In looking at term insurance rates online, we’ve begun to see some very low rates for life insurance buyers over age 50 and 60. Anxious to offer the lower rates to our customers, we inquired about quoting these rates on our site. Not surprisingly, these extremely low rates come come with some additional application and underwriting requirements.
One company, a very large mutual company with very good financial ratings, requires that each applicant undergo a recorded (and most likely detailed) telephone interview with a company representative. Another company requires that older applicants seeking these low rates provide (in addition to normal underwriting requirements and medical records), a detailed letter from their personal physician.
We decided to pass on both these products. Over the past 13 years online I’ve discovered that most of 1stQuote.com’s shoppers value their privacy and simply want to get their life insurance as soon as possible. They would prefer to buy their life insurance online with as little conversation and as few extra requirements as possible.
Additionally, it also makes me wonder if these additional requirements are needed because the lower prices being quoted are the result of underwriting standards that are more rigorous, require more information and are perhaps, not as easily met. If that’s the case, the competitors prices that initially seemed to be more expensive may turn out to be a good choice after all.
October 18, 2008 at 11:04 pm |
What you see isn’t always what you get. Following the ongoing statistics, we’ve further discovered that the company requiring telephone interviews has a quite low acceptance rate. That is to say that very few people who initially select this company actually complete and application and receive an offer of coverage from this carrier.