Sharing U/W Info with Client

Winter_123

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Basic question here but I am a basic kind of guy.

What kind of a strategy, policy, philosophy do you pros follow in sharing life insurance underwriting with clients and what is you understanding of their right to know.

Obviously if a client's weight or 1AC are through the roof or there is a specific medical condition then that is straightforward and is communicated to the client.

In other instances the client wants to arm wrestle about why they were rated standard plus rather preferred and so on. Often I just talk with the underwriter either directly or second hand and get that info. Other times if it appears that there is not a specific problem but the client is not "above average" (and everyone thinks they are these days based on school grading systems) I just generically tell them that they look at many factors and that is the offer being made. And other times I have helped the client with the paperwork to reqest more info from the carrier. As stated, if a situation is straightforward I dont mind being a conduit for info but neither do I want to get caught in the middle in explaining several factors where it is not my role and it is predictable that the client wants to go back and forth, all for not.

What do others consider (or know) to be the rules of the road here?
 
I always give them the exact reason....if it doesn't come back as projected, we'll shop it with all the other companies we use and show them the best offer. If they want to complain after that is done, they can go find their own insurance from somewhere else and pay a higher rate.
 
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We are fortunate in the U.S. that a life company can share information about why the client did not get a particular preferred health class. In Canada, where the same used to be true, privacy laws about health information now make it illegal for an underwriter to explain to an agent why the client was rejected for a particular premium.

In Canada I suggest that the insured have their doctor write and request the information. I then encourage the agent to ask the client for that info, which the client themselves may give to the agent.

Either way, once the agent has the information in hand, they need to review with the client the reasons why they did not qualify and try to help the client understand why/how that impacts mortality. And if you don't know why/how, ask and find out.

Which brings us to the most important aspect. You need to stress that they are being charged more because their family has a greater chance of collecting on the life insurance policy because the insured has a greater risk of death. And you need to stress that the insured grab this policy now, and guarantee their current level of insurability, because if something else happens, then they may not even qualify for that.
 
It is often not legal for the carrier to share this info with the agent in the US because of the strict HIPAA laws. The client can request it from the carrier in writing.
 
I always give them the exact reason....if it doesn't come back as projected, we'll shop it with all the other companies we use and show them the best offer. If they want to complain after that is done, they can go find their own insurance from somewhere else and pay a higher rate.
Do you guys shop different carriers for client at the same time or after one rejected. I did have one big case was rejected due to high PSA. The client was preparing with another agent for the Prudential before I persuited him to go with Transamerica. Transamerica rejected him due to high PSA and he immediately submitted to Prudential and it was approved. I lost the case. I know if I submitted the case to both places at the same time, I would have closed the case. I still do not know if I should do that.
 
Do you guys shop different carriers for client at the same time or after one rejected. I did have one big case was rejected due to high PSA. The client was preparing with another agent for the Prudential before I persuited him to go with Transamerica. Transamerica rejected him due to high PSA and he immediately submitted to Prudential and it was approved. I lost the case. I know if I submitted the case to both places at the same time, I would have closed the case. I still do not know if I should do that.

We never submit to two carriers at the same time. After one is rejected, we can take the medical info and shop it with all the other companies doing a pre-screen to get the best offer, then submit another app.
 
We never submit to two carriers at the same time. After one is rejected, we can take the medical info and shop it with all the other companies doing a pre-screen to get the best offer, then submit another app.

Why would you submit to one carrier and then shop the case? You will kill your placement ratio with the carrier and possibly waste a lot of time. Also if you are going to pull APSs anyways (if not then you are letting the first carrier order APSs and when you get a decline then you order APSs.....that's 3 weeks right there if not more) why not shop first.

If the client has no health issues, is younger (under 65), or very small face we recommend you take a formal app first. If there are health issues, client is older (65+), or the face is huge then we always suggest that we pull APSs and shop the case first....then place with the carrier that is the most favorable.
 
Why would you submit to one carrier and then shop the case? You will kill your placement ratio with the carrier and possibly waste a lot of time. Also if you are going to pull APSs anyways (if not then you are letting the first carrier order APSs and when you get a decline then you order APSs.....that's 3 weeks right there if not more) why not shop first.

If the client has no health issues, is younger (under 65), or very small face we recommend you take a formal app first. If there are health issues, client is older (65+), or the face is huge then we always suggest that we pull APSs and shop the case first....then place with the carrier that is the most favorable.

We do our best to qualify the case medically before putting in an application. If there is something more significant than the easy things like BP/cholesterol/weight/etc, we shop the case based on the information presented before taking an app. If we do the app and find out in underwriting that there's more to the story than the client disclosed and they get an offer from the company that isn't what was expected, we'll go back and shop the case again based on the whole APS file, then take a second app.
 
We do our best to qualify the case medically before putting in an application. If there is something more significant than the easy things like BP/cholesterol/weight/etc, we shop the case based on the information presented before taking an app. If we do the app and find out in underwriting that there's more to the story than the client disclosed and they get an offer from the company that isn't what was expected, we'll go back and shop the case again based on the whole APS file, then take a second app.

Makes since.......but if you know there is a health issue you don't pull APS first then quick quote?
 
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