Who are the best life insurance companies for Multiple Sclerosis?
To instantly find the life insurance carriers who do the best job underwriting multiple sclerosis you must do this one thing:
You must work with an independent life insurance agent or agency who works with special risk life companies. Fortunately, you have come to this blog and have already found just such an agent.
We know thru years of experience working with hundreds of different life insurance carriers who will actually offer the best rates for individuals with a history of multiple sclerosis. This blog will give you our years of experience advise of the companies will feel do it the best.
Let’s face it there are an unlimited number of agents out there that can easily give rates on someone that is super healthy. In fact, it is simple to go online and get free quotes without ever speaking to an agent. But, for those individuals with some pre-exisitng medical history such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or multiple sclerosis you must use an experienced agent.
The best life Insurance Companies for multiple sclerosis underwrite individually
When someone applies for life insurance with a company, they typically have to be underwritten for coverage. Underwriting is simply the evaluation of your risk profile that determines what rates you will be charged for coverage.
Every life insurance company has their own particular underwriting guidelines. Each company will look at your health and lifestyle differently. It is up to your agent to find the company that will give you the most favorable offer for coverage.
You want the best life insurance companies for multiple sclerosis to compete against each other. Therefore, you want them to underwrite each individual on their own merits. You want them to give positive credits for factors that other insurers may not.
An example may be someone that continues to exercise or belongs to a gym. These credits can help build a more positive picture of your situation, thus a better rate.
This is why it is so important to use an independent agent rather than a captive agent. Independent agents typically represent multiple companies. Captive agents can usually only write for one carrier. But, it is also important to not just use any independent agent.
You must use an independent agent that represents the companies that underwrite multiple sclerosis the best.
Our top 6 life insurance companies for multiple sclerosis
In my over 30 years in the life insurance business, I have found that certain companies just have more knowledge and understanding of certain conditions in which they underwrite. These companies will consistently offer the lowest rates when dealing with pre-existing medical conditions:
PRUDENTIAL-
Prudential Life Insurance Companies is probably one of the most well known companies in the world. It has been around for over 140 years and has one of the most recognized brand symbols in the world- “THE ROCK“. They have over $1 trillion in assets under management worldwide. They are a very highly rated carrier.
Prudential offers competitive policies for both term and permanent cash value types of coverage. They also are typically very good at underwriting most all special risk type cases. I have found Prudential to be one of my top go to carriers for pre-existing medical conditions.
Quite frankly, they are probably one of the best life insurance companies for multiple sclerosis.
BANNER LIFE-
Banner Life is a member of the Legal and General Grop. Founded in 1836, Banner Life has a long history in the life insurance business. Although their name may not be as recognized in the general public as Prudential, they are a very highly thought of carrier in the industry.
Banner Life has carved out a nice niche in the term life insurance arena. They not only offer crazy low rates on healthy risks, but are extremely competitive on individuals with pre-exisiting medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis. They are another of my go to carriers.
Banner is great on all risks, so this definitely makes them one of the best life insurance companies for multiple sclerosis.
AMERICAN GENERAL-
American General has over 160 years experience in the life insurance arena. They are part of the AIG family and serve over 13 million customers. American General has a barrage of term life contracts that can fit almost in persons time-frame of need for coverage. They also offer very competitive universal life and equity-indexed life policies.
From an underwriting standpoint, American General is always in the mix and often times will be super competitive in the pre-existing condition market.
PROTECTIVE LIFE-
Protective Life is another company that has been around for years and years. Founded in 1907, Protective Life has become a major player in the independent life agent marketplace. They offer reliable protection in both the term, universal life an whole life marketplace.
Protective Life offers some very unique features on their policies. Along with being another company that typically provides very good underwriting for life insurance with multiple sclerosis we always make sure they are in the mix.
LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE-
Lincoln National is owned the Lincoln Financial Group and has been in business since 1905. They have a strong history of providing reliable protection and service to their policyholders. Lincoln’s term life portfolio is some of the most competitive rates in the business. They offer term life policies with guaranteed level rates from 10, 15, 20 and 30 years.
Another major player in the special risk marketplace. We have placed many pre-existing medical cases with Lincoln National Life.
MUTUAL OF OMAHA-
Another company with a long history of offering insurance and financial products for over 100 years. Many people may remember them by their long history of the show Mutual of Omaha’s “wild kingdom”. Mutual of Omaha offers a wide selection of life insurance products, long term care, medicare supplement and fixed annuities.
