articles, you probably know that there are different companies that tend to excel for those who may have certain conditions. Height and Weight is no different. For those of you who aren’t overweight, but may be just a few pounds away from getting best class, Genworth Life Insurance has come out with a very liberal build chart that enables many to be able to qualify for best class! If you are a little bit on the heavier side, Prudential Life Insurance is very good and will offer standard rates for weights that other companies would offer table ratings. Both of these could result in significant savings for you if height and weight are a concern!

Term Life Insurance Prices. A Breakdown of Expenses

 
Yes, believe it or not, there is a method behind the term life insurance prices that you see when you run a quote. Unfortunately, life insurance companies are not in the charity business and actually have to turn a profit on the products that they sell. However, many consumers are confused when it comes to what actually makes up term life insurance prices. In this post, we will hit on the major costs that comprise a term life policy.

Compare our Term Life Insurance Prices
 

Term Life Insurance Prices and Mortality Expenses

The biggest cost that is included in the term life insurance prices are the mortality expenses. Basically, a mortality expense is defined as, “an annual fee that insurance policies include in the policy cost that compensates the provider for additional risk of death or the occurrence of some other insured event”. The majority of mortality expenses of all of the term life insurance prices are lumped together to provide available funds to pay out policyholders in the event of their death. The life insurance actuaries figure out the statistics regarding the death rate for any age and rating class, and assign a value that would be needed for the company to pay it’s claims and turn a profit.

Policy Fees and Term Life Insurance Costs

A policy fee is included within your term life insurance prices, and is intended to go towards the operating expenses of the insurance company. These expenses include paying employee salaries, the cost of underwriting, policy service, and pretty much any type of operating expense that the company requires to stay in business. The policy fee is usually paid on a yearly basis, and generally ranges from fifty to a hundred dollars per year.

Yes, Commissions are Included in Term Life Insurance Prices

I know that many people out there are vehemently opposed to paying commissions to an agent, but like it or not, they are included in the prices of term life insurance. The commissions are included in the cost of the insurance so you do not have to pay it out of your own pocket, and generally speaking they occur on the back end of the sale, sight unseen. Remember, there are commissions built into the term life insurance prices of every policy. The insurance agents have to make a living too, and if they weren’t out there selling the products, the companies wouldn’t have much of a business model in the first place.

Hopefully this post helps you to understand the basic nature of the prices that make up a term life plan. While there are other variations of cost from company to company these are the driving factors of what make up the price that you ultimately pay. Please contact us if you have any other questions that we could answer for you, or would like to see our term life insurance prices.

Connecticut Life Insurance. What you need to know

 
eTermLifeInsurance has experience in writing all types of Connecticut Life Insurance . Since we have been licensed in Connecticut, we know what consumers need to look for when they are buying a Connecticut Life Insurance policy. Let’s go over a few details regarding life insurance companies conducting business in the state, as well as the laws and regulations that affect people who own policies in the state.

Click here to get a Connecticut Life Insurance Quote

Key Regulations for Connecticut Life Insurance

Connecticut Life Insurance Policy Contestability

With the laws that exist for Connecticut Life Insurance , death claims or beneficiary claims submitted by an existing insured within two years of the policy issue date can be investigated by the issuing company. In the event that the insured’s insurance application has  misrepresentations, the  company issuing the plan can deny the claim and revoke the coverage. However, in the event that this would happen they would have to  return the premium that was paid for the entire period of the life of the plan.

Your rights as a Connecticut Life Insurance Policyholder

A contract written in the state of Connecticut consists of many policyholder rights and the responsible person who can take advantage of those rights during the of the covered person is known as the owner of the policy. Some of the most common rights of a Connecticut Life Insurance policyholder are:

• beneficiary designation
• settlement options
• policy benefits
• ownership transfers
• policy loans and cash surrender details

Click here to get a Connecticut Life Insurance Quote

Protection for Connecticut Life Insurance Policyholders

There are protections for consumers owning Connecticut Life Insurance policies if a company should happen to have financial problems, or even fold up entirely. To help protect against this scenario, the state of Connecticut Life & Health Guaranty Fund protects life insurance policies against the inability to fulfill their obligations, resulting in the failure to pay claims.

Connecticut State Resources

Connecticut Department of Insurance - The Department of Insurance exists solely to enforce the state insurance laws in a way that protects both the consumers buying life insurance policies, as well as the companies that are currently doing business in the state.
http://www.ct.gov/cid/site/default.asp

Connecticut Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association - The guaranty associations for the state exist to provide consumers with a degree of protection  in the event that a company goes out of business or becomes insolvent.
http://www.ctlifega.org/

Connecticut Company Ratings - These ratings companies provide a view on which companies are the strongest based on financial strength and past performance
http://www.ambest.com/

Please feel free to contact us if you have any specific questions about your Connecticut Life Insurance policy.

