How to Protect Your Family with a Short and Easy Phone Call
15 minutes.
That’s all.
A quarter of an hour.
Doesn’t seem like a long time, does it?
In fact, you can get a lot done in 15 minutes.
You can walk around the block, take a smoke break at work, and protect your family.
Wait, protect your family?
That’s right! That quarter hour is perfect for buying life insurance.
You don’t need to go to an office. You don’t even need to get in the car.
All you have to do is pick up the phone for a short and easy conversation.
Here is what to expect with this breeze of a phone call that could mean the difference between your family having abundance or nothing at all after you pass.
Protect your family in as little as 15 minutes with a simple phone call. Get a quote today and speak with a dedicated life agent.
Life Insurance from Hello to Goodbye
Talking with a life insurance agent sounds more grueling than it is.
Honest.
Most people picture a high-pressure salesperson pushing the need to buy, buy, buy.
The truth is that today’s life insurance salespeople are advisors.
The good ones are, anyway.
NOTE: If you ever deal with a pushy agent or one that gives you the ick, hang up the phone and walk away.
Life brokers that value transparency and ethics, like all the agents at Little Family Security, are only interested in providing you with options.
We then make it easy to get life insurance if those options make sense.
That is the key. The options must make sense before we move forward.
Also, you are never obligated to buy.
If the options don’t make sense, you and the agent can politely go your separate ways.
Now that we’ve clarified a few things, here is what to expect with the typical life insurance phone call.
Let’s Get You Approved
The typical phone call with a life agent has one objective: To get you approved for life insurance.
As life insurance producers, we unfortunately do not make the decision on whether to:
Approve you for life insurance coverage
Or deny you
Us agents can only gather enough information to advise you on the best policy.
The information you provide helps us fill out the life insurance application.
Most of today’s life insurance carriers allow for electronic applications or e-apps.
These digital documents get filled out by your agent with you on the phone.
The application only takes a few minutes and provides instant approvals in most cases.
Only by submitting the appplication to the life carrier can we determine if you are approved or denied.
This is the entire basis for the appointment. The agent needs to:
Gather the necessary information
Listen to your needs
Point you in the direction of the best policy
Fill out the e-app
Get You Approved (Hopefully)
You now have a better idea of how the quick conversation between you and your agent will be structured.
Let’s go over some of the questions your agent may ask you during the appointment.
When Were You Born & How’s Your Health?
Life insurance is not a cookie-cutter product.
Everyone is different.
To provide you with an accurate life insurance quote, your agent needs to ask about your age and health.
After the initial greeting and you’ve gotten down to business, the agent will typically ask:
How old are you?
Do you smoke, chew tobacco or vape?
What medications are you taking?
Are there any medications you decided not to take or that your doctor took you off of?
Have you ever had a heart attack, stroke or cancer?
How tall are you and what is your current weight?
By inquiring about these details, the agent can match you with the best policy to suit your needs.
What is the Best Policy?
The ideal life policy the one that will provide your family with enough coverage at a premium price you can easily afford.
For instance, a 35-year-old homeowner with no health problems and no medications may qualify for an abundance of coverage for a low premium cost.
That’s because life carriers look at clients like this as low-risk.
An older widow with a previous heart attack and stroke requires a bit more homework on the agent’s behalf to identify an appropriate policy fit.
However, even if you've blown out more than your share of birthday candles. And your medical file is as thick as your wrist, you can still get life insurance coverage.
It’s your life insurance agent’s job to match you with the best policy fit. That policy is out there. You both have to find it together.
It Pays to be Honest in Both Money & Time
Oh, one very important thing.
When it comes to answering your agent’s questions, please tell the truth.
Fibbing about medications, a disease diagnosis or your smoking status will only harm your chances for life insurance approval.
Today’s life carriers often don’t require a medical exam to apply for life insurance coverage.
No exam is needed because the life carriers will check your application data against a national database called the MIB (Medical Information Bureau).
The MIB report lists medications, diagnoses, hospital stays, rehabilitation center admissions, smoking status, and other details going back up to ten years.
Tell even the whitest of lies on your application and the life carrier will know.
You’ll either be denied coverage or your family’s claim may be denied later on.
Don’t risk it.
Be forthcoming with your life insurance agent and know that the information is only used to help you, not harm you in any way.
We don’t judge, either, just so you know.
Who's Your Benny?
