As we approach the end of 2012, it is only natural to reflect on the events of the year. For Creative Life, 2012 has brought many changes. Most notably has been a reorganization within the department to establish close-knit teams to better serve your needs. The team concept includes a Life Sales Relationship Manager (LSRM), a Life Sales Consultant (LSC) and a Life Sales Assistant (LSA). This team concept offers you a more efficient processing of your life business and allows you to establish a close working relationship with each of the individuals committed to helping you streamline sales and build your business. Consider how the responsibilities are broken up.
The LSRM’s responsibilities include working closely with you, our valued producer, as you develop plans for the safety and protection of your clients, while offering product information and underwriting pre-qualification assistance to give you a second set of eyes in the case design process. Your LSC then provides additional support as you build the financial foundation for your clients’ futures by providing product and carrier information, illustrations specific to your individual case, and access to accurate forms required. Once your life application has been approved through the underwriting process, your LSC will produce an illustration showing approved health class and advise you regarding the final steps needed to bring the case to a placed/paid status. After your client’s application is received at Creative Life, your LSA will review it for accuracy and notify you if there are missing forms or information that would be needed by the carrier prior to acceptance of the application. Your LSA also arranges the exam based on what is required by the carrier and provides you with timely and accurate case updates as the application moves through the underwriting process. Your team will also work with our concierge and in-house underwriters as necessary to ensure your clients receive the best possible offers and timely case placement.
The year 2012 also brought Creative Life a valuable new dedicated resource within the Strategic Marketing and Communications division. Wendy Hartley’s innovative marketing skills are providing exciting programs and presentations to assist you in reaching more potential clients on a favorable basis. She will continue to impact Creative Life and you in 2013.
Creative Life has added two new carriers to our stellar lineup. First, we are proud to welcome Nationwide Insurance Company to our roster. Nationwide offers life products to protect and build clients’ financial futures with innovative riders and niche underwriting. They also feature a strong Corporate-Owned Life Insurance (COLI) product within their Nationwide Business Solutions Group, which will offer agents expanded opportunity for sales with business owners and professionals. Secondly, Creative Life welcomes Mutual of Omaha into our product space. This carrier offers a broad product line with multiple simplified issue opportunities and easy application processing. Both Nationwide and Mutual of Omaha are quality Midwest companies with strong corporate values.
Creative Life and National Benefits Group (NBG) also formed a partnership in 2012. NBG is a boutique firm specializing in Corporate- and Bank-Owned Life Insurance (COLI and BOLI) planning. Our affiliation with NBG will open doors to opportunity that, without their expertise, might not have been possible. Call your Creative Life Sales Team to learn more about NBG and some of the advanced sales concepts this group can help you tackle.
This year revealed more carriers adding long-term care, chronic care and critical care riders to their life insurance products to answer the public demand for these benefits. Accelerated benefits may be based on a percentage of the total death benefit – or, in some cases, the carrier will allow your client to specify how much of the death benefit he or she wants to have available for potential care needs while maintaining a certain amount designated to pass at death to heirs. Even though most carriers have added the rider to permanent products only, there are a few that make it available on their term product line or have included a simplified issue component to their product making it a triple-play hit.
To expedite a sometimes tedious underwriting process, many carriers have designed life insurance applications that can be completed and submitted online. Even client and agent signatures can be obtained via computer. Some carriers have eliminated the need for you to ask your clients potentially personal questions about their health (a process that may not be comfortable for you when working with family and friends). These questions will be asked by an in-house employee of the carrier and will be compared with the answers obtained by the paramedical exam as a part of the underwriting process.
Due to the increasing reserve costs for carriers to provide lifetime guaranteed death benefit products, we have seen many new products whose guaranteed death benefit is based on life expectancy of the client while utilizing a current non-guaranteed rate of return to extend the benefit beyond life expectancy within the contract. Even though the fully guaranteed products are still available, many clients are willing to accept a life expectancy guaranteed plan that requires less premium outlay.
Finally, if you write variable universal life products, you now have another line of business to put through Creative Life. Clearly it has been a busy year at Creative Life, and we look forward to moving full speed ahead into the New Year. We thank you for your business and look forward to the opportunity to serve you in 2013. Watch for more exciting news to come.