Pop quiz. What do the following people have in common: pot smoker, man with a pacemaker, guy who had a stint put in his heart 2 years ago, and a prospect whose father died of cancer at age 55? Answer: These are people that will benefit tremendously from an independent agent when looking to purchase life insurance.
Pot Smoking Life Insurance: Do you know that life insurance underwriters view marijuana use very differently. The spectrum runs from approval at standard, non tobacco rates, to regular smoker rates, to decline. If you go to an agent who only represents one carrier, and they aren’t “pot friendly”, your chances of getting a good deal will be up in smoke. An independent should know where you can qualify for non smoking rates.
Life Insurance with a Pacemaker: If you tried buying a policy from Farmer’s or State Farm, forget about it. Easy decline. The truth of the matter is, absent of coronary heart disease, good rates are possible, even “standard” ratings. Or in other words, you need to prove that arrhythmia is your only “heart condition”.
Can I qualify for life insurance if I had Stints placed in my heart? Short answer: yes. Longer answer: your rating will depend on how quickly the blockage was found. Was there an actual heart attack? Whether any damage was done to the heart is also of great importance. Best way to know where you stand is if you’ve had a stress test (treadmill test) done. Underwriter’s also have to see your LVEF (Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction) is in normal ranges. Best results will come if your LVEF is 70% or higher.
Father died of Cancer: Just about every life insurance carrier knocks you down two rating classes if you had a parent die of cancer prior to age 60. I have a prospect now, however, whose dad died at age 55 of cancer, whom I’ve quoted at preferred best. That’s because I know of two companies who don’t penalize you at all for family history of cancer. They completely ignore it. This company’s underwriting guidelines for preferred plus non tobacco under the family history reads as follows:
“No family history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease resulting in death of a parent or sibling prior to age 65.”
Did you see anything there that would exclude my prospect from best rates? Neither did I. Go to the wrong agent for something simple like this, and pay 50% more. It’s that simple. Go to the wrong agent for the pacemaker or stints, and get declined. A good independent agent can mean the difference between an affordable policy and a policy that’s out of your budget, or the difference between an approval or decline.
