Life Insurance
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Life insurance is an agreement between you (the insured) and an insurer. Under the terms of a life insurance policy, the insurer promises to pay a certain sum to a person you choose (your beneficiary upon your death), in exchange for your premium payments. Proper life insurance coverage should provide you with peace of mind, since you know that those you care about will be financially protected after you die. |
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Life Insurance 101
Life insurance can seem overwhelming. There are endless types and subtypes of insurance plans, premiums and payout options. To the average person, choosing the right life insurance plan can feel like trying to find their way through an unfamiliar landscape without a map.
The easiest way to get a good understanding of all of the life insurance terms and products available is to give our office a call and have one of our agents go over all of the basics with you. You can also find some of the valuable information below..
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance is the most affordable type of plan and also the most popular. Term insurance provides coverage at a fixed rate of payments for a limited period of time, generally 10, 20 or 30 years. At the end of the agreed upon time, the plans are generally not guaranteed renewable, and if they are, the new rate is often considerably higher.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance is a form of permanent insurance in which you pay extra money in addition to the standard premium to add cash value to the policy. The cash value in the policy in the policy can increase with market gains or interest payments agreed upon in the contract. The death value can remain level or increase as the policy ages. The cash value in the universal life contracts is generally considered tax favorable. The most common uses of the universal life policy include income replacement, pension maximization, estate replacement, and as an alternative to more expensive products such as long term care, non-qualified deferred compensation plans, and final expense.
Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is the most expensive of the various insurance options available, which is designed to remain in force for the policy holder’s whole life and generally requires a premium payment for the life of the policy. The policy will usually contain cash value guarantees that cannot be adjusted regardless of the performance of the company or the history of death claims.
Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
Accidental death and dismemberment insurance will pay out death benefits for those to pass during an accident. In general, death by illness, suicide, radiation, war, and natural causes will not be covered by the AD&D plan. This type of policy will generally function best along side of another form of life insurance and will act as a double indemnity in the case of a death by accident.
Today, most diabetics will qualify for an underwritten life insurance policy that costs less, and provides better benefits, than a guaranteed issue life insurance policy. However, not all life insurance companies can properly underwrite life insurance for diabetics.
New City Insurance offers a no-obligation service to help you find the best life insurance available for your specific needs. We work with reputable life insurance companies qualified to offer policies for people dealing with impaired risk life insurance issues like diabetes.
Our licensed agents will help guide you through the process of providing the information the insurance companies need to write the life insurance policy that is right for you. We will submit your information to the appropriate life insurance companies and, based on their responses, we will run accurate life insurance policy quotes for you. With your approval, we will then put you in contact in contact with the most competitive life insurance company. Let us give you the tools to make an informed decision on a life insurance policy that addresses your unique requirements.
Call us today at our toll-free number: 888-786-5839 or submit your request on our secure website.
What do insurance companies want to know?
Each life insurance company has its own set of underwriting guidelines covering life insurance for diabetics, but all life insurance companies look for the following information:
- Diabetes Type
- Age at Onset of Diabetes
- Diabetes Control
- Diabetes Compliance
- Complete Medical Information
Diabetes Type
Type I
Some life insurance companies offer standard or regular life insurance policies for Type I diabetics, but usually only in situations where the Type I diabetes is a Best Case scenario. This means your HbA1c is less than 7, you have no complications from diabetes, and your blood pressure and cholesterol are controlled. Additionally, your weight is ideal, you exercise, eat healthy, stay compliant with your physician’s orders, and you are taking diabetes medication as directed.
Conversely, a Worst Case scenario will seriously hurt your chances at obtaining life insurance coverage. This scenario includes HbA1c of 9 or greater, and you suffer from one of the following – severe neuropathy, stroke, heart attack, vascular disease, kidney problems, or similar medical conditions. Additional issues such as smoking, being overweight, and lack of diabetic control will negatively impact the insurance company’s decision.
Many people fall into the Somewhere In-Between category with a HbA1c level between 7-9, no neuropathy or retinopathy, but possibly some mild background or peripheral issues, slightly overweight, and varying levels of diabetic control. In these cases, other factors will influence the insurance company’s decision to underwrite an insurance policy.
For qualifying applications from Type I diabetics, most life insurance companies will take the standard rate and add 50-100% to the price depending on where you fit in the ‘Best Case’ – ‘Worst Case scenarios’. Be assured, though, that we will take your medical information and present it to a number of the most competitive life insurance companies for diabetes.
Type II
Life insurance underwriting for Type II diabetes is usually more favorable than for Type I. However, underwriters still require the same information as for Type I diabetics including age of onset, diabetes control and compliance, and availability of complete medical information.
