California Term Life Insurance
What is Term Life Insurance?Term Life Insurance is what we call "Temporary Life Insurance". As the name suggests, this form of insurance is only designed to run for a limited period of time. Most often, Term Life Insurance is sold to cover 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 year time periods. Once the term expires, so does your insurance. One great option most Term Life Insurance policies offer is the opportunity to convert all or some part of the death benefit to permanent life insurance down the road. The good news is that you can do this without the medical qualification. The bad news is that you will need to pay for the cost of your new, converted policy based on your age at time of conversion.
Term Life Insurance is quite cheap compared to Permanent Life Insurance. You can probably guess why. Unlike Permanent Life Insurance, most people out-live their term which makes it a great revenue-producing product for the insurance companies. In fact, only 2% of people actually file for a death claim with Term Life Insurance. Remember that insurance is all about risk. The more risk, the higher the cost.
Is Term Life Insurance bad?
Absolutely not. It is a wonderful life insurance product for those who wish to cover a specific period of time. Most often, this would be a loan, business contract or a mortgage. Term Life Insurance is also good for young families or people who can't afford to buy a permanent life insurance policy. It's better to cover some risk than no risk.
What to look for when buying Term Life Insurance:
1.) As always, an "A" rated insurance company that has been in business for a long time. Don't get stuck on a name brand as there are many companies that you may have not heard of that are rated just as well or better than the companies you have heard of.
2.) A product that provides a good conversion option. Sadly, there is a new trend in the industry that severely limits your choices.
3.) Shop around to find the best deal as not all Term Life Insurance companies evaluate risk the same way.
Things that should raise your antenna when shopping for Term Life Insurance:
When buying Term Life Insurance, sometimes a lazy or pushy agent will employ four tricks to get you to commit. The first trick is the "medical close". This is when a life insurance agent pushes you to quickly complete the "mini check up" that all insurance companies require when applying. The goal here is to lock you into the buying process and keep you from changing companies if a medical issue is discovered which causes your rate to go up. This strategy is used by agents who need to fill their monthly application quotas as they can show their boss that they have signed up a lot of clients. It also exploits human nature as many agents think that the consumer will be too lazy to go through the application process again and will just settle for a high rate. This is good for the agent but not so good for you. There is always a possibility that another insurance company may see your risk differently and charge you a much lower rate.
The second trick is a rate that sounds too good to be true or is "thrown" at you without any kind of evaluation. Online Term Life Insurance shopping sites are notorious for this. You fill out a brief questionnaire and all of a sudden, 10 gazillion rates flow in that are quite low. This is the old "bait and switch" tactic. Life Insurance, especially for people who have "high risk" medical problems, requires that an agent call several insurance companies and speak with an underwriter to see what you can qualify for. Avoid the surprise of a rate that is triple in cost than what you originally were expecting by using an agent who will shop the field to see who is offering the best rate for you.
The third trick used by some agents is the old, "it's just a few dollars more" a month line. Think of it this way. You are comparing two different insurance companies which are $3 apart on a monthly basis. Lets say you have applied for a 30-year Term Life Insurance policy. That's $3 X 12 months = $36 a year. Then we multiply that by 30 years and that's an extra $1,080 that you are paying for the same life insurance!
The fourth trick is when an agent is adamant about selling just one company or adds a whole bunch of riders to your policy. He or she will show you pie charts, graphs, PowerPoint presentations demonstrating why his company and/or rider selection is worth a higher cost. Sometimes there are differences that justify a higher cost but most of the time it comes down to a higher commission for the agent. Good for the agent, bad for you. Unlike other insurance products, Term Life Insurance is pretty straight forward. There aren't as many "moving parts" as with other lines of insurance. Are they all the same? No, but most of the time, Term Life Insurance is just as good with one company as it is with another.
How Bradley Associates Insurance Service benefits you:
No sales gimmicks or greedy commission tricks used here. We will take the time to shop out your case to multiple Term Life Insurance companies to see who has the best rate for you, not us. If you have a medical condition, we will discuss your case with multiple life insurance companies to see what kind of rate you can potentially qualify for. We don't like surprises and we know you don't either. We're satisfied when the rate we have quoted you is the rate you receive when your life application is approved. One quick note about this. We can't control what's in your medical records or how well your "mini check-up" goes. The insurance company has the final say on acceptance and price after they review your medical and personal information. This is why it is crucial that you tell us everything about your health before we go shopping for you. Insurance companies won't take your word for it and will research your medical history, so get a copy of your medical records so that we can review your medical information beforehand.
Do you need to pay us for our services?
No! We are paid a "finders fee" by the insurance company for bringing you to them.
Is it cheaper to buy from the insurance company directly?
No! The rate we offer is the same rate that the insurance company will charge you if you purchase your policy directly from them. The only difference is that we have no obligation to pick one company over another. Our job is and will always be to impartially shop out your request to multiple Term Life Insurance companies and see who offers you the best deal!
California Term Life Insurance Quotes
To request a personalized California life insurance quote please call 800-500-1916.