When you buy an individual policy, you choose the company, plan, benefits and features that are right for you and your family. You can buy the policy through the same agent or representative of the company that sold you the property and liability insurance for your home, auto or business. And even if you don't qualify for any discounts by buying your life or other insurance from the same agent, working with one advisor for all of your insurance needs can make your financial life much easier.
. If you purchase it through one of them, the price of the premium includes a commission, which in English is known as a load or “surcharge”. The commission compensates the agent or broker for their time in advising you on the amount and type of life insurance to buy, for facilitating the application process, and for any additional services you will need in the future to maintain the policy. up-to-date (such as changing your beneficiary, arranging policy loans, or coordinating your financial plans with your attorney or accountant). There are two other ways to buy an individual life insurance policy. In Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York, you can buy one through a bank or savings bank. Or you can buy a policy directly from the insurance company or through a financial advisor who is not directly related to the insurer, who receives no commission from the insurer and works with you under a direct payment arrangement for services rendered, which which is known in English as a fee-only counselor. In the case of this arrangement with your financial advisor, the policy is known as a no-load or low-load policy. Although there is no sales commission in these policies, the insurer will charge you within the premium amount costs to cover other expenses such as marketing, processing the application and subsequent services. Finding an insurance company that will sell you a no load policy is not easy; Typing no load life insurance into Internet search pages will in many cases lead you to an agent or broker.
Credit Life Insurance Credit cards and lending institutions may offer life insurance to pay off your loan balance in the event of your death. Generally, this is done in two ways: As part of the loan without extra charges. In this case, the cost of life insurance is assumed or paid by the lender, who includes it in the interest rate or financing charges. If you have this type of credit life insurance, you do not need separate life insurance to pay off the loan in the event of your death. As an additional option and paying an extra charge. In this case, you could generally decline this optional coverage, because you have other life insurance (group or individual) that can be used to pay off the loan in full in the event of your death. If you are under 50 and have no other insurance that your beneficiaries could pay off this loan with, consider purchasing regular individual life insurance even if you only need it for this purpose, as the rates could probably be better. If you're older than 50 (or younger, but have health problems), and if you don't have other life insurance for this purpose, the credit life insurance option may be cheaper than individual life insurance. How to select a life insurance company There are approximately one thousand life insurance companies that offer their products in the United States, although many are members of the Having separate companies allows a group to offer its products through different distribution channels to more efficiently meet the requirements regulated by each particular state, or to achieve other organizational goals. In total, it is estimated that there are about three hundred insurance consortiums. Also, not all groups have a company licensed to operate in every state. As a general rule, you should buy insurance from a company that is licensed in your state, because that way you can count on your state insurance department to help you if you have a problem. And if the insurance company becomes insolvent, your state's life insurance guaranty funds will help only those insured by companies licensed in your state. To find out which insurers are licensed in any state, contact your state insurance department.
Other things to consider when selecting a life insurance company The product. Most companies offer a wide range of policies and products, so try to choose the one that offers the ones that meet your needs. The identity. Life insurance company names can be confusing, and different companies can have similar names and often use words that suggest: Financial solidity: as Guarantee (Guaranty), Reserve (Reserve) or Security (Security). Financial sophistication: as Bankers (Bankers), Finance (Financial) or Investors (Investors). Maturity: as Primer (First), Pioneer (Pioneer) or Antiguo (Old). Reliability: as Guarantee (Assurance), Reliable (Reliable) or Investment Fund (Trust). Impartiality: as Beneficial (Beneficial), Equitable (Equitable), Gente (People). Range of operations: such as Continental, National or International. Government: such as American, Capital or Republic. Names of well-known and respectable Americans: like Jefferson, Franklin or Lincoln. Make sure you know the full name, address, and affiliation (if any) of any company you're considering. Financial strength. Life insurance is a long-term agreement. Insureds do not have a guarantee with life insurance similar to that provided by bank accounts through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Select a company that has been financially strong for several years, using the qualification indexes that provided by the different independent agencies. Market ethics. Some life insurance companies adhere to the principles and codes of conduct of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes ethical conduct for the marketing of life insurance.
advice and services. For many people, life insurance is a complex and strange product, so it helps to deal with a representative who you can communicate with directly and who is attentive to your needs. This should be connected to the selection of a life insurance company, because some agents represent only one or very few life insurance companies. The claims. You should check the national complaints database to see if there is any information on complaints against the specific company you are considering hiring. Also, your state's insurance department may be able to tell you if the agency you're thinking of doing business with has a lot of customer complaints about its service, in proportion to the number of policies sold. Premium and cost. Based on the benefits provided at the time of death and the type of insurance (such as term insurance), the premium can vary widely among insurers, either because some offer certain attributes that others do not, or because some charge more than others for the same coverage. So the first step in comparing policies is to make sure you're comparing similar plans based on: Your age. The type of policy and its characteristics. The amount of insurance you are purchasing. The premium payable by the policy is not the same as the cost of the portion protected by the policy. One policy may cost a higher premium, but also offer more benefits than another (for example, it may pay dividends). Or both might promise dividends, but one policy might offer them more or more often. In each case, the policy with the higher premium may have a lower cost of protection. How can you find out what the cost of a policy is? Companies should tell you what their Net Payment Cost Index is and their Surrender Cost Index. Use the Surrender Cost Index if you're thinking of having the insurance only for a specific period of time; use the Net Payment Cost Index if you expect to keep the policy indefinitely. Generally, the lower the cost rate, the better it is for you.