Critical Illness, Cancer, Etc Unique Question

mahdlokg

Expert
22
Texas
Without naming names, our agency recently wrote a Cancer policy for a married couple. It was a banded premium. Wife is 68, Husband is 76. Two different bands. Wife insisted that she be listed first on app for some reason.
Submitted app with band for 76 yo husband and appropriate premium. Because the policies are almost auto issued because of short app (and underwritten at claim time), the policy was issued and priced based on the 68 yo wife's age/band.

We have spoken with 5 people at this company in at least 3 or 4 depts. (hard to tell), and they have all concluded that whomever is listed first is the premium that the policy is based on.

I see a few problems with this:

* No where in their underwriting guide is there any reference to this scenario.
If this is the case, I guess this would hold true for a 21 yo wife and an 80 yo spouse.

*What about all the couples that have been written on this policy in the past listing the oldest first. Should they be re-written to give them the same premium advantage?

* Have we, as agents been missing out on an opportunity to sell more coverage for less premium, or just larger policies, in general?

* Or what if this is a fluke deal. The next app we submit is based on the younger applicant's age and the company comes back asking for more premium?

*I am in my 30th year in the Life/health business. I have never seen a company sell a couples/family type of coverage based on the younger person's age.

*I can not believe that the underwriters that designed and priced this policy, intended to lose thousands in premium.

This is a work in progress. We are still making contact with the company to clarify this. At the very least, it should noted in the underwriting guide that the oldest (or youngest) should be listed first on the app.

That's it. It's a real question. We don't make our living from Cancer policies, but it is in our portfolio for those who do want it.
 
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Prior to Obamacare, in California, the health carriers would price couples and families to the age of the primary subscriber. I'd always put the younger spouse as primary to get the lower rate.

Since Obamacare, they calculate each subscriber's age to get total premium.
 
every company is different. Some actually do based on the younger of the two but many base on the oldest of the two no matter how they are listed.
 
Without naming names, our agency recently wrote a Cancer policy for a married couple. It was a banded premium. Wife is 68, Husband is 76. Two different bands. Wife insisted that she be listed first on app for some reason.
Submitted app with band for 76 yo husband and appropriate premium. Because the policies are almost auto issued because of short app (and underwritten at claim time), the policy was issued and priced based on the 68 yo wife's age/band.

We have spoken with 5 people at this company in at least 3 or 4 depts. (hard to tell), and they have all concluded that whomever is listed first is the premium that the policy is based on.

I see a few problems with this:

* No where in their underwriting guide is there any reference to this scenario.
If this is the case, I guess this would hold true for a 21 yo wife and an 80 yo spouse.

*What about all the couples that have been written on this policy in the past listing the oldest first. Should they be re-written to give them the same premium advantage?

* Have we, as agents been missing out on an opportunity to sell more coverage for less premium, or just larger policies, in general?

* Or what if this is a fluke deal. The next app we submit is based on the younger applicant's age and the company comes back asking for more premium?

*I am in my 30th year in the Life/health business. I have never seen a company sell a couples/family type of coverage based on the younger person's age.

*I can not believe that the underwriters that designed and priced this policy, intended to lose thousands in premium.

This is a work in progress. We are still making contact with the company to clarify this. At the very least, it should noted in the underwriting guide that the oldest (or youngest) should be listed first on the app.

That's it. It's a real question. We don't make our living from Cancer policies, but it is in our portfolio for those who do want it.
It depends on the company. CUL like most companies requires the premium be based on the oldest insured no matter who is listed as primary insured. On the other hand, Washington National will issue based on the primary insured's age even if they are younger than their spouse.
 
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