A 64-year-old client recently came to us in frustration. He had just applied for a life insurance policy through another broker (who represented just one company). He was provided a quote for $81.18 per month. Before receiving this quote, he was not asked about his health issues.
His need was simple, a term 10 for $50,000 to cover the remaining 10 years of his mortgage. He knew his wife could not qualify for a policy due to illness but felt that he could.
He was shocked when the agent reported that due to his medical issue, he now needed to pay a 50% surcharge (the agent had not checked for this possibility ahead of time). The new monthly rate was now $118.00 per month, which was way beyond his budget.
He came to us in frustration and quite upset, and asked what we could do for him. We were able to show him a much better solution. First, we found a policy that was identical to the one he was offered for only $54.59 per month. We then did an anonymous preliminary inquiry and discovered that a 50% rating was unavoidable. Fortunately, the rating had only increased the premium to $72.32 per month, which was lower than the other company’s starting price. He was very pleased with this.
The moral of this story is the importance of dealing with experienced, knowledgeable brokers who can think outside the box, and achieve the ultimate goal of providing coverage within the allotted budget.
