Reader’s Question:

Buying life Insurance Online is more convenient for me than going to an agent. What are the disadvantages which I may not be aware of?

Carmen

Chicago IL

Some insurance companies offer policies only thru web while others sell policies by using an agent and using the web. When shopping for insurance using the web, the coverage is cheaper. You can also get your coverage faster. It is also more convenient than buying an insurance by going to an
insurance agency.

However, there are still drawbacks on purchasing life insurance online. There are insurance policies that do not provide a variety of policy features, which limits your options. This is because there are certain types of life insurance policies that are complex and will be more easily explained by an agent. Some of these more complex products are whole life insurance, variable life insurance, and variable universal life
insurance. The features of these products need to be explained further. Insurance products that you will find on the internet are policies that can be easily understood.

According Arthur Fliegelman from Moody’s, online life insurance providers should make their online services user-friendly if they want to increase their share in the market. The
service online has not given insurance clients the ability to do other insurance transactions like paying premiums and changing coverage and beneficiaries.

Reader’s Question:

Will I be able to buy a life insurance policy online when I’m not in good health condition?

Lauren

Tulsa, OK

When you want to invest in life insurance, being in good health condition can help you acquire a lower premium than being otherwise. This is because a person with bad health condition is likely to pose a risk factor of dying sooner. Examples of these conditions are heart diseases and high blood pressure or cholesterol level. When a person is considered as smoker, the life insurance company may see him/her as having a high-risked factor because of smoke-related diseases.

If the medical examination shows that you have a bad health condition, the life insurance company may still offer a standard premium but relatively higher than originally quoted before the medical examination. The life insurance company will send a letter that explains why you are placed in a certain category, which apparently affects your life insurance premium. If you are not happy with the category you were placed in and like to lower your premiums, you can check the result with your doctor. Depending on your health condition result, the doctor may give instructions that can help you better your condition. Ensure that you follow your doctor’s instruction and monitor the progress. After a few months, you can go back to your life insurance company to let them know that you are trying to improve your health condition so that the company may then offer a lower life insurance premium.

Reader’s Question:

Can I buy term life insurance without taking a medical exam? Can I do everything online? I hate getting out of my house here in Mobile, AL.

Sandara

Mobile, AL

Hi there, Sandara. Modern technology offers us a lot of convenience in transactions. You can now do almost anything online! In fact, I just read about a crematorium offering online burials. Of course, it does not literally mean getting buried in the internet but that relatives in far away places can log on to witness the burial of a loved one – no more need to fly home just for the cremation or burial.

Now, let’s go back to your question. In a word, yes. Most insurers in the US, including Mobile, AL, offer the option of a no exam life insurance and provide online quotes regarding this. You can do most of your research online by typing in your zip code on the forms. This gets you access to a variety of free online life insurance quotes from insurers in Mobile, AL. You no longer have to meet with an insurance agent just to find out how much the premiums are going to cost for the type of coverage that you need. Of course, at some point after you have selected a local insurer, you may need to make physical contact (as opposed to the thus far, virtual communication) with your insurer. No need to worry, though, you can probably ask your insurer to send an insurance agent to your home or simply to contact you by phone instead of having to leave your house to visit their offices.

Most insurers do not hesitate to accommodate reasonable requests of potential clients so don’t be afraid to ask for these concessions. After all, this test if your insurer is accommodating also gives an indication of how difficult it would probably be to make a claim in the future.

Reader’s Question:

What should I know before I make a decision whether I take accelerated death benefits or not?

Jan

New York, NY

Accelerated death benefits are few of the benefits that you can add when you have a whole or permanent life insurance. With accelerated death benefits, you can immediately access cash that can fund the accumulated expenses while you are seriously ill. The life insurance company makes it possible for you to collect part of your life insurance death benefits. You should note however that there are certain conditions when the life insurance company pays these benefits.
Before you make a decision on purchasing an accelerated death benefits, you need to consider whether the balance from your policy is sufficient to fund the final expenses for example. Some examples of these final expenses are burial and funeral expenses. Aside from this, you should also consider the impact of this benefit to your Medicaid eligibility since the receipt of payments from this life insurance benefits may be considered part of the income. Lastly, you also need to consider the tax implication although federal Government usually life insurance proceeds are usually exempt life insurance proceeds from tax.

