Life, STD, LTD, CI carriers

[bobson]

Who are the big players in the employee benefit market? Who works well with small business 2-20 employees?

 

[ABC]

Who are the big players in the employee benefit market? Who works well with small business 2-20 employees?

Great question
There are many carriers that sell just ancillary products.
Very few are competitive in that 2-20 market.
To sell voulantary in that market is very tough because you need at least 10 employees to take it.

MetLife is Ok
Jefferson Pilot was very competitive till they got bought out.
Assurant ancillary division has a good product line for small group but rates are high.
Guardian has good plan designs but not really competitive.

I would quote all of them but in my market Metlife is a bit cheaper than the rest.

What I have been doing is some of the health insurance carriers now have ancillary products so you can bundle the entire benefit package under one carrier.

 

[Delta76]

As far as STD & LTD, it will depend on the size of the group. With 10 or over employees, it is easy to get guaranteed issue, typically Assurant comes out on top for me. In the under 10 market, it gets more difficult. Principal has a good STD/LI combination very well priced, but everyone needs to be in decent health. Otherwise, on the voluntary STD front, Illinois Mutual has a product that can be written down to two lives guaranteed issue (at least 3 eligible) for groups with some health issues. They are able to do this due to a 1 year pre-ex wait for benefits.

For CI, I don't do much of this in a group setting, or individual setting for that matter. However, I believe Assurity has a decent product, but others will be able to offer more insight.

As far as pure voluntary supplemental products in this type of market, the options are more limited. Both AFLAC and Colonial work this market and will give you a cut, my preference is with Colonial of the two. Another one to check out is American Heritage (part of Allstate).

 

[Labman]

Fwiw, Colonial appears to have a much better reputation amongst brokers and consumers vs. the duck. Just do a search on here for AFLAC.

 

[jrusso5050]

There are actually many carriers that offer life, dental, STD & LTD in the 2+ market. Some with multiple year rate guarantees.

 

[bobson]

There are actually many carriers that offer life, dental, STD & LTD in the 2+ market. Some with multiple year rate guarantees.

Can you let the cat out of the bag....

 

[mcleanbr]

I have used Brokers National Life for dental, std, ltd, life in the 3+ market. Easy to work with and the dental is pretty good.