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After the great fall of the global financial markets that took place beginning arguably in late September of 2008, many shoppers of insurance, in particular life insurance have become more focused in their selection of a life insurance carrier to do business with.
The overall financial strength of large and small insurance companies have been scrutinized under different financial rating agencies and public non-profit consumer protection agencies. If you are going to purchase life insurance anytime soon then a careful review of insurance company financial strength not only monthly premium offer are to be considered when selecting a life insurance policy, especially an expensive policy. You would not want your insurance company to be found financially weak half way through your 20 year termlife policy, especially after you have taken on some chronic illnesses or your complete health profile has changed for the worse such that if you applied for new insurance you would more than likely be declined for coverage. These are valid reasons to review your insurance carriers. There are standardized metrics for assessing the financial health of the insurance companies, in fact some of these organizations are world renown for assessing not only American insurance companies but also most financial products and companies that offer financial services.
Let us consider a few. A.M. Best Company provides very accurate news, credit ratings and financial information services and products for the insurance industry. It is also a worldwide insurance industry rating service and information agency with more than 100 years of history, it has offices in The United Kingdom, The United States and Hong Kong. A.M. Best has refocused its efforts in the analysis of the U.S. insurance companies and banks in light of the recent but not debilitating financial crisis. The company offers four levels of in depth rating; 1. Best’s Financial Strength Rating 2.Best’s Issuer Credit Rating 3. Best’s Debt Rating and 4. Best’s Bank Deposit Rating.
In regards to your purchase of life insurance Insurance ratings are offered as SECURE[ A++, A+], SUPERIOR [A, A-] and EXCELLENT [B++, B] . I will not list the other lower alphabetic grading values because any insurance company with lower ratings than what is listed above is not worth your time or monthly premium dollars. You want a life insurance company with healthy financial strength, one that can pay-out death benefit claims when needed—including yours to your family. However, A.M. Best is not the only respected and trusted ratings company available to you as a means of reviewing the company’s health. Your very own state’s insurance commissioner office has records on all the insurance companies chartered by your state to conduct business in your state. Usually, if you Google , “Department of Insurance Ohio”—I’m using Ohio as an example—or “State of Ohio Insurance Commissioner” it will produce results for your state. Simply scroll down to the module that says something like “Insurance Carriers” or “Insurance Companies “ and you will find subpages where you can research any legal action against any particular company that has occurred in the past 5 to 10 years usually. You can also call your state’s department of insurance and inquire, however this waiting process may take a couple days for them to return your phone call or email, or respond with a letter .
The state is acting on your behalf as a consumer of life insurance products and you can certainly trust their record of events on any insurance carrier you are interested in buying life insurance from. So, in conclusion, don’t leave any stones unturned in pursuit of quantifying your potential insurance carriers financial strength, claims paying history, and legal record within your state. These three issues are added features of the decision matrix you will employ to purchase life insurance. Don’t rely on the good sales pitch of your life insurance agent. Rely on your shopping skills as a consumer and get a second and a third opinion. I hope you found this article informative.
Tags: Finance, Insurance, investments, life insurance, retirement planning
Posted in Retirement · February 14th, 2010 · Comments (0)
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