How Many Death Claims Do You Help With/Get Per Year?

[FreeAgent007]

I'm a relatively new agent starting out in final expense and I was wondering how many death claims would you say you get a year? Ones where the family calls you or ones were you just hear about it from the company, but the family never contacted you - I'm curious about all of them...

25?
50?
100?

Especially for those of you who sell a decent amount of policies.

 

[jdeasy]

All of them. I don't count them. I just offer help when a client dies. Most take me up on it. Some don't.

 

[WinoBlues]

<In old man voice> Back in the day companies let you know a claim came in or at least cc'd you on claims mailing.

I still have a company that calls me and mails copies. Just one.

I get a couple of calls a month on average on claims. Like JD, I help all of them. I am not FE only so it could be a little policy or a large policy. Kinda works the same company wise. Differently with the Benes usually.
I get several a year where I am asked for help on companies I do not have also.

Death claims are a great lead source. But I never ask. Don't have to, they ask.

Just curious, why do you ask about how many claims we get?

Being new your book is small so you won't have as many as someone with a thousand clients.

 

[Telesales314]

I give out my information to everyone, but most of the time the family reaches out directly to the carrier to get the process going, rather than me.

With my main carrier I've sold about 1300 policies, and just hit 50 death claims.

Its very sporadic, you could get a couple in a month, sometimes you go six months without a death claim.

Even though some companies charge back your commissions for deaths in certain instances, I still get pumped (I know that sounds weird) when I see the death notification in the system for a couple reasons.
1. I am EXTREMELY proud of the client for prioritizing the coverage, making the payments, and actually ACCOMPLISHING what they intended when they took out the plan.
-(I have had the opposite scenario where family reaches out about the insurance policy they found in their dad's files, only to find out that dad let the policy lapse last year. That's just a tough convo for all involved.)
2. I am also proud of myself, because many times clients are on the fence or leaning towards indecision, and I know my sales skills/rapport was what made them take action
--I had a client call and thank me for "talking some sense into me, even though I thought you were being pushy at the time".
---He had just found out he was terminal and had 4 mos to live, which ended up being accurate. I had sold him an immediate coverage plan a few months before, but during the sale he was realllllllly leaning towards getting nothing until he could afford what he really wanted (I think it was like 20-25k). I always stress to people that it is much better to get what you can afford NOW, and you can always try to tack on more later. So he ended up with 10k immediate coverage, which was honored since when he applied, he truthfully did not know he had cancer. If he had waited like he wanted, then after the terminal diagnosis he would be left with GI options and would never make the 2 year wait. I always try to convert indecisive clients to a lower option than they want, but know they can afford. My Average AP is probably $100/yr lower than some of my coworkers, but my closing is a little higher so it all evens out.

Long story short-Deaths are going to happen. If you are getting TONS of deaths, statistically that means you are making tons of sales. It is not going to be a defining factor on your persistency unless you are doing a HUGE portion of GI in your book of business.

 

[FreeAgent007]

<In old man voice> Back in the day companies let you know a claim came in or at least cc'd you on claims mailing.

I still have a company that calls me and mails copies. Just one.

I get a couple of calls a month on average on claims. Like JD, I help all of them. I am not FE only so it could be a little policy or a large policy. Kinda works the same company wise. Differently with the Benes usually.
I get several a year where I am asked for help on companies I do not have also.

Death claims are a great lead source. But I never ask. Don't have to, they ask.

Just curious, why do you ask about how many claims we get?

Being new your book is small so you won't have as many as someone with a thousand clients.

I'm offering to help families by calling/researching up to 3 funeral homes in their area if they would like help with that, if the person that died had an active policy with me/my team when they passed. I've done a lot of research and communicating with funeral homes and people in the funeral business to understand the details of saving costs around funerals. Plan to potentially use it a semi-concierge type of thing as part of the benefits when they sign up for a policy. Part of the protection I offer as an agent with my team (currently just one other person who helps me set appointments). So I was just trying to get a feel for how many claims I or my team might potentially have to make good on helping with over a year.

 

[FreeAgent007]

I give out my information to everyone, but most of the time the family reaches out directly to the carrier to get the process going, rather than me.

With my main carrier I've sold about 1300 policies, and just hit 50 death claims.

Its very sporadic, you could get a couple in a month, sometimes you go six months without a death claim.