Even though more life insurance options may be available for Type I diabetics, getting the best insurance rates depends on working with the right life insurance company. This is where New City Insurance can help. There are a number of impaired risk life insurance companies that will consider Type II diabetes at the standard rate. Working with our licensed agents will ensure that you are put in contact with the right insurance company for your needs, thereby avoiding a decline notice.
Age at Onset of Diabetes
From a life insurance underwriting standpoint, it is better if an individual is between the ages of 50 and 69 at the time of a diabetes diagnosis. The most ideal situation in terms of obtaining a life insurance policy is if the diabetes diagnosis comes after the age of 70.
A diabetes diagnosis prior to age 50 will negatively impact your life insurance rate, but with good diabetic control, compliance, and other medical history criteria, a good life insurance policy is still obtainable.
Diabetes Control
Demonstration of diabetic control is essential in obtaining the most favorable life insurance policy. Do you frequently test your blood sugar levels? Is your doctor satisfied with your diabetes control?
Life insurance companies will look at your fasting blood glucose, random glucose, and HbA1c levels. HbA1c data is especially critical to life insurance underwriters. This data reports reflect blood glucose monitored by your hemoglobin A1c over a period of 60 to 90 days. HbA1c levels less than 7 are excellent, with less than 8 considered still considered an indication of good diabetic control.
Other examples of diabetic control are:
Fasting blood sugars levels:
- Less than 126 mg/dl – Excellent
- Less than 140 mg/dl – Good
Fructosamine levels:
- Less than 1.7 – Excellent
- Less than 1.9 – Good
Diabetes Compliance
Life insurance underwriters are very interested in whether or not you are consistently compliant with your physician’s directions. Are you eating the right foods, taking your medication as prescribed, and maintaining a healthy weight? A positive answer to this question may result in lower insurance premiums.
Call us today at our toll-free number: 888-786-5839 or submit your request on our secure website.
No Medical Exam Life Insurance
Buying life insurance, whether you choose whole, term or universal usually requires completing an application process that includes a medical examination to establish your insurability. This requirement can discourage many people from even applying for insurance protection. However, there are three types of life insurance that do not require taking and passing a medical examination:
- Simplified life insurance
- Guaranteed life insurance
- Graded benefit life insurance
Since no medical exam life insurance quotes tend to be higher than those of typical life insurance policies, the cost may seem to be prohibitive. However, because policy rates are determined by life expectancy charts, it is assumed that the insurance company is taking a much greater risk when insuring someone who could be a candidate for an earlier death than the normal population. Otherwise, why would anyone choose to pay more for one of the above life insurance premiums? Without a medical examination, the insurance company has no way of discovering life-threatening health issues or predicting your life expectancy. To cover this potential risk to the company, your rates will be adjusted accordingly.
In spite of the increase in price, life insurance is still a good protection for your loved ones when you are no longer there to provide for them. Just the costs of your funeral may be a difficult financial burden for your family, but one that you can choose to remove before your death. Leaving behind unpaid debts and financial responsibilities is not the way you want to be remembered and life insurance is a way to ensure that scenario never happens.
Buying no medical exam life insurance may be the only option if you know or suspect that you have health conditions which will disqualify you from buying traditional life insurance. Certain medical conditions or combinations of health problems are considered too risky to insure. In some cases, your advanced age could be the factor that makes you ineligible.
No-exam life insurance is more forgiving of ill-health and old age. It is also usually quicker to obtain. The application process may be completed and the policy issued in a matter of hours or days rather than the usually 4-6 weeks gap between the time you apply and are approved for a traditional life insurance program.
SIMPLIFIED LIFE INSURANCE does not require a complete physical, but it does expect honest answers to verbal questions about your health during the application process. It is on the basis of your information that the policy underwriting will be based. The insuring agent has the right to further investigate your health during a contestability period following your application acceptance. This may entail looking at your medical records and history. If you have been less than forth-coming about the condition of your health, you may have given the company grounds to void your policy. Even if you were absolutely honest but inadvertently left out important information, the insurance company has the right to withdraw its coverage. Definitely, honesty and full disclosure is the best policy in this situation.
GUARANTEED LIFE INSURANCE is a policy program that promises not to turn you down unless you are currently residing in a hospital or long-term care facility. You are not required to have a physical exam, undergo medical tests or even answer questions related to your health. Because there is no underwriting, the application-acceptance process can be completed in less than an hour.
Guaranteed life insurance is available both as term or permanent life insurance, and yes, it is more expensive. The insurance company is taking a much bigger risk on your life expectancy and the cost of your policy will reflect their uneasiness. Not every insurance company offers this type of policy.
