Term Life Insurance Articles
How Some Term Life Insurance Companies Treat Their Customers Unfairly
2010-07-06
Term life insurance quotes are available in any number of ways, including telephone, personal contact with an agent and online web sites. Unfortunately, term life insurance complaints too often follow those customer efforts.
It's wise to be careful when pursuing any business transaction, and obtaining the correct amount of life insurance requires the same attention to detail. Understand that term life insurance quotes are based on a number of items, some of which are not readily identified. The insurance policy's expected payout, along with a client's age and health, are obvious parts of the quote. Less obvious are items like bad credit ratings accumulated by clients and contingency fees paid to insurance agents who consistently direct customers to particular companies.
A bad credit rating can affect a person's financial situation across the board. Reputable insurance firms must feel that their premium payments are secure well into the future. That's just good business. But for clients, a bad credit rating could be a mistake that might take years to rectify. And there is probably no way they can get back the extra premium cost forced upon them over the years.
Contingency fees paid to insurance agents can reduce the client's ability to get a good deal when buying life insurance. A number of large firms do pay the contingency fees and ignore that those transactions have been cited for causing rigged bids, another hidden cost for customers. Fortunately, legal proceedings are underway in some areas to stop the contingency fee practice.
Term life insurance complaints come in all forms. One common complaint regards how insurance firms use the personal information gathered from customers to tap into their bank accounts without proper authorization. Their excuse for this behavior is that it guarantees payments will be made. Bad faith insurers are also known to do their utmost to prove the death of an insured person might not be from natural causes or accident. That can substantially delay, or reduce, payment of the policy to the beneficiary. Some companies even refuse to pay benefits if death occurs within the first two years of a policy.
In most respects, term life insurance is a good deal for consumers; it isn't as expensive as whole life plans, and most firms only refuse to pay for suicide or if a client provided fraudulent information during the underwriting phase. But it is up to the policy holder to protect his position. Make sure premiums are paid as agreed, and don't drop a policy before obtaining another one. Go online to get up-to-date information. It's smart to know all there is about term life insurance.
