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Posted an article this week (link below) from Steve Burgess, President of the Center for Life Insurance Disputes, which represents beneficiaries of denied life insurance claims.
After speaking with hundreds of beneficiaries of denied life insurance claims, Burgess says he knows its obvious agents bring an even bigger value to buyers than just explaining policy features. Agents protect the colossal risk that causes claims to end up in what he calls the “Pit of Denied Claims.”
From the article:
When mistakes are made on an application – and the only person who can reveal the truth of why a certain answer was given is dead – the policy claim gets denied and drops into the Pit of Denied Claims.
By our estimates at the Center for Life Insurance Disputes, a staggering six times more claims are denied when the policy was purchased without an agent than those purchased with an agent. Thus, the colossal risk of buying life insurance without an agent is that nothing gets explained when completing the application. The result is an application much more likely to include unintentional misstatements of information which will dramatically increase the chances of a claim being denied.
Online applications rarely leave space for explanations of the applicant’s medical history. They literally have no place for an applicant to give details. Applications completed without an agent are limited to two possible responses: Yes or No. Agents, on the other hand, know to give application details and can communicate directly with an underwriter so the applicant’s medical history is fully disclosed.
Life insurers put significant effort into investigating claims for the purpose of denying them. For more than any other reason, life insurance claims are denied for mistakes in application answers.
https://insurance-forums.com/life-insurance/colossal-risk-buying-life-insurance-without-agent/
After speaking with hundreds of beneficiaries of denied life insurance claims, Burgess says he knows its obvious agents bring an even bigger value to buyers than just explaining policy features. Agents protect the colossal risk that causes claims to end up in what he calls the “Pit of Denied Claims.”
From the article:
When mistakes are made on an application – and the only person who can reveal the truth of why a certain answer was given is dead – the policy claim gets denied and drops into the Pit of Denied Claims.
By our estimates at the Center for Life Insurance Disputes, a staggering six times more claims are denied when the policy was purchased without an agent than those purchased with an agent. Thus, the colossal risk of buying life insurance without an agent is that nothing gets explained when completing the application. The result is an application much more likely to include unintentional misstatements of information which will dramatically increase the chances of a claim being denied.
Online applications rarely leave space for explanations of the applicant’s medical history. They literally have no place for an applicant to give details. Applications completed without an agent are limited to two possible responses: Yes or No. Agents, on the other hand, know to give application details and can communicate directly with an underwriter so the applicant’s medical history is fully disclosed.
Life insurers put significant effort into investigating claims for the purpose of denying them. For more than any other reason, life insurance claims are denied for mistakes in application answers.
https://insurance-forums.com/life-insurance/colossal-risk-buying-life-insurance-without-agent/