GRADED BENEFIT LIFE INSURANCE is specifically available to buyers who are 50 years of age or older and are considered poor insurance candidates. The death benefit (face amount) of this type of life insurance policy is not in full effect until two years after the policy has been purchased. Prior to that time, the pay-out will be only a refund of the premiums paid plus the interest accumulated on them. The exception to this rule is that if the insured dies as a result of an accident instead of natural causes during those first two years, the policy will be paid in full. Neither medical exam nor answers to health questions are required to purchase a graded benefit life insurance policy.
Protecting your loved ones in the event of your death is the final way to express your love and concern for them. If you are not eligible for traditional life insurance, consider checking out the no medical exam life insurance quotes for simplified issue, guaranteed issue or graded benefit life insurance.
New City Insurance can help with this important financial decision. Find us online or call 1-877-805-9624.
Like many people, you may be shopping for a life insurance policy that will protect your loved ones after you are gone. Buying this type of policy is complicated; it’s doubly so when you are a smoker. There are no two ways about it: Smokers pay higher premiums than non-smokers. Does that mean that you have to resign yourself to paying through the nose for life insurance? Absolutely not; it simply means that you have to take the time to collect as many term life insurance quotes for smokers as possible.
Understanding Life Insurance for Smokers
On the face of it, it may seem unfair that life insurance companies impose higher premiums on people who smoke. By giving the issue a few minutes of thought, though, it becomes a little more understandable. Smoking is a voluntary choice; if you have made the choice to be a smoker, there are certain concessions that you will have to make. One of the biggest concessions is dealing with higher life insurance premiums. A healthy 30-year-old female non-smoker will typically pay around $20 to $60 per month for a $300,000 term life insurance policy; her smoking counterpart will pay between $50 and $90. Multiply that by several years and you can imagine what an impact those rates can have.
Risk Factors that Affect Life Insurance Premiums
Smoking isn’t the only risk factor that causes life insurance rates to shoot up; being overweight and just being male increases rates, too. Overweight people tend to develop more serious health issues earlier in life than those who maintain healthy weights; women live longer than men and are less likely to be employed in hazardous professions. The pattern here is clear: Life insurance policies are less willing to extend favorable rates to people who are more likely to die and that makes perfect sense.
Statistics about Smoking
To get a better idea about why smokers pay more for life insurance, it helps to consider some pretty sobering statistics. Female smoker’s life spans are, on average, 13.2 years shorter than non-smoking females; male smoker’s life spans are shortened by 14.5 years. Every year, approximately 440,000 smokers die due to smoking-related issues. Smokers are four times as likely to have cardiac events; they are 50% more like to have heart attacks. A whopping 90% of lung cancer cases are attributable to smoking. As a smoker, your risk of death due to everything from emphysema to severe asthma is exceptionally high. Life insurance companies are well aware of these statistics and use them to formulate their premiums.
Understanding the Perspective of Life Insurance Companies
The longer that a person pays into a life insurance policy, the more a life insurance company will benefit. It is in those companies’ best interests, then, to extend lower rates to individuals who are less likely to die prematurely. All of this isn’t to say that smokers should idly accept ridiculously high premiums, though; by gathering as many term life insurance quotes for smokers as possible, you should be able to track down a fairly decent rate. It is just going to be a little trickier to do.
Tips for Finding the Best Rates for Smokers
Whether or not a person smokes is just one factor that comes into play when insurance companies calculate premiums. The total amount of the policy is a huge factor; the type of policy, term versus whole is critical, too. The rates for a ten-year term life insurance policy may seem attractively cheap. However, term policies expire; at that point, you will be a lot older and will have to cope with even higher rates. In most cases, you will pay the least when you stick with whole life insurance policies; at least then, you can rest assured that you’ll pay a consistent amount each month.
Finding Affordable Life Insurance for Smokers is Possible
As dismaying as some of the preceding information may be, don’t lose heart; it is definitely possible to find reasonable life insurance rates when you are a smoker. You just need to approach the situation in a realistic way: You are not going to pay less than a non-smoker. By comparing as many different term life insurance quotes for smokers as you can, though, you are more likely to pinpoint a policy that won’t break the bank. Short of quitting smoking, shopping around is the best thing that you can do to find affordable life insurance rates. Go online to start looking for low-priced smoker’s life insurance today.
Individuals who purchase high risk insurance generally do so for one of the following two reasons:
They have a serious health condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, epilepsy or other illness that classifies them as a high risk. Traditional life insurance is difficult to obtain if there is an underlying serious health condition.
They either have a hazardous career or enjoy participating in dangerous activities and hobbies, such as rock climbing or scuba diving.