Reader’s Question:

Are the ages of my children important in determining how much life insurance coverage I need? What other things would I consider before I buy my life insurance policy here in to support my wife and kids?

Garrick

Houston, TX

Yes, the ages of your children should be considered when determining how much life insurance Houston, Texas you should purchase. If your children are still young, it means you need more money to look after them in the future. If they are old enough to support themselves, they might not need as much in the event that you pass away.

You have to take into account that if your children are below 10 years old, you would certainly like to ensure that your monthly income is covered 10 years after your death. If they are in their teenage years, you have to be certain that your life insurance Houston, Texas can support your family for five years at a minimum. If your children have already grown up, then you do not need as much life insurance. In case your children are all above the age of 18, you only have to take into account how much your wife needs.

When determining how much life insurance coverage to purchase, you also have to take into account whether your wife has a full-time or part-time job and how much percentage of the bills is paid through your salary. In case you and your wife combine your monthly incomes to pay for your bills, you have to take into account the percentage of the bills that is dependent on your salary. Even if your wife works full-time and has a salary that is equal to what you earn, your family might depend on both your incomes to pay your mortgage, loans, car financing, etc. In figuring out your life insurance needs, you have to calculate what your family spends and find out the amount of money your family needs outside your wife’s income so that they can live on for five years at a minimum.

Reader’s Question:

I’m doing some research on how to find the right life insurance company. There are just too many insurance companies and I know it’s very important that I purchase life insurance coverage from the best life insurance company online. Can you give me some tips?

Becky

Arlington, TX

Hi Becky! I totally understand your fear. One of the important things that you need to consider when buying your life insurance coverage online is how to get it from the best life insurance company. Here’s how:

• Find out if your potential insurer is licensed to conduct business here. This can be done easily by calling your department of insurance hotline number or through visiting their website.
• You should also check your potential insurer’s ratings. There are private companies that offer rating services. They can give you an idea about the status of your potential life insurance company. Remember, these rating are just opinions but they can help you assess your potential insurer. When you do check with rating agencies, make sure that you ask them about the scale that they are using and how they determine their highest rating.
• Check on your potential insurer’s customer service. The right life insurance company must also know how to treat their customers the right way.
• Lastly, Make sure that your potential insurance company has solid financial strength.

Those are four simple things that can help you find the best life insurance company online. And since you are thinking of getting your life insurance online you may want to consider shopping around for your insurance needs. This is one effective way to do your comparative shopping. This can be done easily by visiting the car insurance websites. Good luck on shopping!

Reader’s Question:

Is the Internet a good way to shop for a good life insurance company and policy?

Zidane

Asheville, NC

Yes, the Internet is an excellent way to get life insurance coverage these days. Sure, agents and brokers can still get you a good life insurance policy but shopping for coverage online brings with it a lot of benefits. Here are five reasons why you should consider buying a policy online:

1. You get to Compare More Insurers

There are hundreds of life insurance companies offering policies over the Internet. Using insurance comparison websites (like this one) you can compare offers coming from dozens of carriers quickly and easily.

2. Compare the Latest Deals

Life insurance comparison websites are also a great way to shop for the best rates today. Get a free quote check and compare rates in order to locate the best-priced policies out there.

3. Get More Information about Life Insurance

Another great thing about using insurance comparison portals is that you get direct links to every insurer’s homepage after running a quote check. This makes it easy to get more details about offers, find out more about an insurer’s policies, and even identify discount offers you might be eligible for.

4. Know Which Companies are the Best

Want to know which insurers have the best (or worst) track record of doing business with your state? Go to the Better Business Bureau website to find out. Independent rating agencies like Moodys, A.M. Best, and J.D. Power can tell you which insurers have the best overall score in your state.

