AAA Life Strikes Again

[360]

Sitting with a prospect this morning on final expense coverage when she starts quizzing me about my "double indemnity" options as a policy she just bought from AAA pays them double if they die in an accident.

I ask her to drag out the policies and we start going through them. They sold two perfectly healthy people graded benefit policies and did not disclose this to them. She was dumbfounded and I could tell she didn't want to believe me...that was until she picked up the phone and called AAA to clarify.

They of course told her the truth while still trying to retain the sale expounding on the benefits of having this type of policy even after she told them they were perfectly healthy. My prospect then...client now...was really shaken. She couldn't believe how a company she had trusted for 25 years would leave out such an important fact as how the death benefit worked.

Wrote to policies giving them 50% more coverage for the same money which were not graded.

I for the life of my can not figure out why a company like AAA would slam people into a graded death benefit when it would take an extra 10 minutes on the phone to place them in a policy with immediate benefits. Spend all those years building your brand with someone only to lose them forever over something that was totally avoidable.

Blows my mind.

 

[LGilmore]

well, possibly you're really talking about one agent vs. the company. Not that I like to defend companies all that much, but even the best companies have shady agents for all sorts of reasons.

The large well known new york based mutual had the #2 in sales(1.5 million fyc) one year get all his clients from the graveyard. They didn't catch on until he was boarding a plane to Paris (on their dime) to speak at a world mdrt conference. This was after they paraded him all over the place.. (they wiped the egg from their face and he got 25 years.)He should be out in a few more years.

Why agents do what they do has a ton of answers. Greed, fear, desperation, contests, commission levels, overrides for management...

AAA may have to look at the environment they have their agents in.. I did hear it was a pressure cooker and they went through folks, at least up in my neck of the woods. It usually takes some significant lawsuits to straighten some companies out.

These kind of situations make me glad I'm independent.

 

[360]

What always scares me on this type of deal is not this client but the hundreds or thousands of unsuspecting seniors that hear one thing and give someone like AAA the benefit of the doubt and don't read their policy carefully enough.

This agent was either ignorant or didn't have the tools in his/her belt to do the right thing. I have no idea if AAA has anything but graded plans for seniors.

 

[Mr. Bill]

Sadly, this seems the road the AARP has taken as well, doesn't it?

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

AARP is worse. They are selling seniors a term policy that runs out at 80. I'd rather have a graded benefit than term, for final expenses.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I am not sticking up for either of these two companies, however people need to take some accountability for their decisions. Both AARP and AAA enroll people through the mail, and all the negative things about their policies is written there for everyone to read. There is no agent to blame just uninformed insured’s

 

[xrac]

AARP is worse. They are selling seniors a term policy that runs out at 80. I'd rather have a graded benefit than term, for final expenses.

I agree AARP is worse. Do you think U.S. seniors will ever wise up about AARP?

 

[SportsNut]

I agree AARP is worse. Do you think U.S. seniors will ever wise up about AARP?

Well they boast 38 mil members, undoubtedly one of the largest lobbying groups today.
7 mil of those folks are insured by the fine group... and with the number of eligibles (age 50 and over) growing, it isn't likely that they are on the demise any time soon. So NO, I guess not.