Term Life Insurance Articles
3 Mistakes To Avoid When Reading A Life Insurance Quote
2010-12-19
It's important to fully read through a life insurance quote before buying a policy. The terms and conditions of a life insurance quote can be extremely important, and can greatly affect your policy's value. For instance, a life insurance policy that offers a huge amount of coverage won't be worth much if one if its exclusions prohibit death benefits for your occupation. Nevertheless, many term life insurance buyers don't take the time to read through their quotes, and many of the ones that do make key mistakes that result in wasted money. Here's a look at a few mistakes to avoid when reading a life insurance quote.
First of all, always know the limitations on the death benefits of your coverage. A life insurance quote will often have a section with special clauses and exclusions that can greatly affect your policy. Common exclusions prevent death benefits for policy holders with certain dangerous occupations, those that lie on their applications (in a significant way that impacts the chances of death) and for deaths due to dangerous activities like skydiving. Clauses may restrict payouts for suicides and other sudden deaths within the first year or two of the policy. These are put in place to protect the insurance provider, but they can be very problematic for the life insurance buyer when they're ignored.
Another key item in the list of mistakes to avoid is assuming that your life insurance premiums won't change. If you're buying a level term life insurance policy, premiums should stay the same, but some other types of life insurance may have variable premiums that change each time the policy is renewed (or worse yet, during the policy itself). Look for information on how your rates are figured and make sure that they won't be regularly changed. If you're confused about the language of the life insurance quote, call your insurance company right away for clarification, especially if there's a key term that you disagree with.
Finally, never assume that a certain life insurance quote is your only option. There are dozens of major term life insurance companies, and when reading a quote, you should always be aware of what other companies are charging for a similar policy. This is why it's best to read several quotes at a time. Looking at multiple quotes will allow you to see how different terms match up and how much your policy should really cost. Viewing multiple life insurance quotes will help you to save money and to avoid some of the key mistakes that could ruin the value of your policy.
Free Insurance Quotes
It's important to fully read through a life insurance quote before buying a policy. The terms and conditions of a life insurance quote can be extremely important, and can greatly affect your policy's value. For instance, a life insurance policy that offers a huge amount of coverage won't be worth much if one if its exclusions prohibit death benefits for your occupation. Nevertheless, many term life insurance buyers don't take the time to read through their quotes, and many of the ones that do make key mistakes that result in wasted money. Here's a look at a few mistakes to avoid when reading a life insurance quote.
First of all, always know the limitations on the death benefits of your coverage. A life insurance quote will often have a section with special clauses and exclusions that can greatly affect your policy. Common exclusions prevent death benefits for policy holders with certain dangerous occupations, those that lie on their applications (in a significant way that impacts the chances of death) and for deaths due to dangerous activities like skydiving. Clauses may restrict payouts for suicides and other sudden deaths within the first year or two of the policy. These are put in place to protect the insurance provider, but they can be very problematic for the life insurance buyer when they're ignored.
Another key item in the list of mistakes to avoid is assuming that your life insurance premiums won't change. If you're buying a level term life insurance policy, premiums should stay the same, but some other types of life insurance may have variable premiums that change each time the policy is renewed (or worse yet, during the policy itself). Look for information on how your rates are figured and make sure that they won't be regularly changed. If you're confused about the language of the life insurance quote, call your insurance company right away for clarification, especially if there's a key term that you disagree with.
Finally, never assume that a certain life insurance quote is your only option. There are dozens of major term life insurance companies, and when reading a quote, you should always be aware of what other companies are charging for a similar policy. This is why it's best to read several quotes at a time. Looking at multiple quotes will allow you to see how different terms match up and how much your policy should really cost. Viewing multiple life insurance quotes will help you to save money and to avoid some of the key mistakes that could ruin the value of your policy.
