Most of the major personal lines property and casualty insurers also offer life products. No doubt you have seen their television commercials. However, many life insurance agents represent only one insurer, such as Prudential Life, MONY (Mutual of New York), Metropolitan Life, or Northwestern National Life. Other agents may have the ability to place policies with multiple insurers. Term life insurance is one of the few forms of insurance coverage the average person might reasonably consider buying through the Internet.
There are several websites that permit a person to obtain multiple quotes. If you have decided that term life insurance is all you want or need, then using one of those sites is just fine. No life insurer will issue a policy without proof of insurability. All insurers require a signed application. The application includes detailed questions about your medical history. The application states that the insurer is relying on the representations in the application in making its decision whether to issue a policy to you and in determining the amount of premium to charge. The application normally is incorporated into the policy.
In addition, you must submit to a medical examination whose intent is to confirm whether your answers to certain of the questions on the application were truthful. Mostly, the medical examination consists of an appointment with a licensed venipuncturist. At that appointment, the venipuncturist will typically ask for proof of identification, take a blood specimen, and will usually ask you a detailed list of questions about whether you are a smoker and many if not all of the same medical history questions as were on the application.
The blood specimen taken will reveal one's HIV status, whether you are infected with any of the hepatitis viruses or syphilis, or reveal liver function, which, in turn can divulge many things about the state of your health. It also will reveal cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels, as well as your use of drugs or steroids.
In the traditional life insurance policy sales transaction, the agent completes the application, has you sign it, takes your check for the premium or deposit for the premium, and the policy is issued effective the date of the application. If the results of your medical exam reveal a material difference between what you stated on the application, your application is usually evaluated and underwritten again.
You will probably receive a counterproposal, often involving a higher premium than that originally quoted. In such a circumstance, the effective date of a life insurance policy will be the date the applicant accepts the insurer's counteroffer, usually by delivering payment of the difference between the deposit premium and the larger premium quoted in the counteroffer.
An insured may take out a life insurance policy on his or her own life for the benefit of named beneficiaries (which may include natural persons, or entities such as churches, schools, or any other organization) or for the benefit of his or her own estate. An insured has an insurable interest in his or her own life in providing a source of funds for his or her intended beneficiaries.
But there are many other uses of life insurance policies. For example, where partners in a business have a buy/sell agreement in place in the death of either, each is most often the owner of the policy covering the life of the other. That means control over payment of premiums and keeping the policy in force remains in the hands of the person for whose benefit the policy was taken out in the first place.
When a person other than the insured is to be the owner of a life insurance policy, there is some interest or obligation - usually economic - that needs to be secured or protected by the policy in the event of the death of the person insured. The reason why policy ownership is placed in the hands of a person other than the insured is to prevent the insured from meddling with the policy. This meddling may include letting it lapse by nonpayment of premiums or by changing the beneficiary to defeat the economic obligation that the policy was procured to protect.
In order for such a policy to be enforceable in situations in which the insured and owner of the policy are different persons, there must be some basis for the owner to be able to show an insurable interest in the insured's life. This requires the existence of collateral documentation why a policy is being issued on the life of Person A where the policy is to be owned by Person B.
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Webworldarticles.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
This article was sent to us by:
Caledon Pierce at
10072010
1. Facts about personal injury liability coverage exclusions
All articles in this directory are property of their respective authors. Additionally, read our Privacy Policy
© 2010 WebWorldarticles.com - All Rights Reserved. Partners: Gunblade Saga