TransAmerica-Sets Aside $for Future PayOut?

[jdeasy]

When I deliver a policy, and sometimes during the sale, I'll tell them that "for every policy at every company in every state if you die during the first two years the company has a right to check with your doctor to make sure the application was truthful". I've never had anyone back away from the sale or not understand how that works.

I had a claims rep tell me one time when I was working to get a contestable claim paid that we should never tell people that the coverage is immediate.

I told her I would make a deal with her, "Y'all stop putting it on your literature that's it's immediate and I'll stop telling people it is". Crickets.

 

[BibH]

Lol Jerard try telling a client "If you die in the first 2 yrs it will take 3-9 months to pay the funeral home and they might get nasty while waiting" and see what they say. All you're telling the client is "they have the right" to check your doctor's records not that they 100% will".

 

[Jerard]

Lol Jerard try telling a client "If you die in the first 2 yrs it will take 3-9 months to pay the funeral home and they might get nasty while waiting" and see what they say. All you're telling the client is "they have the right" to check your doctor's records not that they 100% will".

Well... Lol, on your first part I may be honest but I'm not stupid. On the last that's basically what I tell them.

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I had a claims rep tell me one time when I was working to get a contestable claim paid that we should never tell people that the coverage is immediate.

I told her I would make a deal with her, "Y'all stop putting it on your literature that's it's immediate and I'll stop telling people it is". Crickets.

True, if you don't tell them it is immediately they will assume that it's not.

 

[indiana260]

Deadly that sounds awful quick for a $200k contestable claim. Heck most contestable Fe claims for $5k take 3-6 months.

Allot of that comes down to how well the claim is filed. I coach my bene on how to expedite. Contacting DR to have records ready, asking Dr if they have referred the client to other Dr ECT.

Also on the of how well companies pay claims I will always say it's a big factor of field UW. You are either digging for the truth or agreeing to make a sale. With that said, there are dishonest people and very gullible people that will take an agents word and agree to say no.

So, I would like to hear an honest fact of how many agent that get contested claims denied that knew it was coming.

In my case I have had 5 and 4/5 have been paid. And the truth is I , based off the application and phone interview, the claim should have been paid

 

[rousemark]

I had a vice president of one of the companies that specializes in FE tell me that the FE industry average is 40%. Meaning only 40% are paid.

I tend to believe that figure. If anything it's exaggerated. I had a claims person at Americo tell me about 8 or 9 years ago that they call it the "50/50 gamble" in the claims dept.

I was told that CL told their agents at their last convention that they paid 48% of contestable claims.

The guy that told me the industry average was 40% said he wasn't sure of their percentage when I asked. So he knows the industry average but not his own??

There's a reason companies won't tell the percentage they pay. And it's not because they are proud of it.

Settlers even gives diverted numbers so you won't know. They say they pay 98% of all death claims. Which is probably true. But they are including the non contestable claims in that number. They will not tell you the numbers on only the contestable claims.

There should be a way for us to find out. But I don't know what it is.

I have no reason to doubt what you say. My observation is based primarily on what I have personally seen which, admittedly is a very small sample. Plus, some of it goes back 40+ years which was a time when some companies did not seem as focused on the bottom line as they are now. On the other hand, if companies are only paying on 40% of their contestabe claims, that means they have to find "material" misstatements or omissions on 60% of the applications. That seems extremely high.

 

[Agentguy5]

Now I'm confused - forgive the ignorance..

How is the "burial benefit" useful if it doesn't pay immediately? I was under the impression the entire motivation for a buyer is so they can get the $ immediately to be "buried"...??

In most cases they do pay out pretty quick, but these guys are talking about paying out when the prospect dies within the first 2 years of the insurance purchase.

 

[VolAgent]

Trans is able to cover almost anybody because they do not pay contestable claims. So essentially they have literally 0 risk within 2 yearS of policy starting. I've never heard of a contestable polciy paid by trans and I doubt I ever will.. not paying contestable claims opens up a lot of different covering options ect

Your avatar is a picture of their literature. I am curious why you sell a company you do not believe provides immediate coverage when they say they do, denying all contestable claims?

There was one company that denied every claim, including one they had told me they were going to pay. I quickly stopped writing that company. I realize some people do lie, but not everyone.

 

[jdeasy]

Allot of that comes down to how well the claim is filed. I coach my bene on how to expedite. Contacting DR to have records ready, asking Dr if they have referred the client to other Dr ECT.

Also on the of how well companies pay claims I will always say it's a big factor of field UW. You are either digging for the truth or agreeing to make a sale. With that said, there are dishonest people and very gullible people that will take an agents word and agree to say no.

So, I would like to hear an honest fact of how many agent that get contested claims denied that knew it was coming.

In my case I have had 5 and 4/5 have been paid. And the truth is I , based off the application and phone interview, the claim should have been paid

The companies certainly want to blame the agents. Seems that's working for them.

 

[VolAgent]

The companies certainly want to blame the agents. Seems that's working for them.

Because quite frankly, a lot of blame does lie with the agent. Short of getting medical records, how you can tell if someone needs help with ADLs, uses a wheelchair, oxygen, and several other health factors that don't require prescription medications? However, spending 30 minutes or more in a home, an agent can easily spot some of those clues. A wheelchair, the person never gets out of the chair, an oxygen tank or concentrator, the person is constantly short of breath, etc. Even evidence of tobacco use when the person claims to be a non-smoker. Or even just that general feeling the person is being less than honest.

Not all. People lie to agents all the time and some companies seem to be less than fair in handling claims.

I would say a lot is willful blindness on the part of agents, combined with some dishonest agents. I recall one of old timers, maybe it was Scott or Louis, posted about agencies that clean-sheeted everything and just hoped the person lived beyond 2 years.

 

[jdeasy]

Because quite frankly, a lot of blame does lie with the agent. Short of getting medical records, how you can tell if someone needs help with ADLs, uses a wheelchair, oxygen, and several other health factors that don't require prescription medications? However, spending 30 minutes or more in a home, an agent can easily spot some of those clues. A wheelchair, the person never gets out of the chair, an oxygen tank or concentrator, the person is constantly short of breath, etc. Even evidence of tobacco use when the person claims to be a non-smoker. Or even just that general feeling the person is being less than honest.

Not all. People lie to agents all the time and some companies seem to be less than fair in handling claims.

I would say a lot is willful blindness on the part of agents, combined with some dishonest agents. I recall one of old timers, maybe it was Scott or Louis, posted about agencies that clean-sheeted everything and just hoped the person lived beyond 2 years.

Yes, but if the guy was right about the 40%, and I have no way of knowing if he's right, there's no way that 60% is on the agents.

I know some times it's on the agents. There's one CL agent here and one SF agent here that Scott and I run across all the time that apparently have never written someone up as a smoker. Still, I can't believe those 2 agents are responsible for 60% of claims not paid.