Disability
Disability
Disability
Long Term Care and Disability Insurance
Prospecting for Disability Income Protection: Who is Your Target…
Presented by Michelle Daharsh Are you having the conversation with your prospects about disability income protection? Or are you reluctant to bring up the conversation for fear that you may not know the answer. With so many types of clients, of all ages and different incomes and occupations, who do you prospect for first? The easy answer just might be: young couples. Start the conversation about disability income with young couples who have recently bought a home or are starting a family. These life events are the best time for them to begin to build a foundation of financial protection with disability income being a cornerstone of their coverage. So how do you talk to them about need? Individuals in this age group have a lifetime of earning potential remaining and probably haven’t looked at the big picture of what that potential is. Income is their most important asset because their lifestyle and long-term plans depend on it. If faced with an illness or injury that keeps them from working and earning an income it can quickly impact other assets and take years to rebuild. Communicate to them about the value of their ability to earn an income and explain what’s at risk. Most young couples think disability is about getting hurt, not sickness. Explain what’s at risk should they lose their wage earning ability because of an illness or injury. Disability rates are based on occupational risk, their age and current health. Prospects in their 20s and 30s typically are easier to get through underwriting because at this age they are generally in good health with fewer past health issues. There are many flexible ways to create and design full coverage for your client when using disability income products, but they won’t know about their options unless you are willing to start the conversation today!
Disability
DI Made Easier
Presented by Tim Dreher Are you like me when it comes to selling Income Protection? I love to get out there and meet new people and give them peace of mind by helping them to protect their greatest asset – their ability to earn a paycheck. But after the client says “yes”, I dread all of the paperwork that comes with the sale. Is it just me or have applications become as big as phone books recently? Well, fear not fellow agents. Thanks to several of our DI carriers, we now have a solution to those long, long applications with a streamlined application process called a tele-app. The tele-app is a shortened version of the regular application with Section B (medical questions, prescriptions, and health history) of the application missing. The agent completes only parts A and C of the application, which consists of basic demographic information and the signature page. Once the application is submitted to the carrier, the client receives a simple and brief (normally 15-20 minutes) fact finding phone call by a highly trained and experienced telephone interviewer well versed in underwriting and medical terminology. If something comes up in the client’s health history during the call that raises a red flag, the experienced interviewer is able to ask the right follow-up questions for clarification, helping to reduce the need for attending physician’s statements, medical records and paramedical exams. This has been shown to cut the underwriting process by as much as thirty-three percent. Quicker issue time means you get paid faster. Finally, another great benefit of the tele-app is to avoid having to ask your client about their personal and private health history, which in many situations, can be a little awkward and uncomfortable for both of you. In a nutshell, the tele-app simplifies the sales process for both the agent and the client, resulting in a quicker issue time. Be sure to give the tele-app a try with your next client. You’ll be glad you did.
Long Term Care and Disability Insurance
Helping a Business Owner Keep The Business Running
Presented by Michelle Daharsh When small business owners become disabled, there’s a lot more at stake than just their personal obligations to their family. Ongoing business expenses such as rent, utilities, employee salaries and property taxes all need to be met, regardless if the business owner is there or not. Your clients may already have disability income insurance in place to cover their personal expenses and income, but think about what would happen to those clients that own a business if they had a serious accident or an illness? How long would your client’s business survive, and how would they pay their monthly expenses in order to keep their business open? Business Overhead Expense (BOE) insurance is designed to help protect your client’s business if they were to become disabled due to a serious illness or accident and are unable to work. Not only does that business owner have their own personal expenses to worry about, but they also have to pay employee salaries, rent, taxes, utilities, and a host of other expenses of their business. How are they going to be able to do this if they can’t work? Those bills could add up quickly if there isn’t business expense protection in place. A BOE policy will provide monthly payments to help pay those overhead expenses of the business and give your client the peace of mind that their business will continue to be up and running while they are recovering! Without Business Overhead insurance, your client may have to consider other alternatives or potentially close their doors permanently. Unlike a personal disability income policy, which can pay benefits to age 65 due to a disability, a business overhead expense policy generally has a shorter benefit period of one to two years, but for a very specific reason. It allows a business owner that may be recovering from a disability, the time to get things back to some form of normalcy. However, if the disability of the owner is going to be more permanent, then it gives the owner ample time to explore alternatives for the business without being under a hardship to make a quick decision. Give your small business owner clients the power to help protect what they have worked so hard for with a Business Overhead expense policy!
Long Term Care and Disability Insurance
4 Common Mistakes Your Clients May Be Making When…
Presented by Michelle Daharsh When having a conversation about disability income protection with your clients, you will probably come across some common reasons stated as to why they don’t need it or want it. Most times when your client is asked about “disability insurance” they think it’s about getting hurt or injured. A better way to get their attention is asking them how long they could go without a paycheck. Below are four common reasons that your clients aren’t buying “paycheck protection” insurance – or Disability Income Insurance:- It won’t happen to me because I plan to stay healthy. We all think and hope this. However, one in four 20 year olds will become disabled by the time they are age 67. (Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet, February 2013). How many of your clients will possibly fall into this statistic? In fact, illnesses account for approximately 90% of disability insurance claims…not accidents.
- Social Security will take care of me, right? It may, but will your clients qualify for benefits? How long will it take to get approved and how much will they receive? About 45% of individuals that apply for Social Security disability benefits are initially denied, and those who are approved receive an average of $1100 a month. Plus, it’s a process that can potentially take up to two years for approval before benefits begin. How long can your client wait for a paycheck and would this average benefit be enough?
- I have coverage through my Employer. Many times through employer plans, the benefits are taxed, policies are not portable, and they have maximum limits on benefits offered. This is a great opportunity where you can provide education on their actual benefits and truly uncover the additional income protection that you could provide them with an individual policy.
- I can rely on my savings. They probably can for a limited time, but have your clients really looked at their day-to-day living expenses and priorities and figured out how long their savings would last? About half of working Americans report that they couldn’t make it 30 days without a paycheck. Do your clients fit in this category? Can they make it a month, three months, a year – and if they have savings, is it really enough to cover them for an extended period of time.