Before you take the plunge to buy life insurance, a little research can go a long way. If you know virtually nothing about life insurance you do want to have a basic knowledge so when you talk to brokers you will understand what they are offering. Of course Term life insurance maybe the cheapest route for most people it may not be what you are looking for. There are more options and some will cost you more monthly so shop around for your best deal.
Check out this article at SmartMoney.com for some insight to life insurance.
Which Life Insurance Is Best?
Life insurance comes in three flavors. Term insurance offers plain-vanilla protection at a low cost. Then there's whole life, which has a savings component. A third type, the return of premium, is essentially a hybrid of the first two. Continued here…
In addition to finding the most affordable policy think about the payout as a death benefit. Will they pay the beneficiaries on a timely basis or will they drag it out? What if you do not die before your term period is over, do you get paid back in full what you paid in?
Things to Check in a Life Insurance Company
If you are looking for the
lowest life insurance rates, this actually may not be your best deal. Being
able to pay those low rates sure sounds great but is it giving you the best
life insurance for your money? Below are some things you should look at when
considering your life insurance company.
After receiving some quotes
from different companies narrow down your choices. Pick your top three choices
and go online to do some research.
A good place to start is checking
their credit rating. You can go to AM Best or Standard and Poor’s for this.
While at either of these websites dig around for any other information you may
find there, A rating or higher is what you want. See if the companies you are
checking have and excess amount of claims or if there are complaints files about
failure to pay death benefits in a reasonable amount of time.
If you do see complaints filed it
may not be much to worry about. When you consider that an insurance company
might have millions of policies, a thousand or so complaints is really very
little. Look for the company’s failure to address complaints or taking too long
to address them.
If the insurance company you’re
interested in has low rates, at least an A rating and very little complaints
with your state you should be ok.
One last consideration is how
fast you or your family is able to receive the benefits after filing a claim.
You do not want to deal with a company that continually delays paying out the
benefits.
Choose a Life Iinsurance Provider
So what are some of the
things you should look at? First could be the insurance company’s financial
strength. Since you are considering life insurance you want to make sure the
insurance company is going to be around when you need them. One way to check a
company’s financial strength is by checking out either Weiss Ratings or AM Best
web sites.
Customer service is an
important factor in making your choice. You want to be able to do business with
them in a professional and timely fashion. The above rating agencies will also
give you the customer service ratings on insurance companies along with any
record of customer complaints.
Does the insurance
company you are considering belong to an association that promotes ethical
insurance marketing and sales. This could give you added protection from
underhanded company’s.
Taking this extra time
to investigate the insurance company’s you may be considering will take more of
your time but could pay off in the long run. You are expecting a lifelong relationship
with them and you want the best service you can afford.
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