How do I pick a life insurance company?

Roughly 1,000 life insurance companies in the U.S. Many companies sell life insurance in the U.S., but are members of a group of companies and therefore are not really competitive with each other. Being separate companies allows a group to offer its products through different distribution channels, meet the regulatory requirements of particular states more efficiently, or achieve other organizational goals. There are an estimated three hundred company groups.

life insurance company

In addition, not every group has a company licensed to operate in each state. As a general rule, you should buy from a company licensed in your state, because then you can rely on your state insurance department to help if you have a problem. And if the insurance company goes bankrupt, your state's Life Insurance Guarantee Fund will only help policyholders from companies that have licenses. To find out which companies are licensed in any state, contact the state insurance department for that state.

There are several other things to keep in mind while choosing a life insurance company:

Products – Most, but not all, companies offer a wide range of policies and features, so choose a company that provides products and features that meet your needs.

Identity - Life insurance company names can be confusing, and different companies can have similar names. Life insurance company names often use terms that refer to financial strength (such as a guarantee, reserve, or security), financial sophistication (such as banker, financial, or investor), maturity (such as First, Pioneer, or Old), dependency (such as eg) suggest. assured, reliable, trust), fairness (such as beneficial, equitable, or people), breadth of operations (such as continental, national, or international), government (such as American, capital, or republic), or well-known and respected Americans (such as Jefferson , Franklin, or Lincoln). Make sure you know the full name, home office location and affiliation (if any) of any company (for example, click here).

Financial soundness - Life insurance is a long-term arrangement. There is no guarantee for life insurance policyholders provided for bank accounts by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Use ratings from independent rating agencies to select a company that has the potential to be financially sound for many years.

Market Ethics - Some life insurance companies subscribe to the principles and code of conduct of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, a non-profit organization that promotes ethical conduct in life insurance marketing.

Advice and Service - For many people, life insurance is an awkward, complicated product, so it makes sense to deal with a representative you can communicate with and who is attentive to your needs. This may be linked to life insurance company selection as some agents represent only one or very few life insurance companies. See How do I choose a life insurance agent?

Claims - You can check the national claims database to see information on complaints about a company. Also, your state insurance department will be able to tell you if the insurance company you are considering doing business with has a number of consumer complaints about its service in relation to the number of policies sold.

Premium and Cost - Premium is the amount you pay to the company for a life insurance contract with all its benefits. Even for a given death benefit and type of insurance (eg, term life), premiums can vary widely between companies, either because some companies' policies have features that Others do not, or because some charge more than others for similar coverage. , So the first step in comparing policies is to ensure that you compare similar insurance plans on the basis of:

- Your Age

- Policy type and policy features

- The amount of insurance you are buying

The premium for the policy is not the same as the cost of the cover portion of the policy. One policy may have higher premiums, but it also offers higher benefits than others (for example, this policy may pay dividends). Or both may promise dividends, but in different amounts at different times. In each case, a higher-premium policy may have a lower cost of protection. How can you tell what the policy costs? Companies should tell you a policy's net payment cost index and its surrender cost index. If you plan to hold the insurance only for a specific period, use the Surrender Cost Index; If you expect the policy to last indefinitely, use the Net Payment Cost Index. Generally, the lower the cost index, the better.

source: iii.org only information purpos.