Death Claim with Americo FE

[irish1098]

I had my 1st ever death claim, it was with Americo and took 6mo to get paid. It was still within the look back period but is this typical?

With that in mind does anyone know where I can to find stats on how quickly insurers pay? Some claim 24hrs (LH) is that possible?

Thanks

 

[Newby]

I had my 1st ever death claim, it was with Americo and took 6mo to get paid. It was still within the look back period but is this typical?

With that in mind does anyone know where I can to find stats on how quickly insurers pay? Some claim 24hrs (LH) is that possible?

Thanks

Funeral preplan insurance policies pay off within 24-hours (no death certificate needed) from Lincoln Heritage, ForeThought, Cincinnati Equitable, NGL, Monumental and most any other company I have heard of. They ALWAYS reserve the right to check out the medical records if the policy was within the first two years on a multi-pay policy but that usually only slows things down a day or two.

Of the final expense policies I only know of one company that puts in writing that most claims are settled within 24-hours (ForeThought) although I believe that Lincoln Heritage does have a good record of settleing quickly. Monumental and MetLife often settle claim within a week with no death certificate needed IF the policy is under $10,000 although they don't put this in writing.

The best thing to do when selling final expense is just let the family know that ALL (non-accidental) death claims in the first two years WILL be contested and will take months to settle. Most companies will take a month or two if the policy is past 24-months old.

Funeral homes use insurance assignment companies to get rapid (overnight) settlement on all policies. They usually pass a charge of 3 to 5% on to the family for this or give them a 5% discount to paying with a check. Assignment companies won't consider any policy that is less than 2-years old. Forethought and Lincoln Heritage both own two of these assignment companies.

The short answer to your first question is; Yes, six months is not unusual for settlement if death is within the first two policy years. And in many of these cases, they just return the premium because they find the health questions were answered incorrectly.

 

[WinoBlues]

Great info on which companies pay quickly.

""The best thing to do when selling final expense is just let the family know that ALL (non-accidental) death claims in the first two years WILL be contested and will take months to settle.""

Agreed, except all life policies will be reviewed, not just FE.

""Funeral homes use insurance assignment companies to get rapid (overnight) settlement on all policies.""

These really chap my ass. A lot of non-contestable FE claims can be paid in a day or two. United Heritage will wire the Funeral Home the same or next day after the FH sends them the assignment. No DC needed. Some are slower. Another form of 'Payday Loans".

""The short answer to your first question is; Yes, six months is not unusual for settlement if death is within the first two policy years. And in many of these cases, they just return the premium because they find the health questions were answered incorrectly.""

Here our experience differs. I have only had 1 claim take six months. Genworth and only $15,000. I was fit to be tied. It was my uncle.

Average is 45 days. Last year a 17 day old baby dies 2 days after I wrote the him as a cld rdr. The app was still on my desk when the aunt called me. With autopsy, records and police investigation it took about three months for them to pay it.

In 25 years I have only had one claim not paid. Actually it was more than a dozen, but on the same lady. A gypsy grandmother.

Funeral preplan insurance policies pay off within 24-hours (no death certificate needed) from Lincoln Heritage, ForeThought, Cincinnati Equitable, NGL, Monumental and most any other company I have heard of. They ALWAYS reserve the right to check out the medical records if the policy was within the first two years on a multi-pay policy but that usually only slows things down a day or two.

Of the final expense policies I only know of one company that puts in writing that most claims are settled within 24-hours (ForeThought) although I believe that Lincoln Heritage does have a good record of settleing quickly. Monumental and MetLife often settle claim within a week with no death certificate needed IF the policy is under $10,000 although they don't put this in writing.

The best thing to do when selling final expense is just let the family know that ALL (non-accidental) death claims in the first two years WILL be contested and will take months to settle. Most companies will take a month or two if the policy is past 24-months old.

Funeral homes use insurance assignment companies to get rapid (overnight) settlement on all policies. They usually pass a charge of 3 to 5% on to the family for this or give them a 5% discount to paying with a check. Assignment companies won't consider any policy that is less than 2-years old. Forethought and Lincoln Heritage both own two of these assignment companies.

The short answer to your first question is; Yes, six months is not unusual for settlement if death is within the first two policy years. And in many of these cases, they just return the premium because they find the health questions were answered incorrectly.

 

[irish1098]

Awesome stuff-Thanks so much

 

[Yoda]

WINO BLUES SAID- "Here our experience differs. I have only had 1 claim take six months. Genworth and only $15,000. I was fit to be tied. It was my uncle."
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I was thinking about selling a friend and his wife a quarter million dollar Genworh 20 yr term life plan on each of them in the next week or two. So your saying that isnt such a good idea!

 

[dgoldenz]

WINO BLUES SAID- "Here our experience differs. I have only had 1 claim take six months. Genworth and only $15,000. I was fit to be tied. It was my uncle."
================================================

I was thinking about selling a friend and his wife a quarter million dollar Genworh 20 yr term life plan on each of them in the next week or two. So your saying that isnt such a good idea!

Genworth is a good company, you shouldn't have any problems. Their financial rating has dipped and their conversion product is not guaranteed forever though, so if there's another company within a few bucks, you might want to consider other options.

 

[souldeux]

WINO BLUES SAID- "Here our experience differs. I have only had 1 claim take six months. Genworth and only $15,000. I was fit to be tied. It was my uncle."
================================================

I was thinking about selling a friend and his wife a quarter million dollar Genworh 20 yr term life plan on each of them in the next week or two. So your saying that isnt such a good idea!

Genworth is definitely on my B-list. They're a great company, yeah, but I've always found that the other players within a few dollars of them on most of their demographics (West Coast, Transamerica, whoever) have more to offer. Run a couple of quotes on Compulife and see who's competitive for them - if the difference between Genworth and another big name is only a small amount, then heck, go with the stronger team.

 

[WinoBlues]

No No I am not saying Genworth is bad. I have written a lot of it since. Each claim is different. The adjuster on my uncle's deal was an ass. They did pay. Death was due to cancer. Prior cancer history was of course disclosed. I will still concider them to write. Their GUL under $100,000 is hard to beat.

There are a lot of term companies to choose from. dgoldenz makes some very good points about financials and more importantly(IMHO) about conversion options. Which both can change. depending on the specs there are going to be several companies to choose from at $250,000.

The point of my post is that contestable claims will be investigated. and it will take some time.

WINO BLUES SAID- "Here our experience differs. I have only had 1 claim take six months. Genworth and only $15,000. I was fit to be tied. It was my uncle."
================================================

I was thinking about selling a friend and his wife a quarter million dollar Genworh 20 yr term life plan on each of them in the next week or two. So your saying that isnt such a good idea!

 

[jdeasy]

I just had an Americo client that I wrote in Feb. of this year die. I was wondering how long it would take them to pay.

 

[irish1098]

Sorry to say but could easily be 6mo. Granted every cause is different. What did you write, HMS, Ultra Portector etc?