 

Your 2011 Term Life Insurance To-Do List

 
 
The new year is just about upon us, and we have come with a to do list for your 2011 Term Life Insurance. I know that term life insurance isn’t necessarily a fun thing to make a resolution about, however, it is one of the most important products for your family’s protection. Please review these suggestions for things to think about for your 2011 term life insurance products.

Review your Beneficiary Designations. Are they up to date?

All too often, people buy insurance products and then let them sit there year in and year out without conducting any type of beneficiary review. This is a vital step that insureds should take because what good is term life insurance anyway if it isn’t going to go to the people who would stand to benefit the most? This is especially true if you have had a change in marital status, have had additional children, or if one of your beneficiaries has passed away. Make sure that you have not only selected the correct primary beneficiary, but make sure that your secondary beneficiaries are in line as well.

Do you have enough 2011 Term Life Insurance Coverage?

Once again, it may be time to pull out your term life insurance policies, dust them off, and make sure that you have enough coverage to adequately protect your loved ones. Once again, you may have had significant lifestyle changes, or had additions or subtractions from your family. One of the most common mistakes that people make is to not have enough coverage, leaving your family under insured. If you took your policy out years ago, your 2011 term life insurance coverage may not cut it. This is especially true if you have had salary increases over the past few years, as it is a pretty good rule of thumb to carry coverage that is 10 to 15 times your net income. You can compare rates by going to our term life insurance quotes page.

Can you save money on a 2011 Term Life Insurance policy?

Last but certainly not least, be sure to take a careful look at your health history to see if you could save some cash by buying a 2011 term life insurance policy. If you were rated for any health reasons, many times you have the ability to qualify for much better life insurance rates if the condition existed longer ago. This is especially true if you were a smoker, had any type of cancer, have lost weight, or have gotten your high blood pressure or cholesterol under control. If you would like to get a professional opinion about whether or not you could qualify for a better rate, please feel free to contact us.

Also, please shop for new coverage by going to our quotes page and comparing 2011 Term Life Insurance rates today! It’s free!

What is a Mutual Life Insurance Company?

 
Many of our readers have contacted us wanting to know what a mutual life insurance company is. Essentially, a mutual life insurance company is an insurance carrier that is wholly owned by it’s policyholders as opposed to stockholders. Since the company is owned by its policyholders, in theory, all profits at the end of the year are divided up among those who actually own the policies.

History of Mutual Life Insurance

A while back, whenever a company was organized, it was set up as a mutual life insurance company. The driving force behind this is the thought that the policyholders will all be placed in the best possible light when they take their individual considerations into view.

Recently, the mutual life insurance company has become much more of a rarity. One of the biggest drawbacks to the mutual structure is the fact that it is difficult to raise up additional capital to drive growth since so much of the profit is allocated among the policyholders. As a result, a large number of companies have undergone demutualization recently, and have completed in IPO in order to raise up additional money to invest in the growth of the business. Typically, when a mutual life insurance company goes through the process of demutualization, they start to trade on one of the major exchanges just as any other large corporation does.

Current List of Mutual Life Insurance Companies

There are still a number of mutual life insurance companies around. Many of them are household names, and truly pride themselves for remaining to be solely on the side of their policyholders. Here is the most current list available as of 2010.

Acacia Life Insurance Company
American Family Insurance
Amica
Ameritas Life Insurance Company
Auto-Owners Insurance
Boston Mutual
CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company
COUNTRY Financial
COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services
CUNA Mutual Group
FM Global
Guardian Life[7]
Hastings Mutual Insurance Company
HCSC – Blue Cross Plans of IL, NM, OK and TX
Illinois Mutual
Liberty Mutual
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
Missouri Employers Mutual
MTL Insurance Company
Mutual of America
Mutual of Omaha
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
New York Life
North Carolina Mutual
Northwestern Mutual Life
Ohio National Life Insurance Company
Pacific Life Insurance Company
PEMCO
Penn Mutual
Physicians Mutual
SBLI USA Mutual Life
Security Mutual of NY
Sentry Insurance
Shelter Insurance
State Farm Insurance
UNIFI Companies
Union Central Life Insurance Company
United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
Western Mutual Insurance Group
Western & Southern
Old Missouri Mutual Insurance Company

Other Mutual Life Insurance Company Key Differences

There are a few other details that you should keep in mind when discussing the difference between a mutual life insurance company, and others in the marketplace. Most of the time, the only policies that have mutual ownership rights are permanent life insurance plans, usually whole life insurance. If a company is a mutual company, it will usually pay the policyholder a dividend, as opposed to the interest that is paid from a stock company. More often than not, the dividends paid by mutual life insurance companies are higher than you could hope to receive from a non mutual company.

