When applying for a large life insurance case, it all comes down to underwriting. It’s part science, part gut feeling, but the underwriter can’t consider all the facts unless you provide them.
A cover letter can be the key to getting insurance issued. It helps differentiate your case while providing underlying details around financial needs, medical history and lifestyle.
This is your opportunity to influence the underwriter and explain why your client is a good risk to insure. A good cover letter will:
EXPLAIN THE NEED
What is the purpose(s) for the requested insurance coverage? Paint a clear picture and be detailed.
JUSTIFY THE AMOUNT
How was the amount of coverage determined? Explain your process and substantiate it.
EXPLORE FINANCIAL DETAILS
How will the policy be funded? Communicating the complete financial picture is KEY to getting a policy issued and some cases may involve full financial statements.
DISCLOSE EXISTING COVERAGE
What other in-force and applied-for insurance exists? Include clear ownership and beneficiary designations, amounts, and information on any policies that will be replaced.
VALIDATE PRODUCT SELECTION
Why did you choose this product? Set the expectation of the quoted rate class and why you chose it.
REVEAL UNDERWRITING CONSIDERATIONS
What critical lifestyle factors exist? Share the underlying facts up front – favorable or not. It’s better to form an opinion, rather than change the opinion of an underwriter. Include details such as exercise, diet, preventative medical care, and longevity of parents, as well as non-medical items such as foreign travel and avocations.
CREATE A CONNECTION
What personal details are relevant? Establish your relationship and don’t be afraid to include commentary on key facts. Make it known this is a good risk to insure.
When reviewing your letter, it’s important to think like an underwriter. Ask these questions one last time:
If the insurance is related to a business, the letter needs to extend beyond the basics, including tax forms, an overview of ownership/beneficiary structure, detailed financials and more.
Your Ash Brokerage underwriting and case management teams are partners in client advocacy. Each of us has unique roles and talents. But, we’re here for the same reason: We’re in the business of caring.
Every day, we show up and get to work, fighting for your clients. When advisors need strategic problem solvers who go beyond what’s expected, time after time, we’re their first call.
Highly trained and experienced in both medical and non-medical underwriting challenges, our team has a diverse insurance industry background, from brokerage to home office, including an on-staff medical director, a registered nurse and strong relationships with the underwriting teams at insurance carriers.
Give us a try on your next case and see why we don't just process cases - we compete to win.
This post covers a new tool on the Ash Producer Portal. Log in now to try it for yourself!
Fluidless, accelerated, express, simplified – no matter the words you use, one thing is certain: More and more insurance companies are offering streamlined underwriting processes.
How do you keep track of them all? How do you know if your clients qualify? Well, we figured it out – so you don’t have to.
Ash Brokerage is proud to introduce the Fluidless Underwriting Filter. We’ve taken the programs and requirements from leading carriers and put them into one easy-to-use tool. In just seconds, you can see if your client qualifies for expedited underwriting.
We see far too many clients going through full underwriting when it’s just not needed. If your clients don’t have major medical issues, there’s a good chance they could qualify for one of these programs – and get insurance in days, not months. Why wouldn’t you check?! You’ll potentially save your clients from the hassle of an exam, and you’ll save your business valuable cycle time.
There are no exams. No samples. No hassle. No kidding!
Have questions? Or clients who don’t qualify for fluidless options? We’re here for you! No matter the challenges of your case, our underwriting team is committed to the mission of insuring each client you bring our way. Highly trained and experienced in both medical and non-medical underwriting, we’re your advocates every step of the way.
Access requires logging in to the Ash Brokerage Producer Portal. If you have a password, click here to enter your username and password, and you'll be taken directly to the Filter.
Try It Now
If you have single sign-on, connect through your company page as usual, then click the banner on the homepage (or click Fluidless Underwriting Filter from the Quotes menu).
Nowadays, we have an “awareness month” for just about anything. Well, May is no exception. In our industry, May is known as Disability Insurance Awareness Month. Everyone in the business is out there focusing on getting the word out in May. It gets me to wonder, why are we not talking about disability insurance every month?
For some, disability insurance is their primary business, but those advisors are few and far between. A typical advisor may discuss disability insurance as a reactive topic. But, as a wise man once said, if your wait for a client to bring up their need for disability insurance, it's too late. They're probably already uninsurable.
As experts, we have a responsibility to educate the millions of workers in this country on not just their need, but the flip-side of that coin … What would their life look like without income protection? That visual is quite disconcerting.
I’m a believer in real-life stories resonating most with people. Just this morning, I was searching for content to post on a social networking site, and I came across a video that made me pause.* Here was this young guy, just starting his professional career, otherwise healthy, and BAM! While he was crossing the street, he was hit by a drunk driver. Thankfully, he survived, but the repercussions were catastrophic. He spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital, had endless amounts of rehab, and is still not fully recovered. He has residual effects from the accident, and even though he is mostly recovered, he is still unable to work.
Thankfully, this young person understood the importance of individual disability insurance and had purchased policies while he was healthy. Unfortunately, he is in the minority. Having this coverage has allowed him to focus more on his recovery, and not so much on the strain of the unexpected accident.
People don't believe they will become disabled. It’s an inherent flaw in each of us. We see other people have medical issues, or get into catastrophic and tragic accidents, but we will refuse to see that we are one action away – one car ride, one cross of a busy street, one fall from a ladder, one major diagnosis – from something happening to us.
Talk about disability insurance. All year long. Talk about it with each of your clients who are working full-time and rely on their paycheck. Ask the tough questions – you may uncover more ways you can help your friends, family and clients. Disability insurance is much more than adding a revenue stream to your portfolio. It’s more than premium. It’s about protecting your client’s most valuable asset – their ability to earn a paycheck.
Meghan Cormany, sales development specialist for disability insurance, helps provide sales concepts and solutions to advisors, so they may add value and protection to their clients. Meghan has been an integral part of the Ash Brokerage DI team since 2008 and is a leader in disability sales.
*Life Happens Video: https://lifehappenspro.org/resources/1888/preview?token=679077dc8372f71a60d56886ab060d54
© 2018 Ash Brokerage LLC.