As a life agent, you’re always looking to provide your clients with a best class rating. You also know that different carriers have different guidelines for underwriting applicants. This is just one of the many reasons it pays to do business with Creative Life. Rather than trying to go it alone, partner with your Life Sales Consultant and one of our two in-house underwriting consultants to better field underwrite a particular client and determine with which carrier(s) you should apply. As the marketplace continues to evolve, underwriting guidelines can change, but Creative will help you make decisions that result in the best outcomes for your clients.
In this column, we’ll take a look at a number of specific scenarios you may encounter as you try to field underwrite successfully. We’ll start by talking about clients who have high cholesterol, and those who may be taking medication to control the issue. Stay tuned in the months to come for tips on how to tackle additional underwriting challenges.
Cholesterol is a lipid produced and used by the body to keep us healthy. Some cholesterol is produced naturally, while some comes from the foods we eat. Just as there are two sources of cholesterol, there are two types of it. HDL is the “good” cholesterol, and LDL is the “bad.” HDL works to keep LDL from getting lodged in artery walls. LDL is produced by the body but may also be impacted by genetics. Too much can increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke, and elevated LDL may lead to coronary artery disease.
Most carriers prefer that clients have a cholesterol level of roughly 180 or below. However, if you have clients with high cholesterol, it still may be possible to position the case so that we get best class. First, we’ll break down the cholesterol into HDL and LDL and examine each one separately. Is the client’s HDL high? If so, we’ll highlight that positive. We can also take the total cholesterol number and divide it by the HDL number. If the result is roughly 5.0 or below, we’ll want to indicate this to the carrier.
In addition to looking more in depth at each cholesterol number itself, do the client’s blood pressure, EKG results, stress test and family history indicate pluses for the carrier? Is the cholesterol level well controlled through medication? If the client is older, does he or she still drive and complete daily activities without assistance? The more positive aspects of the client’s health and current situation we can highlight, the better.
Home office underwriters are audited, and therefore are forced to stick by set guidelines when underwriting an applicant. But if we do our job and help provide them with enough information to support the case, they can feel good about the final placement. At Creative, we package cases for first review and first placement. So, the next time you’ve “gotta guy,” give your Life Sales Consultant a call and maximize the resources at your fingertips.
FOR AGENT USE ONLY. NOT FOR USE WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC. 12007 – 2011/10/18