FORETHOUGHT FINAL EXPENSE Question

[staceym]

Hi I am new to the forum, but not new to the insurance business. I have focused on medicare only and I am thinking of selling final expense. Has anyone heard of Forethought? I have been approached and need more info on the company.Thanks

 

[SportsNut]

You would be well served to check out the Senior Ins Forum, half way down the page...

As well as this Forethought link that has quite a bit posted on the company and its agent policies.

Forethought link

 

[Justin Bilyj]

I was recommended today to stay away from it. Loyal is good, so is UTA. Ameico is good, and so is UHL. just an opinion.

 

[insuranceexec]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[arnguy]

Utilize the search feature on this forum. BTW, welcome.

 

[Newby]

Hi I am new to the forum, but not new to the insurance business. I have focused on medicare only and I am thinking of selling final expense. Has anyone heard of Forethought? I have been approached and need more info on the company.Thanks

I'll give you the long answer. I've been a ForeThought agent for over 12-years.

Until very recently, I would rate ForeThought a 10 out of 10. They had unbelievable customer service and a real human touch. They OWNED the funeral pre-need insurance industry. They had lots of competitors but there wasn't even a close 2nd place company.

A couple of years ago ForeThought was sold to the Devlin Group which were retired annuity executives from AIG. They let it be known that they were planning to take ForeThought from the big fish in a small niche market to become a big fish in the entire senior market. Their long-term plan was to make ForeThought the leader in every senior product starting with annuities and final expense and then likely moving into Long-Term Care, Med Sups and anything else that is marketed to seniors.

The early signs were all positive. When agents signed up to sell their annuities, we were sent to their Indianapolis headquarters and given a two day cram course of training. Their final expense product was released and it was pretty good with the promise that it was to become even better. Their funeral preneed product was already the leader but was getting beat in features, benefits and rates by their competitors...but it didn't matter because consumers would ask for ForeThought by name.

That part was all factual and this part should be considered MY opinion.

In 2009 ForeThought isn't even the same company. They brought out their new final expense product and it is worse than the first one. The ages are more limited and the old 1st tier rates that most people qualified for are now "Ultra" rates that few will get. Most people will pay higher.

It's much harder to get a human being on the phone now and when you do they usually pass you from person to person. I would now rate their customer service as a 2 out of 10.

Their funeral preneed product has not only blinked but it has stuck it's head in the sand. ForeThought is really dropping the ball there and other companies are running with it. I won't go into detail about that here because not many people here do pre-need insurance.

The annuity division seems to be the one that's doing pretty good and they have brought out some interesting products there.

I hope ForeThought can recover and get back on track. But I think 2009 is going to be a rough year for them. They are making a LOT of mistakes in my opinion.

Enough of my rambling...the short answers to your questions are:
1. Yes, I've heard of them
2. They might be OK to have as one of your final expense companies IF you get a good contract with them. Street level commission (the level you can ALWAYS get with no history of production) is 110% with them. It's not bad and will get much better if you are a big producer.

 

[myinsurebiz]

( by the way - there was some mis-information on the forethought chargeback policy. It's only the full 12 months in the event the client cancels within their 30 day free look period OR if a client dies non-accidentally in the first 12 months on a graded policy or a SWWL policy - otherwise the chargeback is prorated based upon the number of months paid before laspe )

 

[Kgrambo]

Hi all again...my second post. I have only had experience with FE policies. What is a preneed product? Is it used in cases the a FE policy cannot be written? (ie last resort?)

 

[Newby]

Hi all again...my second post. I have only had experience with FE policies. What is a preneed product? Is it used in cases the a FE policy cannot be written? (ie last resort?)

Preneed is the version of final expense that funeral homes sell. It is a policy that is fully paid up in 3 or 5 years and has an increasing death benefit. It's also true guaranteed issue and most companies give 70% coverage at the 12th month EVEN if you have current cancer, AIDS etc. Or reside in a nursing home.

 

[Kgrambo]

Preneed is the version of final expense that funeral homes sell. It is a policy that is fully paid up in 3 or 5 years and has an increasing death benefit. It's also true guaranteed issue and most companies give 70% coverage at the 12th month EVEN if you have current cancer, AIDS etc. Or reside in a nursing home.

Interesting. I wonder if this product would be good for my client I am having trouble getting FE insurance for. He is 82 and on oxygen and has some heart problems. Most GI FE policies only issue up to age 80. Can you email me some info like rates and qualifications on Forethought? Also, don't they have FE products?

my email is [email protected]

Thanks!