Insurance Agent Forum

[xrac]

Originally Posted by pbates

I'm not familiar with all the acronyms, but I'm pretty sure there was not a number of years involved so I guess it's "perm"? Sorry, probably sounds stupid, but I am a complete novice about this stuff. On the original quote from matrix, it says the product is "Globe Adult Life 0 Year Level Term".
Rate Class: Standard
Riders: None
Age: 59

The impression I got from Matrix was that they were kind of a clearing house...a place to get quotes from numerous companies and advice on your own circumstances. They do the quotes; you make the decision, then they just turn it over to the company you select. I'm sure they receive something for that.

The Matrix guy was actually very helpful, and explained things I didn't know, so I was pleased with the experience with them.

As has already been mentioned, I was wildly upset with Globe for completely ignoring me. I am THEIR customer. I have been working for 33 years, and if there is anything I have learned, it is that customer service is the most important aspect of any business. Isn't it?

Even though they have supposedly fixed this, and re-instated the policy, I will most definitely look elsewhere, and they will lose my business due to their deplorable treatment of me for THEIR mistake! When the lady called to say it was being fixed, it was mostly to be sure I knew they were taking the 3 months premium out tonight, so I would be aware. Ha! My husband apparently wasn't even covered during most of that time, but they are darn sure gonna take this money AFTER the fact. I don't recall her even offering an apology. She just said they didn't know what happened; it wasn't my fault or my bank's, and it's fixed now, so get ready - they are taking the money tonight.

I know it won't make any difference, but the only reason I called Matrix for help with this problem was just to let him know what kind of company they are. Maybe they are great to 99.9% of everyone (I hope so), but they sure dropped the ball with us in a big way. There is absolutely no way anyone is that busy that it took all those calls and e-mails just to get this supervisor to call me. Even if they didn't have an answer yet, she should have been on the phone to me right away to let me know she was working on it, or something.

I would be glad to know of products ya'll know about. Here are more particulars on my husband:
Age: 59
6' 217 lbs (40 of which is a beer gut, ha)
Smoker
No known health problems; no high blood pressure or cholesterol (that gets checked when we give blood).
Had a DWI stop 8/18/05; dismissed
The DWI stop was why the Matrix guy steered us toward the 30K with Globe as he said they don't do a check or something at that level (?).

It has been over 3 years NOW, if it is from the stop date. If it's from the dismissal date, we will have to wait a bit longer.

Feel free to tell me anything about companies, policies, whatever.

Thanks again for all your help!

What state are you in?

[Dave020]

What state are you in?
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Ah ha, so it IS term. 0 year level to me indicates it is ART, annual renewable term, meaning the premium increases every year following his mortality curve.

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Originally Posted by pbates

My husband apparently wasn't even covered during most of that time, but they are darn sure gonna take this money

Had a DWI stop 8/18/05; dismissed
The DWI stop was why the Matrix guy steered us toward the 30K with Globe as he said they don't do a check or something at that level (?).

Your husband WAS covered during that time. If you are on bank draft (and the funds are available) the onus is on Globe, not you.

The DUI stop/arrest is a non-issue. Arrests mean nothing. The only thing that has to be disclosed for consideration is a conviction.

[bill3173]

I've never thought of Globe as a term carrier, and the lady did not indicate initially that it was a term policy. I would certainly never recommend that anyone keep an art if they can do better and I hope that she finds the right policy for her situation.

Lately, I've had a good bit of experience dealing with them. My brother and I found a stack of small face amount policies, written in the 50's. My father was paying on some of these at the time of his death, and they had enough cash value to stay on extended term for years. Some of the insureds died during the period of extended term and for some, it was over 10 years ago.

Globe has gone through these policies with me over the phone one by one, checking status and paying the claims on the active ones, and identifying what they needed from me to pay on the lapsed policies.

Some of the older policies written at the time didn't have the per stirpes definition built in and the policies can have a christmas tree of beneficiaries that die in reverse order. No company is perfect, but they have certainly held up their end of the bargain.

This is off the subject, but I am currently working on a claim for someone and get this: The two primary beneficiaries died prior to the insured, but the contingent and tertiary beneficiaries died prior to the primary. One of the primary beneficiaries was irrevocable but his contingent and tertiary are both deceased. The other primary was the insured's spouse, who predeceased the insured. His contingent was his sister, who predeceased the insured. Does it go to the spouse of the contingent? Not quite that simple, the deceased has living children, and the beneficiary designation was not irrevocable on that half of the policy. On the other half the beneficiary was irrevocable, but when the bene died, the bene could be changed at the request of the owner, right? Yes, but it wasn't. So it goes back to the insured's children anyway, right? Nope. The language of the policy points in the direction of the irrevocable bene's children or heirs. I'll stop there. An interpleader will probably have to be called in on this case.

Most of this could have been avoided if the policy had been updated regularly. I would never buy life insurance without an agent.

[Dave020]

Originally Posted by bill3173

I've never thought of Globe as a term carrier, and the lady did not indicate initially that it was a term policy. I would certainly never recommend that anyone keep an art if they can do better and I hope that she finds the right policy for her situation.

I would think that if the DWI, BMI and so on were factors, it might be better for 30k to look into a whole life policy. As long as he doesn't get hit with a flat extra, it might be a better deal, certainly long term. This is kind of what I expect from Matrix Direct, which is why I brought that up.

Originally Posted by bill3173

Lately, I've had a good bit of experience dealing with them. My brother and I found a stack of small face amount policies, written in the 50's. My father was paying on some of these at the time of his death, and they had enough cash value to stay on extended term for years. Some of the insureds died during the period of extended term and for some, it was over 10 years ago.

