Although you have no control over your personal characteristics and certain health factors, you can take steps to make your life insurance application stronger by improving the conditions in which your insurance exam is administered. Ace your life insurance exam with these tips: If you need a paramedical exam, schedule it for the morning. Blood...
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What to Expect When You Apply for Life Insurance
Getting life insurance through a group plan is easy. Just being a member of the group qualifies you for at least a minimum limit policy. If you want higher amounts of coverage, though, you will probably need an individual policy. Here’s what to expect when you apply for life insurance on the individual market. Individual...
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The Most Important Life Insurance Terms Explained
If you find life insurance shopping confusing, you’re not alone. A new study calls 19 million Americans “stuck shoppers” of life insurance, because they believe life insurance is valuable and necessary, but they find shopping for it confusing and overwhelming. The joint study, by insurance trade organization LIMRA and Maddock Douglas Research, lays the blame...
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Is Mortgage Insurance a Good Deal?
If you’ve recently taken out a mortgage, refinance loan or home equity loan, you have probably received a solicitation for a mortgage insurance. Do you need it? About 22 percent of people who take out a consumer loan, such as mortgage or credit card, buy mortgage or credit insurance. This is a form of life...
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Should You Buy Credit Card Insurance?
You open your credit card statement and find a “special offer” from your credit card issuer if you sign up for a “payment protection plan.” What do these plans cover, and do you need one? “Payment protection plan” is another name for credit insurance. You can buy four types of credit insurance: Credit life, which...
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How to File a Life Insurance Claim
If you are the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, how do you file a claim? First, you’ll need to obtain a copy of the death certificate. Most insurers will require a certified copy. You can get this from the funeral director. You’ll also need a claim form. Use the contact information on the life...
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Life Insurance: Not Your Father’s Investment
Many people think that when it comes to life insurance, they have only two choices: term or whole life. That’s not entirely true — today’s whole life insurance is a lot more flexible than your father’s life insurance policy. Read on to find out more about the different types of whole life insurance, and how...
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Old Life Insurance Policies — Trash or Treasure?
If you find an old life insurance policy stuffed away in the attic, you may be tempted to treat it like Confederate money. An interesting artifact, but practically worthless. But not so fast.You can file a claim on a life insurance policy many years after the insured has died. Unlike most other insurance policies, life...
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Beware “Zero Premium” or “Stranger Originated” Life Insurance
State insurance departments are warning citizens to beware so-called “zero premium” or “stranger originated” life insurance arrangements. If you receive such an offer and it sounds too good to be true, it could be. Sellers of zero-premium life insurance might refer to it by other names, such as investor-owned life insurance or stranger-owned life insurance....
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