Life Insurance

Advertising for Life insurance is becoming more common.  This is a good thing for all of us, but it leads clients down a confusing path.  Are online life insurance plans less expensive?   The answer is no.  Online life insurance quotes are the same pricing that any independent life insurance agent can offer.  There is not special discount for online agents, the pricing for life insurance products are set and approved by State insurance departments.  But, can a certain national online life insurance retailer really help you “save up to 70% on your term life policy…”  The answer to this question, is more difficult.  They may be able to save you 70%, but what are they comparing it to?  All term life insurance companies have different products, with different features.  Saying they are saving you 70% off term insurance, is the same as me selling a Hyundai and saying it is […]

A common question asked by many independent life insurance agents is “What is AML?”  AML stands for Anti-Money Laundering training, a requirement by the U.S. Treasury department.  The Treasury department defines money laundering as the following: “Money laundering generally refers to financial transactions in which criminals, including terrorist organizations, attempt to disguise the proceeds, sources or nature of their illicit activities. Money laundering facilitates a broad range of serious underlying criminal offenses and ultimately threatens the integrity of the financial system.” In order to sell any life insurance products that contain a “cash value component,” all Life insurance producers are required to complete Anti-Money Laundering training.  Since life carrier appointments are not product specific, even if you only sell term life insurance, if the insurance carrier offers a “cash value” product, you will be required to take the AML training. To keep your certificate current, AML training is required every […]

So your client is ready to apply for life insurance.  Have you discussed the application options with them?  Paper applications, e-applications, drop tickets?  There are several options, though not all are available from each carrier.  Not only that, but drop ticket applications vary considerably in the initial questions that are asked by you the agent, and the length of time the telephone interview will take. So the good news is that your comfortable with your options now, the bad news is that not all options are available from every carrier. In fact there are only a few that offer all three options. Here is a list of a few Life insurance carriers and their application options:   Depending on your point of view, if you are a P&C agent or a Carrier life agent, you will either love or hate drop ticket applications.  Regardless, these types of applications are not […]