There are three main ways a new life insurance policy is priced: Underwritten policies are those where you answer questions on your personal and family medical history and undergo a medical exam arranged by the insurance company; a simplified issue life insurance policy application asks you some medical questions but does not require a medical exam; and a guaranteed issue life insurance policy requires no questions and no medical exam. If you’re healthy, or even if you have a few medical problems, you’re likely to get the best insurance value from an underwritten policy, which is priced specifically for you. Simplified issue and guaranteed issue life insurance policies set a price that assumes risk that you may not have.

Whether you’re buying term life insurance or whole life insurance, you’ll likely be asked to undergo a medical exam. These are typically performed by licensed paramedicals who are often independent contractors hired by the insurance company. They will schedule a visit to your home for the exam and bring all the necessary supplies. The life insurance company foots the bill for the exam.

Health questions

When you submit your completed application for your life insurance policy, your agent or life insurer will call a paramedical service to let them know you require an life insurance medical exam. The service will then contact you to arrange a convenient time and place. You must have the exam or your application won’t be processed.

The life insurer may still request an attending physician’s statement (APS) from your doctor, but you cannot have the life insurance medical exam done by your own physician.

In a basic exam, the paramedical will take your medical history (even though you’ve already supplied it on your application), height and weight, blood pressure, pulse, and blood and urine samples. Beyond that, tests will vary based on your age and policy amount.

For example, MetLife will order an in-home EKG for applicants age 50 and older who are applying for face amounts of at least $1 million. For applicants age 70 and older who are applying for $2 million policies and higher, MetLife forgoes the paramedical exam and requires an exam by an M.D. chosen by MetLife (not your own doctor). The doctor will ask the same medical questions as a paramedical and get your height, weight, blood pressure and pulse, plus do a brief medical exam such as listening to your heart.

Jacki Goldstein, Vice President of Life Underwriting at MetLife, emphasizes that this is not a comprehensive medical exam and does not include sensitive issues, such as a breast exam for women. Goldstein also stresses that the M.D. life insurance exam is not a substitute for good routine medical care.

When age and face amounts get higher, a treadmill test may be required. For example, MetLife requires treadmill tests for applicants who are at least 50 and applying for over $10 million in insurance or applicants 76 and older applying for $5 million or more.

If you’re applying for a low face value policy, you may not even be asked to do a paramedical exam. For example, if you’re age 40 and applying for $50,000 of life insurance, MetLife requires no specific tests or measurements. And for some cases, MetLife asks for a “simple paramed” exam, encompassing the basic measurements and blood and urine work but without the paramedical question list. Guidelines for tests will vary among life insurers.

What are They Looking For?

The life insurance company wants to know if you have any health condition that could shorten your life  which in turn affects the insurer’s risk and your policy premium. When samples of blood and urine are collected, the insurer tests for HIV, cholesterol and related lipids, liver or kidney disorder, diabetes, hepatitis, prostate specific antigen (PSA) and immune disorders. The urine sample might go through routine analysis, plus screening for certain medications, cocaine and other drugs.

Results go to the life insurer’s home office for an underwriter to review. You can usually send a written request if you want a copy of the results, and some insurers will automatically send you a copy of your lab work. If there’s anything of concern about the lab results, you would need to consult your own doctor. Goldstein says, “It’s not uncommon to have abnormalities that don’t mean anything.”

A life insurance underwriter then reviews your application and the results of your medical exam. They decide your life insurance rating, which sets your premium. If there are lingering questions about your health, they may request additional information or medical tests. In the very rare event you are unknowingly quite ill  chronically or terminally  your application would be declined and you would have to look for a high-risk carrier or one that offers guaranteed issue life insurance.

Don’t Let Your Life Insurance Premiums Go Up In Smoke

Smokers pay higher premiums for life insurance because of their higher mortality rate. If any nicotine shows up in your results, you’ll be considered a smoker. The test also detects nicotine from a transdermal patch.

After the Life Insurance Exam Results

If your test results correlate with the classification used for your original life insurance quote, you’ll have no problem getting that rate. If a medical problem is discovered, you might be offered a life insurance policy with a higher premium.

There are two types of risk ratings: “flat” ratings, sometimes called temporary flat extras, and “table” ratings. Underwriters assess health conditions based sophisticated table to determine how to rate certain health conditions.

For instance, an underwriter might apply a flat rating for a short period of time for a person who has just had surgery. On the other hand, a person with high-blood pressure could receive a table rating, which increases premiums by a set amount for the duration of the policy, depending on your medical condition and age. If you disagree with a rating you receive, contact your agent.

