Insurance World

WHY WOULD I BUY LIFE INSURANCE OVER THE TELEPHONE?
Buying life insurance will never be exciting; however, it is becoming much easier and more convenient now that many companies are willing to allow their lowest cost products to be sold over the telephone. As a consumer you have the opportunity to deal with a real, and normally knowledgeable, representative who can provide you rates and information within minutes.

There is no longer the need to have an agent come to your home and spend hours trying to sell you something that won’t fit into your budget. If you choose an agency that uses software designed to compare most the products available in your state, you will combine convenience with the lowest possible rate you are eligible for.

IS IT SAFE?
Yes, if you use common sense.

Applying for life insurance requires you to provide sensitive and personal information to the insurance company that will issue your policy. Use common sense in deciding with whom you share your Social Security Number, Date of Birth, and Driver’s License Number with.

Here are some indicators that you are dealing with professionals:

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Have the people you have spoken with acted in a knowledgeable and professional manner?
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Have they asked you about your medical and personal habits history before they quoted you a rate?
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Have they clearly explained the application process and the procedures you must follow to obtain a policy at or near the rate you were quoted?
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Have they clearly explained that your policy may not pay a claim if you do not provide accurate answers on the application?

If the answer to all of the questions above is yes, then you have reason to be confident that you have made the right choice; however, if you have any lingering doubts there are a few more qualifiers you can look for:

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Have you been instructed to make your check payable to the insurance company and NOT the agent or agency?
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Have you contacted your state insurance department to confirm that the insurance company (NOT the agent or agency) is licensed to do business in your state?
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How did you find this company? Did they send you something in the mail; did you find their web site?

Again, if the answers are yes then you have found a winner. Let’s face it: Very few crooks act like professionals.

HOW DO I FIND INSURANCE OVER THE TELEPHONE?
The internet has become the choice of many for fast and easy information. Type “Insurance by Telephone” or similar key words in the search field of your Internet Browser and you will get many pages of links to chose from. Look for toll free or other telephone numbers and begin calling. Ignore the sites that have only forms to submit your information. Most of them will have insurance calling you in an attempt to set up a visit to your home.

HOW DO I GET THE BEST RATE?
Finding the lowest rate that you qualify for is more about what you shouldn’t do than what you should. Here is a list of things you should not do if you want to pay the lowest arte you are eligible for:

DO NOT provide false information about your health or personal habits during the quote or application process. Life and disability insurance rates are based on your actual health and personal habits, not on what you would like them to be. State insurance regulations require insurance companies to issue a policy at the rate you qualify for. There are no exceptions! This means you cannot negotiate, ask for a discount, or provide false information in the hope that you will get a better rate. Be honest during the process and you will receive the best rate offered by that company.

DO NOT deal with any agency that does not use rate comparison software to develop a quote. This new technology allows for the comparison of literally hundreds of different companies in order to provide you the best rate you are eligible for as long as you answer each qualifying question as accurately as possible. For example: five (5) pounds of weight might make the difference whether Company A or Company B is the cheapest. Give the representative the truth and they will find you the lowest rate.

DO NOT believe you are entitled to, or will receive, a discount or special price from anyone. Any licensed agent making such an offer is violating state insurance law. YOU ARE NOT AN EXCEPTION! Consider this: normally only greedy people get conned.

DO NOT delude yourself into thinking that a referral from your CPA, broker, lawyer, tax person, or a friend will get you the lowest rate. Remember, the object is to pay the lowest rate, not subsidize someone’s drinking buddy. As previously stated, there are no discounts. You will have to decide whether to do business with anyone that considers violating the law to be an acceptable business practice. If you want to do business with a referral, use the qualifiers detailed earlier in this article. If the referred agent passes those standards, you should receive a competitive quote.

SUMMARY
It is now possible to make an unpleasant task easier and less expensive. If you combine the tools listed above and a little common sense, you have reason to be confident that you have paid the lowest rate you are eligible for.

At first glance, an indemnity health insurance plan may seem to hand policy holders the short end of the stick. After all, this type of insurance tends to pay less toward health care claims than a managed-care plan. Additionally, the policy holder generally pays more out-of-pocket and has to deal with more paperwork when it comes time to file a claim.

However, for a great number of people, indemnity is the undeniable way to go. Individuals may choose indemnity plans because they have favored health care providers who are not part of a managed-care network, or because they travel a lot and need the flexibility to seek care away from home, or for any number of other reasons. What makes an indemnity plan the right choice is different from one consumer to the next.

What primarily separates an indemnity plan from a managed-care plan is the presence or absence of a provider network. A managed-care plan comes with a network of health care providers who have arranged with the insurance company to provide their services at an agreed-upon rate. This allows the insurance company to know how much to expect to pay for any given service. It also allows the provider to know to some extent which services will be covered and the corresponding level of coverage. Because the insurance company has made prior arrangements with these providers, paperwork can be filed directly between the provider and the insurance company. The insurance company pays the provider directly for care, requiring the policy holder to pay only a small percentage of coinsurance or minimal co-pay amount out-of-pocket.

With an indemnity plan, on the other hand, there is no network of pre-approved providers. This means the insurance company is taking a greater risk when it comes to a policy holder’s choices of health care providers. The policy holder may choose a provider that charges more than the insurance company expected to pay for a particular service.

For this and other reasons, insurance companies offering indemnity plans give themselves some protection from the choices their policy holders may make. They typically charge a higher annual deductible that must be met before coverage begins. They often require policy holders to pay the full cost for the service out-of-pocket and then to file the paperwork of the claim themselves to seek reimbursement for the care. This protects the insurance company from paying for services that are not covered under their plans and also from paying more than what is reasonable for the care their policy holders are claiming. The insurance company may determine a reasonable charge for a service by referring to a table of UCR (usual, customary, and reasonable) figures determined by the average cost billed by providers in a particular area.

An indemnity plan may sound like a poor choice for a consumer to make, but for the reasons mentioned earlier as well as others, an indemnity plan can be the best choice for some consumers. An indemnity plan does not require its policy holders to choose a primary care physician (PCP) or obtain a referral to receive care. In this way, it’s one of the easiest plans to use. Policy holders seek their health care whenever and from whomever they choose.

Deciding between an indemnity and a managed-care plan is an individual choice. Like all decisions pertaining to health care and health insurance, the options should be thoroughly researched and carefully considered. Under the right circumstances, an indemnity plan can offer the greatest flexibility in obtaining health care and provide its policy holders the opportunity to be in maximum control of their health care choices.