If you meet either of the above criteria, you are classified as a high risk to life insurance companies. You will likely find that your whole or term life insurance quotes are considerably higher. Most often, people in these situations are the ones who have an urgent need for coverage. Just because you have epilepsy, a heart condition, diabetes or other serious illness does not mean that you should have to pay higher rates, or even be turned down, for universal, whole or term life insurance.
Thankfully, you found New City Insurance. We specialize in impaired and high risk situations. With years of experience and extensive knowledge in the field, our licensed agents can assist you in finding high risk life insurance companies to provide you with whole, universal and term life insurance quotes and get you the coverage you need. We will help you access your various high risk life insurance options so that you can receive the financial protection you need for your family today. Give us a call at 1-888-786-5839!
Methods Utilized by High Risk Life Insurance Companies
The risk of death among individuals in a high risk group is much greater than it is for most other individuals. How then can high risk life insurance companies afford to provide life insurance to high risk individuals? In order to offset the costs associated with insuring a high risk individual, these companies must employ many, if not all, of the following:
Mortality tables are used by high risk life insurance companies to determine term life insurance quotes and rates based upon the expected mortality factors of the applicant. The majority of high risk insurance providers use mortality tables that are based upon 30 year old data. A handful of specialized high risk life insurance companies however, utilize clinical medical underwriting and newer mortality tables. This process typically takes into account the latest medical advancements and personal lifestyle choices that may allow unhealthy individuals to lead longer and healthier lives.
Benefits paid out in the event of death are often smaller with high risk life insurance policies. This smaller benefit amount helps to offset the risk of insuring a high risk individual.
High risk insurance policies generally set more restrictions and offer fewer beneficial riders to policyholders. For example, many high risk insurance companies will place a restriction on a policy that no benefits will be paid out if death occurs within one year of taking out the policy.
Since the health condition of the applicant is generally already known, high risk life insurance providers can save money by not requiring medical examinations before granting the policy. The application process for high risk insurance is generally much less complicated than for typical life insurance plans.
Typically, high risk health insurance will be a whole life policy. This is primarily because whole life features significantly higher premium rates. Additionally, whole life insurance policies are front loaded, meaning the cost of the insurance in the early years of the policy exceeds the amount of the benefit.
The Advantage of High Risk Insurance
The greatest benefit of high risk life insurance is that it makes it possible for high risk individuals to obtain life insurance and receive the coverage they need. People who would otherwise be denied coverage can rest easy in knowing that they are financially protecting their family. Individuals with serious and life threatening illnesses have enough stress without the added burden of worrying how their loved ones will pay for funeral expenses when they are gone.
Advice for Purchasing High Risk Life Insurance
When looking for high risk life insurance, keep the following tips in mind:
Exhaust all other possible avenues of life insurance before applying for a high risk policy. Check for employer sponsored life insurance. Some employers may even be willing to obtain high risk insurance for employees if they are approached about it.
Shop around and do your homework thoroughly. Locating a high risk insurance company often requires much more comparison shopping than traditional life insurance. Check out references and explore all of your options. High risk specialists often only require one medical exam and application. This can be used to your advantage.
Conclusion
High risk life insurance is a way to provide people who would otherwise be uninsurable with the coverage they need. It is often only purchased after all other options have been eliminated. The higher costs and restrictions however, do not cancel out the benefits and sense of peace high risk life insurance can bring to those who would otherwise be without life insurance.
Mortgage protection is an insurance coverage a homeowner can purchase to ensure that their largest financial asset is secure for their family. In the event that they lose their job or are unable to work due to disability their mortgage will be paid by the insurer. This type of coverage is usually procured as an add-on to a term life insurance policy.
You may qualify to purchase your coverage with no physical exam. This Non Medical privilege terminates in 13 months after the close of escrow*. If you act now you can still take advantage of your ‘New Homeowner’ or ‘New Borrower’ status and lock in special low rates for your entire mortgage term without an exam.
Mortgage Protection Insurance has the ability to cover the following:
- Death- Pays off the loan in the event of your passing.
- Disability- Pays your mortgage payments if you become sick or injured and cannot work.
- Unemployment- Makes your premium payments if you become unemployed.
- Return of Premium- Refunds 100% of your premium if the benefits are not used.
Call us toll-free now at 888-786-5839, in five minutes you will be provided a personalized rate quote specific for your family’s needs.
After a brief conversation (or you can email us), we will send you over a proposal with the top 5-10 life plans currently available in your area with complete details for each plan. A 5 minute conversation will provide us with all of the information that we need to show you the top available plans.
Call us today at 888-786-5839.