Who Are The Competitive Life Insurance Companies

 

 

The answer to that question is: "it depends." If you are a non-smoker in good health, you should see most of the following companies towards the top of any worthwhile spreadsheet. If not, you may want to move on.

 

For non-tobacco users in good health, Banner, Symetra, Protective, and Pacific Life are excellent choices and one of them is usually the least expensive. 

 

For tobacco (but not cigarette smokers) users, John Hancock and Prudential are usually at the top. This assume one regularly uses chewing tobacco, smoke a pipe, or cigars. The exceptions are if an applicant smokes under 12-24 cigars a year, they may qualify for Super-Preferred assuming everything else checks out. 

 

For those with a family history of Cancer with a parent or sibling dying prior to age 60, most carriers will place them below Super-Preferred and probably at Standard. Banner and Pacific stand out here as they will ignore or consider someone at Super-Preferred, depending on the circumstances. 

 

A lot of people are dealing with high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Generally speaking, those conditions should not be a problem if they are well controlled with medication and are in normal limits. 

 

For Diabetics, this is where it gets tricky. Protective has produced good results for us in the past. One applicant I can think of was declined multiple times by several companies and Protective did insure him for $1,5000,000. So, you never know. 

 

Usually an A1C between 6.0 and 6.5 will get one Standard rates. Over 7.0 it most likely move to a Substandard or surcharge situation. Over 8, produces a substantial surcharge. 

 

The rates for Heart disease are all over the board as there are son many factors involved. That's why it's best to work with an experienced broker with access to several carriers. You want to avoid an agent working for one specific company as they are considered "captive agents." Many of the big name companies that you see every day generally have a captive agency force. 

 

So, bottom line, if you're not in tip-top shape, find a broker with multiple companies.