Agents can find out if the rating can be revised based on supplemental medical tests to prove you qualify for a better rating.

Even if you end up declining the life insurance policy, your test results become part of your record in MIB Group’s database (formerly the Medical Information Bureau), a clearinghouse of medical information that insurers share which stores information for seven years after you apply for a life, health, disability income, long term care or critical illness insurance policy.

MIB is jointly owned by about 470 insurance companies. So, if you go shopping around for other term or whole life insurance policies, remember that your medical information is accessible to other insurers in the near future. Note that MIB’s database does not contain actual medical records but rather codes that represent medical conditions and tests, hazardous hobbies and even your bad driving record.

If you want to check your MIB file, or dispute information in it, you can obtain one free report annually at www.mib.com.

No Way, You Say?

Life insurance medical exams are really quite routine. But if you want to avoid a medical exam at all costs, you could buy a simplified issue life insurance policy, which requires only that you answer a few medical questions, or a guaranteed issue life insurance policy, which requires neither an exam nor questions.

Keep in mind, though, that if you’re in general good health, or even with a history of some health issues, you’ll likely get a much better rate by buying a life insurance policy that requires a medical exam.

Tips for a Better Life Insurance Medical Exam

Certain health conditions simply cannot be masked, but to obtain the best possible results, here are some recommendations:

-Get a good night’s rest the night before your exam. -Don’t drink for at least eight hours before the exam.

-Avoid coffee, tea or other caffeinated drinks such as soda for at least one hour prior to the exam.

-Limit salt intake and high-cholesterol food 24 hours before your exam.

-Don’t engage in strenuous physical activities 24 hours before the exam.

Source: Exam & Profile Services, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin




By: Amy Danise

American Life Insurance  the most trusted company which has a reputation of about 87 years. This company is one of the globally recognized life insurance companies and it has a number of branches all over the world which has a vast customer line following. American Life Insurance gives various tax benefits to all its insurance policy holders and it also takes care of all your life insurance related policies like retirement insurance policy, wealth management policy, medical insurance, health insurance etc.

 

Life insurance basic terms as you know is an important factor in every person’s life and when it comes to life insurance age is not the main criteria when it comes to get your life insured. American Life Insurance also known as AIG insurance company and majority of Americans has insured themselves with this life insurance company. The market value of this company is high and you can find the companies ratings in the financial books due to their vast financial transactions with other financial institutes.

 

There are two major life insurance policies that this AIG Insurance Company deals with i.e. the Term Life Insurance and Whole Life Insurance. In case of Term Life Insurance the policy taken is for a short period of time and Whole Life Insurance is where you get yourself insured for your whole life.

 

AIG insurance company is one such life insurance company that charters to the needs of the common person. One of the benefits of getting insured in this life insurance company is that you reap a rich harvest of life insurance benefits on all your life insurance policies which no other life insurance company provides you as this company provides you with the benefits when you are still alive.

 

This life insurance company in order to increase its relationship with their vast flowing customer’s have started life insurance online services which has made it easy and convenient for them to get themselves and their family members insured staying within the very comforts of their own house. AIG Insurance is one of the most sought of companies and it is a tough competitor to other life insurance companies.




By: American Life Insurance

A relative has just died. He had a life insurance policy with you listed as the beneficiary. There’s just one problem: the life insurance policy is missing. You have no idea which insurance company wrote it.

If you find the missing life insurance policy in the future, are you still eligible to receive the death benefit?

Hope they paid their insurance bills

If you’re a beneficiary and you find the lost life insurance policy shortly after the insured dies (within six months to a year, for example), claiming the death benefit should be trouble-free.

First, determine if the insured had term or permanent life insurance. If the insured held a term policy, you’ll receive the death benefit if he died before the end of the policy term. If he died after the policy expiration date, you would get nothing.

If the insured had a permanent life policy, you’ll receive the money if the death occurred while the policy was “in force,” meaning all premium payments were made up until the time of death. If the death was a while ago, you’ll receive the benefit with interest from the date of death.

If the life insurance policy lapsed — meaning the insured stopped making premium payments before he died — there’s a chance you might get nothing. When a permanent life insurance policy lapses, most insurance companies switch its status from permanent insurance to one of two options:

“Extended term” — The insurance company uses the cash value of the policy to buy a term life insurance policy for the same death benefit using the cash value of the policy. The death benefit will continue for the longest period the cash value will purchase.

“Reduced paid up” — The insurance company will keep the policy in force permanently, but will reduce the death benefit.