Please contact us if you have any other questions, or if you would like to get a quote from a mutual life insurance company.

Tips for getting Pilots Life Insurance

 
It used to be that buying private pilots life insurance was extremely expensive. However, like so many underwriting advancements, the term life insurance companies have come a long way in underwriting people who participate in aviation. These days, buying private pilots life insurance is very doable, and the companies have a few key criteria that they look for before the will extend their underwriting offer.

What pilots life insurance criteria do companies look for?

Life insurance companies consider the following factors when evaluating private pilots life insurance:

Pilot Experience

Certifications and Instrument Ratings

The Average Amount of Hours Flown over the Past Few Years

The Pilot’s Flying Record

The Same Age and Health Issues as Ordinary Life Insurance

What types of private pilots life insurance ratings could I expect?

When life insurance companies look at the factors above, they could choose to place you in a variety of classes based on your answers. One thing that we should note is that commercial pilots life insurance is usually not going to be rated as a rule of thumb.

Non-Rated Pilots Life Insurance – If you have extensive flying experience, there are companies like Transamerica, John Hancock, and ING, who will possibly give you up to the best possible rating. Of course, you have to qualify for the other health factors, but best class isn’t totally impossible.

Flat Extra Ratings for Pilots Life Insurance – If you do not have as much experience, it is likely that your pilots life insurance will include some sort of flat extra type of rating. A flat extra is an additional dollar amount per thousand dollars of coverage that the company places on top of your ordinary health rating. For example, if you had a million dollar policy (a thousand units of a thousand coverage) with a $2.50 flat extra, you would end up paying an additional $2500 ($2.50 x 1000) on top of the ordinary cost of the life insurance.

Lower Ratings due to flying – Some companies will not impose flat extras, but will simply give you a worse underwriting offer as a result of your flying. For example, you could be in perfect health, but they could still give you standard rates due to your flying activities

Aviation Exclusions for Pilots Life Insurance – One last option that you have if you are a pilot looking for life insurance would be to get an aviation exclusion. In this scenario, you would be given the health rating that you would receive if you were not a private pilot. However, if you were to die as the result of an accident resulting from flight, the life insurance policy would not pay out a death benefit.

As you can see, there are a variety of options that are available to you if you engage in some type of flight. Before you apply, be sure to tell us about your flying activities in as much detail as possible. In doing so, we can match you up with the best company for your rates on your private pilots life insurance!

What is different about online term life insurance?

 
Many shoppers come to us looking for online term life insurance since the internet has really opened up the industry. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when looking for your life insurance plan. By following a few tips you can make sure that the online term life insurance policy that you buy is the best fit for you and your family’s needs.

Online term life insurance is just like any other policy

Believe it or not, online term life insurance is going to be very similar to any other policy that you would buy from your neighborhood insurance agent. Many people come to us and are under the impression that they can actually find a better deal by actually cutting out the insurance agent and the commission that they earn as a result. This is quite the misnomer, since online term life insurance policies are going to be the exact same price as they would be if you bought them in the brick and mortar world. There are no special deals that are to be had by purchasing your plan on the internet.

Are commissions still paid for online term life insurance?

I know that there are people that hate to buy anything that involves a commission. However, online term life insurance policies still will pay out a commission that is in large part the same as any ordinary insurance agent would receive. After all, companies like ours are still in the business of making money by selling term life insurance, and are compensated accordingly. Basically, by selling online term life insurance, we are using the internet as a way of marketing to new clients.

So what are the advantages of buying online term life insurance?

Having said all of that, we still think that you will end up having a better experience by getting online term life insurance. Basically, the internet has been the great equalizer for consumers using the internet to shop for items. Term Life is not going to be any different. By getting your online term life insurance quotes, you can quickly compare rates from the entire industry in seconds to see what the marketplace has to offer.

It used to be where life insurance agents would have a vested interest in selling their particular life insurance company’s products, and wouldn’t show you the best deal necessarily. Online term life insurance companies have eliminated that process, and will show you the absolute best deal that you can receive on the open market. By doing this, we strongly feel that you stand to save quite a bit of money due to our impartiality. We are not beholden to any type of term life insurance company, and align ourselves with the consumer to make sure that you get the best deal. In this way, we feel that we will end up saving you alot of money by purchasing online term life insurance from us.

