Just One Reason to Do Reviews (long Post)

Indy007

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I just ran into a situation today with a client regarding a replacement. My client had a Northwestern Mutual WL, and as I was doing the review I found some carbon copies of forms signed earlier this month. There was a transfer form showing the Northwestern policy being 1035'd, but both NAIC questions on the replacement form were checked no. I called Northwestern and indeed they had received the LOA (approved by new carrier) from the replacing company to 1035 and replace her coverage.

I have known my client had this policy for years, but I've left it alone as it was serving her needs and performing well. She also had a TIA a little less than 2 years ago which would make replacing all but impossible. The agent lied about the replacement, and obviously clean sheeted the app as it was under $75k face, and with that carrier they don't order records for $74,999 or below (just app, MIB and MVR). So if something were to happen to her in the next 2 years, the new carrier would contest it and deny the claim. (TIA is a knockout question on their app).

I advised her to call the new carrier and cancel, also that they would likely try to come back out to "conserve" their sale saying she HAD to sign a cancellation letter. I told her she did not have to let them back in, and all she needed to do was call the home office to cancel as Northwestern wouldn't 1035 without their own company forms completed (which she has not done). I'm sure some of you who started your insurance career as a captive know who the replacing carrier is.

By uncovering this and helping her, her husband started pulling out statements/etc and ended up writing him a $340k FIA, and he called his brother who is his farming partner and set me up an appointment to meet with him. They realized I wasn't trying to just make money, but looking out for her best interests, and it built trust. You need to stay in touch with your clients and do reviews as other agents are constantly trying to sell them. I thought about copying the replacement forms and making a complaint to the DOI, but decided to play it by ear and if they (replacing agent/carrier) back down to let it be as its fixed now. I'd love to get agents like that out of the business, but it's a fine line that leads to more scrutiny for the rest of us who do it right.
 
Just another example of doing the right thing and making the efforts (though can be exhausting at times because it does not always generate a sale and some folks just don't appreciate it or get how 'valuable' our time really is....) but in your case, it did generate a sale!
Thanks for sharing. It's inspirational to say the least!
 
Just another example of doing the right thing and making the efforts (though can be exhausting at times because it does not always generate a sale and some folks just don't appreciate it or get how 'valuable' our time really is....) but in your case, it did generate a sale!
Thanks for sharing. It's inspirational to say the least!

I have raised my family doing policy reviews. Sole support for almost 20 years off of policy service. Just needs to be a process like any other method.
 
I had no intentions going into the review to write any annuities either. In the past i had presented one, but never got the commitment. By helping them out with the situation she got in with the agent replacing her NWM policy, her husband finally opened up more about his savings (substantial), and I was able to come up with a nice income plan for them. The annuity I wrote was actually just a small piece of their retirement savings.

I do think the only reason he started pulling out statements/etc was because he saw me honestly helping his wife with unraveling the shady replacement when there was nothing in it for me.
 
A bit of a tangent...

It was a 1035, how is that not a replacement? At minimum they are using cash from an existing policy to fund a new one. I'm surprised the carrier didn't return it for the replacement form being incorrect. Also, NWM should have said something as they were being asked to surrender the money for a new policy but they also had not received a replacement form.
 
I did a policy review for a medicare client of mine the other day. She has money setup in an annuity that she thought would just disappear in the next 3 years. She is taking early distributions, but is strapped because of medication costs and is trying to get medicaid. I had already sold this lady a final expense coverage in the past and was just doing a quick Medicare review when we came across this policy. It turns out we were able to raise her distribution without penalty by $200 a month and she has $53k available to withdraw at any time that she thought was gone, because it was never really explained with her what she had. A simple phone call later and she was crying and gave me a hug. The things like this are what get you referrals later, and make this job worth it.
 
Update: My client got declined with the replacing carrier after being "approved". (1035 forms sent to NWM). Blessing in disguise, and she was thankful as she wasn't able to get through to their cancellation department after being on hold for over 45 minutes.

I met with her husbands referral to his farming partner and am in the process of designing an income plan for retirement (plans to retire in 8-10 years). Retire in farmers terms means transitioning the corp to his 2 sons, and still "helping/farming with his sons". He has investable assets over 4m, and we're planning to use 500k, and letting it grow for +- 10 years with an income rider.

He also had a large UL from 1988 that he had been concerned about because it was projected to lapse in 12 years off current assumption. 660k DB with 112 CV and premium of 12k/yr. He is 58nt and in great health (no RX) so we have requested and are waiting on the inforce illustration. When we get the inforce we're doing a Performance Evaluation and shopping the case with Med records in hand to multiple carriers. We've already run it past a few carriers and it should be a very easy replacement. With the securities portion of his portfolio, he wants to meet with my advisor I referred him to as his hasn't returned phone calls or done reviews since being with him.

This all started from a simple policy review, and will likely be one of the top 10 cases altogether (between my clients husbands 340k FIA, and his business partners 500k FIA and life case) that I've done in the last 7 years since becoming an agent. If you do a couple of these a year with all of your other sales its not a bad living compared to most careers.
 
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