At some point during the appointment, the agent will ask about your life insurance beneficiary.
Your beneficiary (or Benny) is the person you want the death benefit transferred to when you pass.
The primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) will get the funds first.
The contingent beneficiary is who the death benefit will roll over to if you and the primary beneficiary pass away at the same time.
Choose your beneficiary wisely. Most often, this is the person who:
Will pay for your burial/cremation and funeral costs
Needs help covering mortgage payments and other bills after you pass
Would struggle without your income coming in regularly
Make sure you discuss your life coverage with your beneficiary to adequately plan for the unexpected.
You’ll also want to give your Benny the name of your agent to make the life insurance claims process as easy as possible when the time comes.
How to Gauge Life Insurance Options
When you are presented with options by your life agent, consider these two questions carefully:
Does this amount fit in my budget?
Would this policy give me enough coverage to keep my family protected?
When it comes to the premium cost, choose an amount that won’t stretch you thin in the event of financial emergencies.
Life insurance should sit in the background. You feel secure that you have it, but you should never stress over paying for it.
As for the coverage amount, think of your family after you’ve passed away.
What needs will they have?
What stressors will your life policy alleviate, helping those you care for sleep soundly at night?
Of course we all want million dollar life insurance policies.
But it all comes down to what you can afford.
Older clients with health issues may be offered less coverage than someone young and in tip-top shape.
The older you get, the more expensive coverage also becomes.
But here’s the thing.
Even a small policy - $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 can be a Godsend when your family needs it most.
Going Through the Application
Once you’ve chosen an option that aligns with your budget and goals, the next step is to complete a life insurance application.
The typical e-app takes around six to ten minutes, tops.
You cannot complete an application on your own. Your life insurance agent must log into the carrier portal and fill-out the application on your behalf.
To fill out the application, the agent will ask for your:
Date of birth
Social security number (this allows the life carrier to identify you and check your medical records)
Address and email address (for correspondence and to send the policy packet)
Health questions such as, “Are you in a wheelchair?” or “Have you ever diagnosed with a terminal illness?”
Bank account details (for setting up the auto-draft so you don’t have to worry about the premium payment)
Preferred draft-date
Again, be as forthcoming as possible to improve your chances of the application getting approved.
Many life insurance carriers offer instant approvals on simplified issue life products. Get a quote today and see how easy it is to get life insurance.
Get an Instant Approval (in Most Cases)
Once the application is submitted to the carrier, one of three things will occur. The application will either:
Be approved on the spot
Go to underwriting for additional checks by the carrier
Come up denied
Instant Approval
An instant approval means just that. Once the payment comes out of your account, the policy will be issued, and you’ll offiically be covered by life insurance.
Underwriting
Going to underwriting is normal in some cases.
Don’t assume something is bad just because you didn’t get an instant approval.
Sometimes the information on your MIB report conflicts with information on the application, and a human is needed to look over the information.
Sometimes the underwriter working at the insurance company will ask for one or more requirements.
For instance, you may need to sign an authorization to have the Veterans Affairs office release your medical records if you’re a United States veteran.
If you didn’t get an instant approval, your life insurance agent will inform you of your approval or the need for requirements within one to three days of submitting the application.
Then there’s the third thing that could occur after submitting the application.
What if You Are Denied Life Insurance Coverage?
Denials for life insurance happen for several of reasons.
Based on your prescription and medical history, for whatever reason the carrier likely deems you too high-risk.
Or mabye you’ve applied for coverage from the same company too many times.
Not to worry.
If you are denied for life insurance coverage, your life agent only needs to pivot.
Pivoting to another life insurance carrier or life product is easy when working with a life insurance broker.
Here’s why.
Captive agents who work with one insurance company only have so many products to go around.
Get denied for coverage by a captive and the agent may shrug and apologize before telling you to go elsewhere.
A broker, on the other hand, can pivot to another carrier, sometimes without you knowing.
Before you know it, you’re approved for coverage.
A life insurance broker gives you the best chance of being able to relax knowing you protected your family with a suitable life product.
Do You Have 15 Minutes? A Mere Quarter Hour Could Change Your Family’s Life
In the time it takes for a quick stroll or smoke break, you could be protecting your family by calling a dedicated life insurance broker at Little Family Security.
Our friendly agents can help you secure the coverage you want at a price you can afford. The time to wait is over. Get a free quote today and start the process of protecting those who matter most.
