I know that I have been stressing lately that understanding the contracts that you purchase is important and this week was an example where neither the purchaser, the beneficiary nor the person selling the policy understood the outcome of the policy that was purchased. An employee of one of my groups passed away and I met with them to fill out the forms for the employee life insurance. That part of the life insurance is going well, thank goodness.
They called me and asked if I could help them with some Life Insurance that was purchased for their Line of Credit and their Car Loan. The employee who passed away had pre-existing medical issues. The employee has been paying on these policies for at least 3 years and in the people’s defence who sold the policies, the employee signed a form that confirmed there was a pre-existing condition. Where my struggle comes in is when I called the two places he purchased the insurance from, neither one barely knew what a pre-existing condition was let alone the definition that was in the contract they sold the employee. I asked them to please send me the wording in the contract and I had to go to 2 or 3 people to get a copy of the contract. Unfortunately, there will not be any Life Insurance paid out on either of these loans. Needless to say it was a difficult discussion to have with someone who is trying to wrap their head around losing their spouse and now has to understand a definition in an insurance contract. Where I struggle, the Insurance Company gets the blame but where does the person who sold it come in???
Please people, it is not always about price or ease. Do the work at time of purchase. Complete the medical upfront, give them your income information if required, know what you purchased, confirm what you are approved for and know that your family will be looked after at time of claim. When you pass away, your family’s life changes, not just in the loss of you but loss of your income as well. It is about understanding what you are buying and ensuring you have a broker who will be there for you and your family when you need to make a claim. I don’t ever want to have this conversation again.
This is why I have started working with Sandy McAllister who specializes in Life and Critical Illness Insurance. Call me to set up a time to review what you have or don’t have so we can have a kinder conversation at time of claim.
Glendinning Insurance Services, Your Resource Specialist