Run an quote and compare our online term life insurance.

Everybody Wants Affordable Life Insurance

 
The single biggest thing that people want when shopping for a policy is for it to be affordable life insurance. We have mentioned it before, but believe it or not, term life insurance isn’t the first thing that people like to shop for! However, since owning a term life policy is so important in protecting your family, let’s review some tips on how to find the most affordable life insurance for your particular situation.

The Most Affordable Life Insurance isn’t necessarily the best

Before figuring out anything you need to do an analysis to find out which product would be best suited to your needs. Term life, probably the most affordable life insurance, is also temporary in nature. As a result, if you were interested in getting a product that developed some value, term life insurance wouldn’t be the best fit for you. If building cash value is appealing to you, I would shop around to find a permanent product that will suit your needs. While definitely not the most affordable life insurance, it will be there for the long run, which is almost always a valuable thing.

Affordable Life Insurance isn’t necessarily the cheapest rate

As we have mentioned before, sometimes it is downright impossible to qualify for the best possible rates from the life insurance company. Many times, they position their best rates so they come up as the most affordable life insurance on the market, however, after going through the underwriting process you are stick up a much more expensive proposition.

As a result, in order to truly find the most affordable life insurance, you will need to be extremely forthcoming with us when you are shopping for a life insurance policy. Some of the most common things that potential insureds are penalized for include; family history of cancer or heart disease, being slightly overweight, taking medication for depression, and so on and so forth. By giving us all of the details, we can match you up with the most affordable life insurance for your particular situation.

Remember, Life Insurance is the most affordable when you are young

We have said it before, and we will say it again. The best time to buy affordable life insurance is when you are young. As you know, statistically speaking, you have less of a change of dying when you are younger than when you are up there in years. Life Insurance is priced accordingly. If you buy as much affordable life insurance as possible when you are young, odds are that you will end up saving quite a bit of money over time. Procrastination can be a terrible thing here since not only is buying term life insurance more expensive as you age, but if you wait your loved ones will be hanging out there without coverage.

These are but a few thoughts before you embark on your journey to buy life insurance. However, keeping these items in mind can help you to save big. Please visit our life insurance quote page to get started by running rates on some affordable life insurance today!

Group Term Life Insurance. The Best Option?

 
Group term life insurance is a type of insurance product that is offered through your work or employer. Many of our clients ask us if this type of policy is the best for their particular situation, as opposed to buying coverage outside of their job. In this article, we will examine some of the benefits and drawbacks of group term life insurance, and which may be the best fit for you.

Will you still have your group term life insurance if you quit?

The first question that you will need to ask yourself when thinking about whether to buy group term life insurance is whether or not the coverage can come with you if you were to leave your job. This is a key question, as you do not want to be left without coverage if you were to get fired or quit. If the coverage will come with you, it is known as a “portable” policy.

Most group term life insurance plans are not portable, so they are immediately at a disadvantage. More often than not, you are better off to go through the underwriting process to ensure that your policy will be there until you, not your boss, decide that it doesn’t need to be there. As a result, this is one way that having your own plan is far superior to owning a group term life insurance plan.

Group Term Life Insurance is more expensive

Another big reason to avoid buying group life insurance is simply the fact that they are more expensive. Since there is no underwriting associated with most group plans, you are going to be lumped in there with a collective amount of your fellow employees who may have health problems. As a result, this will drive the average price of the insurance up since the term life insurance company isn’t going to expose itself to a large amount of risk. The  companies basically take an average of all of the typical health conditions and pool them together to offer the final group term life insurance rate. If you are healthy, you will end up saving alot of money by buying your own individual term plan.

When should you buy group term life insurance?

While it is almost always advisable to buy your own life insurance, instead of buying a group term life insurance plan, there are several situations in which this may not be the case.

If you are not healthy, it is almost always advisable to participate in the group plan. As we mentioned before, there is no underwriting associated with a group term life insurance plan. Many times, due to health reasons, you may not have the opportunity to purchase your own coverage. In that instance, be sure to jump all over your employer sponsored plan, as it is much better than having no coverage.

A few other situations where group term life insurance may be more appropriate would be if your employer is picking up a portion of the cost, or if you have the ability to gain some sort of discount by buying more than one product through the group. However, more often than not, you will always want to get your own policy due to the cheaper rates rather than participating in your group term life insurance plan.