Insurance World

Once upon a time, the only way to get a quality term life insurance policy was to sit down with an agent, go through all your options and decide on a policy. From that point forward, your agent would come by every month to pick up your premium or you would mail it in to your provider.

Thanks to the advent of Internet, the process of setting up an insurance policy is very different than it was for your grandparents, or even your parents. These days, you can evaluate, choose and pay for your term life insurance online.

Purchasing term life insurance online is not a complicated process, and is something you can do at your leisure. Here’s a few tips to help you buy term life insurance online.

First, it is important to understand that there are many companies that offer term life insurance online. Rates will vary based on a number of different factors, such as age and location. The fastest way to get an idea of how many companies offer term insurance online is to do an Internet search, using a keyphrase such as “term life insurance online.” Using the searches as your guide, develop a list of eight to ten companies that see term life insurance online and examine each one of them closer.

As you look at each of these companies that sell term life insurance online, look very closely at the terms, the amount of coverage, the frequency and amount of the premiums. Another key consideration in evaluating term life insurance online is looking closely at the mode of payment. Will you be able to pay for your term life insurance online through a credit card or by a deduction from your checking account? Is it possible to set up your payments on a recurring basis, or will you have to need to remember to initiate a payment each time a premium is due? Most companies that sell term life insurance online will have a “frequently asked questions” section that will address specifically the types of payment options available.

After checking out your options for term life insurance online and narrowing your list of prospective carriers, begin to do a little research on the three companies that you feel are the best fit for your situation. Use the power of the Internet to locate ratings on the companies. How well do they do with paying? Can you find complaints about how they do business? What type of rating do they have in the industry? Remember with so many companies selling term life insurance online, it is important they you select a company that will be there for you and do so in a professional manner.

One you have done your homework in evaluating the various companies that offer term life insurance online, it is time to make contact with them. In most cases, this can be accomplished by sending a message through an email page on the company’s website, or emailing an email address provided on the site, or by using an toll free number provided by the company. It is important to remember that even though you are buying term life insurance online, and even may plan on paying your premiums in the same manner, that you always be able to get through to a human being. Like most brick and mortar insurance agencies, online agencies understand this and provide customer service to any of their clients who have purchased term life insurance online. Make those calls and ask some basic questions to each of the agents who respond to your queries. If they seem anxious to be finished with you, then you know this is not an agency that places an emphasis on customer care. If the agent is more than happy to speak with you about their term life insurance online offerings, then you have a pretty good chance of being able to get help in the future.

The Internet is a great place to do your shopping, including the purchase of term life insurance online. With a little investigation, you can find the company that is the perfect fit for you and your situation.

Most of the seven million people covered by health insurance in the UK have a policy provided by their company. As such it is a useful benefit, but many of us assume that it will cover any kind of health issue and this is definitely not the case. The insurers exclude a wide variety of possible claims, and this article will explain those in detail.

Health insurance has a very specific purpose – to get people suffering from short-term, curable health problems straight through to a consultant and to receive top quality private care in top speed time. Essentially, it’s about jumping the lengthy NHS queues. However, there are many health problems that don’t fit into this narrow band, and as such are not covered by a health insurance policy.

Be aware however that every policy is different, and only be reading your own policy documents will you be able to find out exactly what you are covered for. This article will give you the knowledge you need to understand your policy better.

Defining ‘ Chronic’

Illnesses and conditions etc fall into two main categories: ‘acute’ and ‘chronic’. Short-term illnesses that can be fixed and cured are called ‘acute’, for example if you fell and broke your arm, this would be classed as acute. If, however, your problem is either incurable or deemed to be a long-term issue, then it will be classed as ‘chronic’ and subsequently you will not be able to make a claim.

What counts as ‘acute’ and what counts as ‘chronic’ is a hotly disputed issue between insurance companies and their customers. Diabetes and asthma are acknowledged as chronic, long-term conditions that cannot be cured.

The issues become more difficult with certain types of cancer. It often happens that the cancer is considered to be treatable at first, and then the diagnosis is changed at a later time to incurable. In this case, you would only be covered as long as the cancer was diagnosed curable. If the prognosis changes you will lose your cover. Insurance companies are allowed to reclassify an illness from acute to chronic at any time.

What about the long-term
If you need long-term treatment then you’re out of luck. However insurers have different ideas on what constitutes long-term, you may be covered for 10 months or up to a year, but it probably won’t be for any longer than that. Check your policy for details.

Does preventative medicine count?
Health insurance cannot be used to pay for preventative treatment, although that is another matter of contention. For example, a drug called ‘Herceptin’ can be used to help women who have ‘HER2′, a virulent form of breast cancer. The drug has helped reduce the risk of the cancer returning by an average of 50%. Many would call this an essential treatment, but some insurers call it preventative. Legal and General and Axa PPP will not pay for this treatment, however BUPA, Standard Life Healthcare, Norwich Union and WPA will.

Drugs not yet available on the NHS
You might think that it doesn’t matter if the drug is available on the NHS, but it relates to the system of drug approval in England and Wales. Before a drug can be used in the NHS, it must be approved by The Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. The problem is, if it’s not approved, the insurance company won’t allow you to be treated with it. Huge delays affect the introduction of new drugs into the NHS because The Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence must first ascertain if the benefits of the drug justify the financial costs of adding it to the NHS treatments. As a result, the drug you need may not be approved, and if so, it won’t be covered.

Aware of this problem. the Financial Ombudsman issued a compromise which stipulates if the insurer won’t cover ‘experimental treatments’, then it should cover the cost of the approved conventional treatment. The policyholder is then free to undergo the experimental treatment and pay the surplus if it’s more expensive.

Pre-existing conditions

A ‘pre-existing condition’ describes a condition or illness that you suffered from before starting your health insurance policy. You will have to provide details of all these when you fill out your application form. That way the insurer is aware of what they can exclude from your policy. Be sure to be truthful in the application form as the insurer can easily contact your doctor to see your medical history, and they often do – having requested your approval first. They will also sometimes ask people to undergo a medical examination.

What counts as a pre-existing condition is also a potentially sore subject. If you fell off your horse years ago and fractured an ankle, you may find in later life that it starts playing up again and you need an operation to fix the problem. The insurance company may reject a claim, saying that it’s a condition that occurred before the policy began. If that happens, you either pay yourself, or go with the NHS.

Some insurance companies write a moratorium provision into their policies, which allows some respite from a potential long list of pre-existing conditions. For example, you may be covered as long as you have not suffered from the condition for two years, with the condition first taking place in the last five years. These time frames are individual to insurance companies, read the small print first to see if your policy includes a moratorium provision.

The condition or illness is excluded

Health insurance is renewable on a yearly basis and at renewal time, you may find that your policy, and your premiums, have changed – often not for the better.

If you are undergoing treatment at time of renewal, it’s possible that your condition or illness will have become ‘excluded’ in the renewed policy, and that you will have to cover the cost of the rest of the treatment.

Because medical research is advancing so quickly, and the number of conditions considered treatable is increasing, the goalposts are always shifting as to what is chronic and what is acute.

The insurance companies are usually trying to cover their own backs. More conditions are being classified as acute, so they have to pay out more in claims. At the same time, newly introduced treatments and drugs are often expensive, so that’s more expense to the insurer. To cover their losses, the insurers increase the premiums, and introduce some more exclusions. You have to watch out for this as you may renew your policy without realising that some very important details have changed.

So if have Health Insurance, or you are considering signing up to a policy, take this article into account and read the small print so you know exactly what is and isn’t covered. And the golden rule: before getting treatment, always double check with your insurer first that it is covered.