The problem with buying insurance online

by: Cory Carlton

Buying anything these days is beyond simple thanks to this new little thing called the internet. I became on a first-name basis with my Amazon driver, Clark. When Clark did not have a delivery to my house for a few days he became worried. 

People buy nearly everything online or at least they begin to do the shopping online. For buying tools, groceries, or other everyday items buying online is a great way to do it. But when it comes to buying insurance, you can shop but you don’t need to buy online.

I’m specifically going to talk about life insurance and Medicare.

 So, when you do go to buy something online you likely do some research if it is a new product for you or you read some reviews to see what people thought. That gives you good information to base your decision on.

But the reviews you read are not written by you or people in your exact situation and nearly 99% of the time when looking at insurance online you are not getting the whole story. Even if you call the website and speak to an agent, their job is to get you signed up for a plan as quickly as possible. That means they don’t take the time to learn about your situation, your needs, your goals, or explain all your options to you.

Let’s focus on life insurance for a moment.

I called one of those big online life insurance companies that you see advertised. Their marketing is slick. But I called to see what the process was that someone went through. 

When I reached someone, I told them what I wanted, and then they began to sell it to me. The nerve, right? Here’s the issue with that. What they tried to sell me was just the cheapest term life insurance option out there.

This company assumed I knew the right amount of life insurance, and the right term length, and did not explain my options. 

I like options just like everyone else. That’s why stores don’t just sell one thing. They have options. 

The rep on the phone did not attempt to tell me about to very important benefits of some term life insurance that only costs $3 more a month than the plan he was trying to sell me. Here’s what this rep left out and this happens to so many people.

LIVING BENEFITS

Life insurance has come a long way in recent years and there is now a new kind of life insurance with living benefits.

Having living benefits on your term policy gives you the ability to use the death benefit while you are alive in the event something catastrophic happens. Such as being diagnosed with cancer, having a heart attack, a stroke, a major injury, or not being able to do some activities of daily living.

This benefit gives you the ability to accelerate a portion of your death benefit to provide funds during these times.

Why would you consider this? Well, less than 4% of term life insurance policies ever pay out a death benefit and the likelihood of having an accident or illness is much higher.

So, would you prefer to pull money out of your retirement savings to pay for things that health insurance does not cover or use some of the death benefits that you are likely not to use anyways? 

I had a client that was 36 years old, and she suffered a stroke after delivering her third child. She was not able to work for six months and did not have disability insurance. Thankfully, she had a term policy with living benefits that I helped her with that provided her family the funds during those six months so she could focus on getting better and the family did not get behind on bills and her husband was able to take time off. 

This family was glad to have a term life policy with living benefits.

CONVERSION

The other aspect that is so important when looking at term life insurance is its conversion ability. This means you can turn your term policy into a permanent policy with no questions asked. Regardless of your health, the insurance company must give you a permanent policy. 

This is important because things change. Your health could change. 

One of our agents has a client he sold a term policy to years ago and in the last few years, he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

His term policy expires this August, and his family is still relying on his income. He can’t get another life insurance policy that will cover his needs.

Thankfully, the policy our agent sold him has the conversion privilege that he can exercise, and his family will be taken care of when he passes away no matter if that be in a year or 10 years. 

This conversion privilege does not have an additional cost over the cheapest term option out there.

If this client had just purchased the cheapest term life insurance like most of the online companies promote or the “financial experts” on the radio say, this client would be left with no life insurance because not all term policies have the conversion ability.

We work with all the major life insurance carriers in the country so we can do the shopping for you and explain to you all your options, so you and your family are protected no matter what happens.

I only recommend term life policies that have both the living benefits and conversion options built into them and my personal policies have them too.

Let me shift gears to Medicare quickly. Whether you buy it online yourself or call a company you see an ad for on TV with a retired football player, it will be the same wham-bam process to get you signed up and then you will never hear from them again. 

You need to understand your Medicare options but most importantly you need to make sure your medications are covered by the Medicare plan you are selecting.

The online vendors and call centers don’t do this. If your Medicare health plan does not cover your medications, you are leaving yourself open to huge expenses.

We review all our clients’ medications every year to make sure our clients are on the right plan. 

One of our agents saved his clients over $200,000 on their medications for 2022 by doing this free review.

For one lady, another agent saved her $45,000 on her medications because the plan she had signed up for the year before would no longer cover one of her medications for 2022.

If you’re one of our Medicare clients you have gone through this review process. If we have not helped you with Medicare, let us know and we can do your free review.

Buying things online works when you don’t need to worry about the specific details of your life. But when it comes to your life insurance and Medicare, you need to talk to an expert.

I’m sure there are products you research online and then go to a store to talk to an expert about before you buy. What was the last product you did that with? Life insurance and Medicare are the same way. We are here to guide you.