Their partner in the life side of the business is United of Omaha. This company has done a terrific job for many years offering protection for individuals with a history of pre-existing medical conditions. We find them super competitive very often in this market.
Well, there you have it. These are probably our top 6 favorite companies to go to when looking for life insurance with multiple sclerosis. Now, their are other companies out there that are also sometimes very competitive. You can be sure that even though these are historically the top 6 carriers, we will always look for the very best, no matter who they are.
Comparison of rates for best life insurance companies for multiple sclerosis
Comparison of rates for best life insurance companies for multiple sclerosisNow, we thought it might be fun(well maybe not fun) but helpful, to illustrate how potential ratings from different companies show why it is so important to use an expert agent to help you get the lowest rates.
So, typically life insurance companies will categorize the risk classification by the following terms: Preferred Best, Preferred, Standard Plus and Standard. These risk classifications are what most insurance companies use when deciding what class to place you in after reviewing your application.
Of course, based on what risk class you are placed will determine what your premium is. So, the preferred best risk class would have the absolute lowest premium, preferred the next lowest and so on.
Now, it is important to remember that the best life insurance companies for multiple sclerosis can also place you in their sub-standard risk class based on their evaluation of your medical history. The sub-standard risk class begins where the standard class ends. So, for instance if you do not qualify for the standard risk class or better you may be classified as a Table A sub-standard, Table B sub-standard, Table C substandard and so on.
Most Table sub-standard classes will go up to a Table H before the insurance carrier will decline to offer coverage. Each Table rating typically represents a 25% increase in premium. So a table A sub-standard class would cost 25% more than the standard risk class.
When underwriting multiple sclerosis, underwriters will want to know the answers to some questions before determining what rating class you qualify for. Often times this information can be obtained from your doctors reports.
Questions underwriters will ask-
- Date of First diagnosis
- Number of episodes and date of last episode
- Type of medication and dosage currently taking
- Current neurologic status and or symptoms
- Has brain scan been done
- Any other major health problems
Once the answers to these questions have been obtained along with other medical reports, lab findings, etc. the carrier will assign a risk rating.
CASE SAMPLE 1 –
Don is a 45 year old male looking for $250,000 of 20 year level term protection. He has suspected multiple sclerosis with relapsing-remitting pattern. His last attack was between 3-4 years ago. No other major health problems.
His agent submits his medical information to several carriers to get their opinion on how they would classify his risk.
His agent receives tentative offers for coverage from Prudential, Banner, Protective and United of Omaha.
Prudential offers a class B rating at a premium of $750 per year. Banner also offers a class B rating at $603 per year. Protective Life offers a class C rating at $750 per year. United Of Omaha offers a class B rating at $662 per year.
With this example, the best offer would be from Banner Life, even though Prudential, Banner and United of Omaha all offered the same class B rating.
CASE SAMPLE 2–
Betty is a 45 year old female looking for $250,000 of 20 year level term protection. Betty has been diagnosed with definite MS and her last attack was 6 years ago. She has minimal impairments and otherwise stable history.
Her agent submits her medical history to the same carriers, Prudential, Banner, Protective and United of Omaha.
Prudential offers a class B at $688 per year. Banner offers class C at $594 per year, Protective class C at $596 per year and United of Omaha also class C at $608 per year.
In this scenario Banner still has the lowest rate even though they offered a risk class higher than Prudential.
These couple of scenarios illustrate how important it is to shop the coverage with an experienced agent. If Betty would have just taken the class B offer from Prudential (thinking it was the lowest) she would have paid nearly $2,000 more over the 20 year period for the exact same coverage.
Conclusion-
So, tips when looking for best life insurance companies for multiple sclerosis are:
- Be sure your agent is an independent agent
- Be sure your agent has years of experience in the special risk marketplace
- Make sure you have your agent shop with only companies that specialize in underwriting multiple sclerosis
- Consistent medical checkups and following your doctors advise will allow you the best chance at lowest rates
If you are looking for the best life insurance companies with multiple sclerosis, please contact us at 1-888393-9003 for a free evaluation of your situation. You will speak directly with the owner of the agency. Or you can e-mail us at mike@specialriskterm.com Thank you.
