Life Insurance for Special Needs

[Peter Crowley]

Dear Colleagues,
I have a client who is the parent of a severely disabled "child" The child in this case is 21 with severe autism and has a history of seizures. She takes deprakaut (excuse spelling) which seems to control the seizures. Child had a pacemaker inserted as a young child. The proposed insured needs assistance with activities of daily living and is wheelchair bound.

Is there any chance that this person can qualify for a final expense policy?
The father would be the owner and beneficiary. We recognize that this case presents a major underwriting challenge. Appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

Thank you
Peter Crowley
Insurance Broker

 

[AlTheGud1sRtakn]

You could get an accidental death policy but I don't know anyone that would take them outside of that until age 40 and then you're looking at a graded benefit.

 

[DHK]

Why aren't you looking at coverage on the caregivers?

This document may give you some ideas on planning for children with special needs:
http://vsa.fsonline.com/vsap/pdfs/1c1-02-ST.pdf

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http://www.insurance-forums.net/for...lpful-tips-special-needs-planning-t67380.html

 

[WinoBlues]

Dear Colleagues,
I have a client who is the parent of a severely disabled "child" The child in this case is 21 with severe autism and has a history of seizures. She takes deprakaut (excuse spelling) which seems to control the seizures. Child had a pacemaker inserted as a young child. The proposed insured needs assistance with activities of daily living and is wheelchair bound.

Is there any chance that this person can qualify for a final expense policy?
The father would be the owner and beneficiary. We recognize that this case presents a major underwriting challenge. Appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

Thank you
Peter Crowley
Insurance Broker

I hope someone comes up with something. I have a couple young adult PIs in similar situations. Once he reaches Columbian has a 3 yr GI available.

Side note: Illustrates another place that an existing convertible child rider would have been very useful.

 

[Brian Anderson]

This article may also provide some insight and resources that may help your clients:

Insurance Forums | Helping those who need it most: How to overcome the challenges of special needs planning

 

[UW Guy]

Dear Colleagues,
I have a client who is the parent of a severely disabled "child" The child in this case is 21 with severe autism and has a history of seizures. She takes deprakaut (excuse spelling) which seems to control the seizures. Child had a pacemaker inserted as a young child. The proposed insured needs assistance with activities of daily living and is wheelchair bound.

Is there any chance that this person can qualify for a final expense policy?
The father would be the owner and beneficiary. We recognize that this case presents a major underwriting challenge. Appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

Thank you
Peter Crowley
Insurance Broker

As DHK pointed out, get coverage secured on the parents with a trustee appointed so there's something in place when the parents die. This would be tough to place with virtually anyone given the list of issues here.

 

[L5tc]

How does the convertible child rider work

 

[WinoBlues]

How does the convertible child rider work

Each company has their own options and even that can depend on the series or date the policy was written.

In general the rider is only to a certain age, say age 25. At 25 the owner can convert the plan to a permanent policy. Many times up to 5 or 6 times the face amount regardless of health. Example a $20,000.00 child rider may be convertible to $100,000.00 at age 25. Easy, just a couple signatures, no medical underwriting. Of course a lot of times it becomes a cross sell and not a conversion.

I have converted child riders on kids with cancer history, Wounded Warriors, in a coma, crack addicts and so on.

Child riders are just more inventory.

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Also, a lot of the child conversions/cross sales have becomes larger family policies later. Freshens up my book.

 

[ShawnSIM]

How does the convertible child rider work

At a certain age, usually the 18-25 range depending on the carrier, the rider can be converted without proving insurability. This way the kiddo has his or her own policy that they would not have otherwise qualified for on their own.

 

[bubblegirl22]

Some carriers have a whole life simplified uw policies for these cases. No medical underwriting as long as they are not terminally ill, not waiting on a transplant, and not diagnosed with AIDS. I agree with previous poster, write the parents so their child or siblings will be taken care of should the inevitable happen.