Even though some companies charge back your commissions for deaths in certain instances, I still get pumped (I know that sounds weird) when I see the death notification in the system for a couple reasons.
1. I am EXTREMELY proud of the client for prioritizing the coverage, making the payments, and actually ACCOMPLISHING what they intended when they took out the plan.
-(I have had the opposite scenario where family reaches out about the insurance policy they found in their dad's files, only to find out that dad let the policy lapse last year. That's just a tough convo for all involved.)
2. I am also proud of myself, because many times clients are on the fence or leaning towards indecision, and I know my sales skills/rapport was what made them take action
--I had a client call and thank me for "talking some sense into me, even though I thought you were being pushy at the time".
---He had just found out he was terminal and had 4 mos to live, which ended up being accurate. I had sold him an immediate coverage plan a few months before, but during the sale he was realllllllly leaning towards getting nothing until he could afford what he really wanted (I think it was like 20-25k). I always stress to people that it is much better to get what you can afford NOW, and you can always try to tack on more later. So he ended up with 10k immediate coverage, which was honored since when he applied, he truthfully did not know he had cancer. If he had waited like he wanted, then after the terminal diagnosis he would be left with GI options and would never make the 2 year wait. I always try to convert indecisive clients to a lower option than they want, but know they can afford. My Average AP is probably $100/yr lower than some of my coworkers, but my closing is a little higher so it all evens out.

Long story short-Deaths are going to happen. If you are getting TONS of deaths, statistically that means you are making tons of sales. It is not going to be a defining factor on your persistency unless you are doing a HUGE portion of GI in your book of business.

Thanks and those are really good points

 

[WinoBlues]

I'm offering to help families by calling/researching up to 3 funeral homes in their area if they would like help with that, if the person that died had an active policy with me/my team when they passed. I've done a lot of research and communicating with funeral homes and people in the funeral business to understand the details of saving costs around funerals. Plan to potentially use it a semi-concierge type of thing as part of the benefits when they sign up for a policy. Part of the protection I offer as an agent with my team (currently just one other person who helps me set appointments). So I was just trying to get a feel for how many claims I or my team might potentially have to make good on helping with over a year.

I understand. I do not go to the extent of researching funeral homes. Not my lane. I will drive out and do that paperwork. I've driven hours to service clients. But I am not recommending anyone I do not know or have control over. As I mentioned earlier I write Life Insurance not just FE and my Final Expense is not the 'Typical' FE client so they typically are very capable of handling the details.

I applaud your commitment to service. Just make sure you do not service yourself into the poor house.

Just a small aside, 1 helper does not a team make. Clients don't care if you have "a Team". They want you.

 

[jdeasy]

Families do not shop at time of death

Nor do they want to.

That’s FCGS type crap that just makes a bad time worse.

 

[Newby]

I'm offering to help families by calling/researching up to 3 funeral homes in their area if they would like help with that, if the person that died had an active policy with me/my team when they passed. I've done a lot of research and communicating with funeral homes and people in the funeral business to understand the details of saving costs around funerals. Plan to potentially use it a semi-concierge type of thing as part of the benefits when they sign up for a policy. Part of the protection I offer as an agent with my team (currently just one other person who helps me set appointments). So I was just trying to get a feel for how many claims I or my team might potentially have to make good on helping with over a year.

I sold funeral Preplanning and final expense policies for a couple of decades in my home town. So every time I look in the obits I see several.

On the offering to be a part of the funeral home shopping at the time of death, be careful how you approach that. Funeral homes do have the right to refuse service and if they are busy they will refer you to a different funeral home if they sense you are going to be a problem. Most families are very set on what funeral home they want to use and others that they don’t like.

 

[shonceman]

I sold funeral Preplanning and final expense policies for a couple of decades in my home town. So every time I look in the obits I see several.

On the offering to be a part of the funeral home shopping at the time of death, be careful how you approach that. Funeral homes do have the right to refuse service and if they are busy they will refer you to a different funeral home if they sense you are going to be a problem. Most families are very set on what funeral home they want to use and others that they don’t like.

I probably get a lot more death claims than I’m aware of if the deceased wasn’t a debit client. Like @WinoBlues said, most of the companies just don’t tell you anymore. I get several calls from beneficiaries, but no more than a couple dozen per year. Most just carry the policy to the funeral home.

I generally don’t recommend funeral homes, either. But if the family asks me, I will recommend they try to find a locally owned, family funeral home and avoid the corporate homes. Also, if they’re scrambling for $ for whatever reason (like a lapsed policy or a contestable claim), I’ll tell them about a lower priced home in their area.

I used to sometimes go with the family to advocate for them during arrangements, but found that the funeral directors often seemed to perceive me as a threat, which tended to make the process more difficult. I honestly don’t have time to do that anymore, either. So, nowadays I just try to coach the beneficiaries about what to expect at the funeral home and the claims process. If they don’t need the policy to pay for the funeral, I insist on helping them with the paperwork. Then, I keep them updated on the claim, especially when contestable, until it’s finalized and payment is made.