Can I get life insurance with a stroke history?
Securing life insurance with a stroke history or TIA history is possible? In today’s life insurance marketplace there is a good chance that coverage can be secured on most special risks.
But, in order to find the best possible rates available for life insurance with a stroke history, you must work with an expert independent agent. This is by far the number one thing an insured must do when looking for life insurance with a stroke history.
Only an independent agent who specializes and understands how to place coverage on this type of risk can give you the best chance for coverage.
You see most agents quite frankly get spooked when an insured mentions that have a pre-exisiting medical condition. The agent is uncertain on what questions to ask or is not sure if coverage is even available.
Some agents will even give you a quote without possibly knowing if a policy could even be underwritten by insurance company.
Not only is this not fair to the client, but it could actually harm the client from receiving a favorable offer from another company. Here’s why.
As a client looking for life insurance with a stroke history you want the quickest and easiest way to find affordable life insurance. An agent with no experience in the special risk marketplace may have you apply to several insurance companies.
He is hoping that an offer will be made, but truly has no real sense of this marketplace. Most are just wishing for an offer. He may submit applications to multiple carriers. This is the wrong process to take.
If several applications are subsequently declined, they are immediately reported to the medical information bureau.
Now, unbeknownst to the client any future applications for life insurance will now be flagged. The new insurance carriers will now run an MIB report and see the history of the previous declination’s for coverage.
This hurts the client because a company that may have been willing to offer coverage for life insurance with a stroke history, may now not wish to participate in making an offer, due to the number of declination’s reported on the MIB.
Why should a insurance company go thru the expense of underwriting a risk when they already know you have been shopping the coverage all over town and have already been declined by multiple carriers? They could simply refuse to consider the risk, even though they may have very well been able to make an offer.
It’s possible the initial companies you applied to with the inexperienced agent were not even in the special risk market. In fact, many big name national insurance companies are some of the worst when it comes to the special risk marketplace. Don’t apply to just any company!
If you are looking for life insurance with a stroke history, ask your agent upfront if he or any of the companies he represents specialize in life insurance with a stroke history. If not, find an agent who does.
Here’s how an experienced agent would have handled the situation:
John is a 62 year old male who is looking to retire. When he retires he will lose his life insurance coverage at his place of employment. John wishes to continue his life insurance protection for another 10-15 years until his mortgage is paid off and also to support his wife in case of his death.
John is worried that he may not be able to find affordable life insurance coverage due to his history of stroke. John’s CPA refers him to Mike, an independent life agent who’s specializes in finding affordable life insurance for special risks.
Mike tells John the best way to find out if coverage is available is by getting some medical information upfront. Mike will then take this information and speak to several carriers that specialize in underwriting life insurance with a stroke history.
After speaking with several different companies, Mike will then present John with the best possible offers that are available.
By not having John apply to several carriers and by using his experience, Mike will talk on the phone to underwriters. This can save a lot of time and also keeps John’s records out of the MIB file. Many agents won’t go this extra step.
What questions are asked when researching life insurance with a stroke history?
Below you will find some general questions that will help Mike research the possible offers available in the marketplace:
- Need the exact diagnosis, details and dates?
- Have any of the following studies been done? Carotid ultrasound, Head CT scan or MRI scan, Echocardiogram, anteriogram or angiography?
- Medications currently prescribed?
- Where you hospitalized for your condition?
- When was the last time you visited your doctor for evaluation?
- Have you any history of the following conditions? Elevated cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart attack, peripheral artery disease?
- Had any surgery ever been done on carotid artery(s)?
- What are most recent readings of blood pressure
- Any residual effects from the stoke? I.E. limitation of movement, speech or vision?
- Any other major health impairments?
- Have you lost significant time off work or are you disabled?
In addition to the above medical questions, also need will be:
- Male or Female?
- Date of Birth
- Any tobacco use in last 5 years?
- Amount of protection?
- Plan of Protection if known?
With the answers to this information, Mike will then informally go to several insurance companies and discuss your situation. The underwriters will provide a tentative rate offer for coverage. Once Mike reviews all of the tentative offers, Mike will contact John and discuss what offers if any have been found.
Based on his budget and need, John can then determine if you would like to proceed with a formal application and requirements for the carrier with the best offer.
This is absolutely the better way to go about finding whether affordable life insurance with a stroke history is available. It saves the client time, money and the aggravations of getting declined or highly rated from insurance companies that were really not interested in the first place.
Let the agent use his experience and know how to secure the best offer.
It’s also important to remember if coverage isn’t available thru traditional underwriting it may still be possible with a guaranteed issue program.
If you would like to discuss your situation for life insurance, please contact us at 1-888-393-9003 or mike@specialriskterm.com
