Most agents and insurance professionals would agree that life insurance is rather straightforward: if an insured pays the premium, their beneficiaries get the benefit when the insured passes away. However, the keys to making more life insurance sales may be in the unexpected coverage that life insurance can provide. Highlighting these in meeting with clients could make a huge difference in your closing percentage.
Converting Term or Group Life Policies to a Permanent Life Insurance Policy
Most term life and group life policies come with the bulit-in means to convert the policy into an individual permanent life insurance policy. And this can usually be done without undergoing an additional medical exam or underwriting. But of course insureds need to understand that the extra value inherent in premanent insurance requires the payment of higher premiums. This conversion can be invaluable if the insured is diagnosed with a severe medical condition and they want to ensure continued life insurance coverage when the term life policy runs out.
Life Insurance Policies May Pay for Long-term Care
As another means to provide clients with more value for their life insurance premiums, many life insurers are developing policies that can be used in a number of meaningful ways. One means is the long-term care rider, which may be added at the time the insured buys the policy. Long-term care riders allow insureds to take immediate payouts to pay for assisted-living facilities, nursing homes, or other providers of care. The death benefit is then reduced by the amount the insured takes out.
What if the Insured becomes terminally ill?
If a client is diagnosed with a terminal illness, they may be able to tap into the policy benefits as a way to pay for medical bills or other immediate expenses. These are often termed "accelerated death benefits," or "living benefits," and may be automatically included many policies or as an attached rider.
Life Insurance Can Pay its Own Premium, if the Client Cannot
When an insured cannot pay their own insurance premiums, it may be valuable for them to know that the life insurance itself can take care of that. Insureds can often choose to have the policy pay its own way in the case of disability or other hardship.. By adding a "waiver of premium" rider when selling the policy, you can provide a huge benefit called “piece of mind” for your clients.
Use Permanent Policy Cash in a Financial Crisis
Having just survived a deep economic recession many clients may find it useful to know that their life insurance may provide valuable cash if needed. Instead of running up credit card debt in financially hard times, insureds can tap the available cash value that has built up within a permanent life insurance policy.
Summary
For clients what may be even better than getting an unexpected value from their life insurance, is the piece of mind of knowing their agent can provide alternatives and maximize value in a life insurance policy. Showing clients other means by which the policy can be helpful provides tremendous upside and value for your clients.