5. Save Time and Effort

Compared to spending half a day meeting with a broker or calling different agents for quotes, using insurance comparison websites to get life insurance is far more convenient. It just takes a few minutes to get the information you need and find the policy that best suits your needs.

Reader’s Question:

Hi there. I was wondering if I could try working as an insurance agent and sell life insurance policy. Can you tell me more on how to sell life insurance policy?

Jamal

Annapolis, MD

Certainly, Jamal. But before you hit the road, you need to ask yourself first: Do I really want this job? You see, every job needs to have commitment. More than the pay, you have to love what you are doing. But if you think and feel that you are sure about this, then you need to prepare for it.

First, you need to familiarize yourself with the insurance industry. If you want to sell life insurance policy, try to learn more about life insurance; health; property and liability insurance as well. Then, find an agency that will train you so that you can familiarize yourself with business, the terms used and how to deal with customers. Some agencies let their new insurance representatives learn from the top performing agent for you to learn the effective ways to sell life insurance policy. Be prepared as well to take continuing education classes to obtain certification. Some states require you to complete a pre-licensing educational course to get a state-issued license.

Once you already have an insurance agency, the next step is to build your client list or database. You can make phone calls to potential clients and take advantage of every avenue of client prospecting. Resources like the internet can serve as a perfect medium to reach customers. You can blog, advertise on line, write articles, etc. But every giant leap begins with a simple step, so you can actually sell life insurance policy by starting in your community. If you know a lot of local folks, you can begin your networking through referrals from family members and friends.

Reader’s Question:

How can I check a life insurance company’s financial standing? And if ever that my life insurance provider here in California goes bankrupt, what will happen to my policy?

Irene

Anaheim, CA

You brought up some very interesting questions there! For your first question, you can refer to many companies and rating agencies on the web to run a search on the financial strength of companies falling under a particular industry. We recommend the following: J.D Power, A.M Best Co., Moody’s Investor Services, Weiss Research, Standard & Poor and Duff & Phelps.

Each of the said agency/company will have it’s own way or scheme of rating a particular company so it is best to understand first how they rated (which is not going to be a problem since they will make sure that people will understand the criteria used for the ratings). You should be able to check the financial rating of the particular life insurance carrier that you are interested to in. You can also use life insurance portals like this website to run a life insurance quote to determine which providers are offering the cheapest life insurance rates.

If you had the bad luck of choosing an insurance company that goes out of business in the future (which is rare), other life insurance carriers that are based there in California would have the responsibility of bailing-out, or buying-out the failing company (This practice is also done in all other states). The state’s insurance regulators would do their best to make sure that the affected policyholders would not lose their money. But usually, a larger life insurance corporation would take over on it’s own initiative.

Reader’s Question:

I’m worried that I don’t have enough life insurance coverage here in Illinois for my family, how do I know I have enough?

Christian

Chicago, IL

This is a good question, many people don’t realize that the amount of life insurance coverage they are carrying might not be enough. Life insurance is a long-term financial commitment so it is very important to understand how to know that you have enough coverage for your family there in Illinois. Here’s what you can do to make sure you have enough coverage.

Evaluate Current Financial Needs
On a yearly basis, how much money does the household need? How much are your expenses? Getting a good idea of how much money your family would need in order to have a decent lifestyle just in case something happens to you would be a great start in determining if your current life insurance coverage is enough. This would include any mortgage, debts, or loans you may be paying regularly, as well as bills and daily expenses.

Consider Your Family’s Future Needs
It would be very important to also have some foresight towards your family’s future needs. You know you are paying for enough coverage if your life insurance policy can cover future needs such as college tuition, health care needs, paying-off long-term financial obligations and other monetary responsibilities that you don’t want to leave and burden your family with.

If you feel confident that your life insurance has enough coverage for these needs to sustain the family for at least a few years then you know you have enough life insurance coverage.