What term life insurance carrier is the best for you?

This is an important question and one that should be looked at before you apply to a carrier for life insurance.

Do you have any special underwriting circumstances?  Medical issues? Dangerous avocations?  Family history? Medications?  Weight considerations?

Based upon various underwriting circumstances, different carriers will underwrite the issues differently.  Therefore, it makes sense to use a company that underwrites for that particular situation the most favorably.   That is what we try and help our clients identify what those companies are going to be.

A great example is Prudential who will give an occasional cigar smoker a non-smoker rating as long as it is admitted on the application.   Most other carriers will give that client a smoker rating, so that is a huge piece of information to know.   Recently we had a client who had lupus and after speaking with all the various carriers we actually found one that would consider her for preferred.   Most all the other carriers would consider her at at table B rating at the best.   This specialized knowledge will help you win as the consumer.

Another factor in picking the right term carrier for you is if they offer a good conversion option.   Does the carrier have a good universal life conversion option or whole life conversion option?   While you may only want term know, it is good to have a permanent option just in case.   The permanent option can be exercised with no proof of insurability.   It allows you to convert all or part of your term to some form of permanent insurance.

If you are a smoker/tobacco user you will automatically pay a substantially higher life premium than a non-smoker/non-tobacco user would.   The good news is that you can get a non-smoker or even preferred rating if you stop using tobacco for at least 12 months.  Most companies will allow you to qualify for this rating at that point.

Obviously, smoking opens the door for all sorts of health risks and the insurance company is very focused on that.  Not only smoking, but any form of tobacco use like a pipe or smokeless.   It also negatively effects return of premium (ROP) policies as much more premium must be paid.  ROP’s tend to be a better fit for clients that are younger and non-tobacco.  If you don’t have insurance, I would certainly not wait until you have reached 12 months with no use.  This is a risky proposition as you could be uninsurable at that point.  I recommend to my clients that are quitting to get the protection in place and then we will re-underwrite once they hit that point.

One company that has a favorable treatment of smokers is John Hancock.  They have a Universal life product that you can qualify for as a non-tobacco user in the first 12 months.  The stipulation is that you must submit to a medical at the end of two years, to prove that you are still tobacco free.  You can visit Hancock online at www.johnhancock.com to read more about this policy type.