Globe has gone through these policies with me over the phone one by one, checking status and paying the claims on the active ones, and identifying what they needed from me to pay on the lapsed policies.

Some of the older policies written at the time didn't have the per stirpes definition built in and the policies can have a christmas tree of beneficiaries that die in reverse order. No company is perfect, but they have certainly held up their end of the bargain.

I think it can be fun going over in-force policies that old. You learn a lot about how it "used to be" and compare to what it is now. I think you also get some respect for those old-school brown shoe hat-wearing agents of yesteryear. I don't think Globe is the problem with this case, I think that the agent didn't do the best for this client.

Originally Posted by bill3173

This is off the subject, but I am currently working on a claim for someone and get this: The two primary beneficiaries died prior to the insured, but the contingent and tertiary beneficiaries died prior to the primary. One of the primary beneficiaries was irrevocable but his contingent and tertiary are both deceased. The other primary was the insured's spouse, who predeceased the insured. His contingent was his sister, who predeceased the insured. Does it go to the spouse of the contingent? Not quite that simple, the deceased has living children, and the beneficiary designation was not irrevocable on that half of the policy. On the other half the beneficiary was irrevocable, but when the bene died, the bene could be changed at the request of the owner, right? Yes, but it wasn't. So it goes back to the insured's children anyway, right? Nope. The language of the policy points in the direction of the irrevocable bene's children or heirs. I'll stop there. An interpleader will probably have to be called in on this case.

Most of this could have been avoided if the policy had been updated regularly. I would never buy life insurance without an agent.

Wow, I would be curious how all of that actually gets paid out.

[tryan326]

At this point the Globe vs. Matrix Direct thing is irrevlevant.

Pbates - the best thing for you to do is check with a licensed agent to make sure you have the right policy based on your needs. Although the guy at Matrix Direct is helpful most likely he is not a licensed agent.

Work with an agent its cost you nothing and when you find a good one things like this shouldn't happen.

Good Luck in your search.

[pbates]

Originally Posted by tryan326

At this point the Globe vs. Matrix Direct thing is irrevlevant.

Pbates - the best thing for you to do is check with a licensed agent to make sure you have the right policy based on your needs. Although the guy at Matrix Direct is helpful most likely he is not a licensed agent.

Work with an agent its cost you nothing and when you find a good one things like this shouldn't happen.

Good Luck in your search.

Thank you! I plan to.

To answer others we are in Texas. The DWI stop definitely WAS an issue, according to the Matrix guy. We originally planned to get, maybe 100K on my husband, but when he asked about driving record and I told him, he said we would have to wait until that disappeared.

In Texas, the stop/arrest stays on the record no matter what the end result is. I can even pull it up on the computer in our county records. It says dismissed but that doesn't purge it. So the advice I was given was to apply for an amount that does not require a DL check, then when the 3 years is up, we can make an adjustment. What we're not sure of is when the 3 years begins and ends.

Someone else asked if I have actually seen the policy. Very good question. I have searched everywhere and haven't found it. We get so much dang mail, and like everyone, I am pulled in 10 directions every day, I can't remember if we ever received an actual policy. I corresponded with them regarding the setup of the bank draft and have copies of that and everything else is all together, so I would think if a policy arrived, I would have put it with all of this other stuff.

One other thing, the guy at Matrix TOLD me he is a licensed insurance agent. Said he's been doing insurance for a very long time. That's all I know on that. We handled it this way because to set up an in-person meeting with an agent for BOTH of us just seemed impossible at the time. (Work schedules, traffic, distance, etc.) We are just going to have to work it out though, and get better info and a better policy for the $.

Man, that scenario on those old policies that was posted is mind-numbing! Why do they have to make insurance so complicated?!

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Originally Posted by pbates

To answer others we are in Texas. The DWI stop definitely WAS an issue, according to the Matrix guy. We originally planned to get, maybe 100K on my husband, but when he asked about driving record and I told him, he said we would have to wait until that disappeared.

In Texas, the stop/arrest stays on the record no matter what the end result is. I can even pull it up on the computer in our county records. It says dismissed but that doesn't purge it. So the advice I was given was to apply for an amount that does not require a DL check, then when the 3 years is up, we can make an adjustment. What we're not sure of is when the 3 years begins and ends.

Let me reiterate:

An arrest probably stays on record everywhere, not just Texas (unless the record is purged for some reason).

The question I've seen on every application is, "have you been CONVICTED?"

An arrest is NOT a conviction. Anyone can be arrested - it doesn't automatically mean you're guilty!

It is a non-issue. You need to deal with a real agent.

[bill3173]

Originally Posted by Dave020

I would think that if the DWI, BMI and so on were factors, it might be better for 30k to look into a whole life policy. As long as he doesn't get hit with a flat extra, it might be a better deal, certainly long term. This is kind of what I expect from Matrix Direct, which is why I brought that up.



I think it can be fun going over in-force policies that old. You learn a lot about how it "used to be" and compare to what it is now. I think you also get some respect for those old-school brown shoe hat-wearing agents of yesteryear. I don't think Globe is the problem with this case, I think that the agent didn't do the best for this client.



Wow, I would be curious how all of that actually gets paid out.

The primary beneficiary's only son got the whole matzah ball, even though it was never intended by the owner or the primary beneficiary.

The case was too complicated and there wasn't enough money involved for the family to hire an attorney, etc.

[STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM]

Pbates ....call me and let me get some info and make some suggestion's...
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You can get a standard tobacco with him and the DWI....so the smoking has more of affect on the rates rather than the DWI......