Gerry Brogla, an actuary for State Farm, says in the majority of the cases at his company, the permanent policy continues as extended term if it lapses. At State Farm, extended term is the default option for most permanent policies.

If the policy lapses, and the extended-term period expires before the insured dies, the policy is worthless and the life insurance beneficiary will get nothing. If the insured dies before the extended-term period is up, the beneficiary will receive the death benefit. If the policy lapsed because the insured died (thus ending premium payments and causing the insurance to be placed in extended-term status), the beneficiary will still collect the full death benefit, regardless of when the extended term was up. The beneficiary always needs to supply the insurance company with a death certificate to verify the date of death.

There is no time limit during which a life insurance beneficiary must step forward to collect the money, according to Jack Dolan, spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurers. “If a person shows up 30 years after [the insured's] death, the company still makes good on it,” Dolan assures.

What happens if no one ever reports the death?

If the insured dies and the insurance company does not learn of the death, the policy lapses. Insurance companies will take steps to find out why a policyholder stopped making payments.

When an insurance company stops getting payments, it sends letters to the insured informing him the policy may lapse as a result of unpaid premiums. If the letters go unanswered, the company might initiate a search to find the insured. If that comes up empty, the company will then lapse the policy.

If a beneficiary to a policy never steps forward, it unfortunately means the insured paid money to a policy throughout his life and his beneficiaries never see a penny. This is why its a good idea to make sure beneficiaries are aware of any life insurance policies you have.

If you’re lucky, the state may have your money

In some cases when a beneficiary fails to claim a death benefit for several years, the money is transferred to the state where the insurance policy was purchased under the escheat laws.

If a company knows an insured died and it cannot find the beneficiary, it must turn the full death benefit over to the state comptroller’s department within three to five years of the insured’s death. The money is transferred to the state where the insured bought the policy. The money is considered “unclaimed property” and gets lumped in with dormant bank accounts and uncollected rent deposits. The comptroller’s department maintains a database that lists the names and addresses of lost life insurance beneficiaries.

Many states will try to contact life insurance beneficiaries in an effort to pay the death benefits. In Texas, for example, the names and addresses of the beneficiaries are published annually in each county in the state. In New York, the Web site of the New York State Comptroller’s Office of Unclaimed Funds has an online search to find any unclaimed death benefits owed to you. You can find out the procedures in your state by contacting the office of your state comptroller or treasurer.

Keep in mind your chances of finding the policy with the state are slim. The insurance company has no obligation to hand the money over to the state if it’s unaware the insured died. In most cases, it’s the beneficiary who contacts the insurance company.

Also, the insurer only transfers the money to the state three to five years after it cannot find the beneficiary but knows the insured died. If the state doesn’t have the death benefit, it’s likely the insurer is still looking for the beneficiary or doesn’t know the policyholder has died.

Unclaimed death benefits are rarely transferred to the state. Dave Potter, a spokesman for Hartford Life, says less than 1 percent of his company’s death benefits go unclaimed.

Del Chance, a life insurance claims manager at State Farm, says, “Turning over life policy benefits to an individual state after the death of an insured is extremely rare. State Farm utilizes their own search techniques as well as outside vendors to locate lost beneficiaries in the event of the death of one of our insureds. By and large these procedures have always located the beneficiary.

Tips for making sure your life insurance beneficiaries get your death benefit:

1. Give your beneficiaries your policy information. It can be a difficult and awkward conversation, but an important one.

2. Keep all your financial records (especially your life insurance policies) in one place. Don’t force your beneficiaries to search your house from top to bottom after you die.

Tips for looking for lost life insurance policies:

1. Go through canceled checks or contact your relative’s bank for copies of old checks. Look for checks made out to insurance companies.

2. Ask those who may have known about your relative’s finances. Speak with the relative’s lawyer, banker or accountant. Also contact the relative’s insurance agent.

3. Contact your relative’s past employers. They might know of possible group life insurance. The insured might have also purchased supplemental life insurance through work.

4. Check the mail for a year. Premium bills and policy-status notices are usually sent annually.

5. Look at income tax returns for the past two years. Check for interest income from policies or expenses paid to life insurance companies.

6. Contact the Medical Information Bureau. If your relative bought life insurance fairly recently, there might be a trail of the companies to which he applied. The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) maintains a database that might show if insurers requested your relative’s medical information within the past seven years. Record searches can be requested through the MIB’s Policy Locator Service and cost $75. The MIB says that nearly 30 percent of searches turn up leads.




By: Insure.com