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by Steve Daiber, Regional Senior Vice President
Each year Symetra Life Insurance Co. processes many thousands of life insurance applications. Several times a year, we receive claims from the beneficiaries of an applicant who died during the 30-day period it typically takes to go from application to approval.
I recall a case a few years back where the parents of a 21-year-old college student in Oregon applied to purchase a 20-year, $50,000 term life policy on behalf of their graduating daughter. Just days after the application was submitted, she and two companions were killed in a tragic car accident. Before any regular billings were due, Symetra Life paid her parents the full death benefit of $50,000.
Symetra Life is one of only a handful of companies that offer "temporary" life insurance protection to eligible term life and universal life applicants. That means whether or not your client is ultimately approved, if they are eligible for temporary coverage they are automatically covered up to $250,000 from the day they submit their application1 — no ifs, ands or buts.
What’s the Difference?
Traditional "conditional receipt" is the type of coverage offered by many companies while an application is being underwritten. There are several disadvantages to a conditional receipt, including:
- Coverage is "conditional." Coverage is typically in effect from the date of the application or any required medical exam, but only if the client ultimately qualifies for coverage.
- Benefits may be reduced. Some conditional receipts stipulate that temporary coverage will be for a reduced death benefit.
- Coverage is uncertain. Terms vary from insurer to insurer, but claims may be denied if the applicant fails to qualify for the applied-for rate. Because of this, customers are unsure of what coverage they have while waiting for approval of a new policy.2
With Symetra Express, you can help eligible clients get a quote, apply for and walk away with a binding certificate of temporary coverage in less than 10 minutes. Even if their application is not approved, even if they are bumped to a different rate class, your client is covered. There are a few conditions, of course. To get the 90 days of temporary coverage the applicant must:
- Answer questions honestly. There can be no fraud or material misrepresentation on the application.
- Be in reasonably good health. The applicant must not have been hospitalized within the previous 90 days or have been treated for a serious illness in the past two years, such as cancer or heart problems.
- Submit payment. For temporary coverage, your client must submit or authorize payment. This can be done by check or by completing our bank draft (EFT) form: "Initial Payment by Bank Draft (LA4030Z)." Or, if the application is taken using our online tool on Symetra Express, simply complete the EFT, credit card or debit card authorizations included as a part of the process.
The ability to help your client walk away with a certificate of temporary insurance is a powerful tool for making the sale stick. Because the client has already made arrangements for payment, you don’t have to "resell" the policy once it’s approved. Plus, because your client doesn’t actually pay for the period of temporary insurance coverage from the application date to the issued date, they are essentially getting 13 months of coverage for 12 months of premium.
Other Symetra Plusses
Many agents and their clients want to wait and see what kind of coverage they actually qualify for before taking the plunge. At Symetra, we’ve made it easy for you to give your clients an accurate quote the first time.
Our online rate calculator provides the guidance you need to get it right. Plus, our short application is designed to give more weighting to the information you and your client know — like height, weight and smoking habits. These things are easily known and answered in the initial application, and because they get more weight than the subsequent medical exam, your client is less likely to be surprised and disappointed with a higher rate than you quoted.
More than 92 percent of our applicants are offered standard or preferred rates, with 32 percent receiving our very best rate — far more than the industry average of 25 percent.
Even if you quote conservatively, Symetra Life will always offer the best rate your clients qualify for. About 10 to 15 percent of our applicants are offered a better rate than they applied for, which means we will offer to sell them more insurance for the same or sometimes a lower price.
When your client completes our underwriting requirements, we will offer you the highest amount those requirements will satisfy under our "Upsell" program. Of the offers we make for additional coverage, about 25 percent of clients opt for the upsell — your client gets more coverage now, without additional underwriting, and you get a bigger commission.
For more information about the Symetra Express quote-and-apply Web tool and our full line of life insurance products, contact the Symetra Sales center at invest@symetra.com or 1-800-706-0700.
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