Some of the Most Perfect DI Prospects Are A Little UGLY

Most life and disability insurance brokers avoid providing disability insurance quotes to medically-impaired clients. They anticipate that the process will be UGLY, involving a whole lot of case management legwork and very little success and reward. So, it’s no surprise that the following statement can heard around the country every single day …

“Oh – You have pre-existing condition? I didn’t realize that.  Unfortunately, DI underwriters don’t provide policies for people for pre-existing conditions, so I’m afraid paycheck protection coverage won’t work for you.”

Have you ever said these words?

If you have, you’re lying to your clients. Two decades ago, this information may have been correct. But today, it’s simply not true. Medically impaired clients need and deserve paycheck protection just like everybody else, and with a little creativity, they can secure much-needed protection. Don’t do your clients or your career a disservice by assuming medically impaired people can’t get disability insurance coverage.

Why medically-impaired clients present a beautiful opportunity

A medically impaired client is anyone with a pre-existing medical condition. Acceptable conditions may include: alcoholism, antidepressant users, arthritis, bipolar disorders, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, heart conditions, epilepsy, hepatitis, kidney conditions, obesity and most other things.

The medically-impaired audience represents a beautiful opportunity to help another person and make a difference in his or her life. Medically-impaired clients need your help more than most, and if you provide them with a competitive disability insurance quote, the odds of closing the sale are quite high.

How can you protect medically-impaired clients’ paychecks?

In the past, medically impaired and high-risk classes were difficult to underwrite, but today there are many new products available including simplified issue, guaranteed issue plans and critical illness policies. If you’re interested in providing disability insurance quotes to medically-impaired clients, we can help you succeed.

Simplified Issue Plans

With our simplified issue plans, your clients do not need to worry about exams, blood work or inspection reports. We offer two, five and ten year benefit periods with waiting periods ranging from 30 to 180 days. Most policies are issued within 30 days, so there’s not a lengthy turnaround time after the disability insurance quote.

Guaranteed Standard Issue Plans

Throw out the underwriting manual! For employee groups of five people or more, there’s no shorter route to DI success than a Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) Plan. GSI allows you to use a short form application with no health questions. No exams, blood or urine is required. No personal history interview or employee provided income verification is needed.

With five or more lives, underwriters know they can avoid adverse selection. In addition to lenient underwriting standards, GSI plans offer significant premium discounts. Sell GSI to groups with five or more employees in the company. If there are less than 10 employees, the company must offer mandatory, company-paid disability coverage. If there are 10 or more employees, representing 30 percent of the total workforce, as few as 10 employees can receive GSI on an employee-paid basis.

Critical Illness Insurance

Critical illness insurance (CI) pays a lump sum amount when an insured is diagnosed with a critical illness. In some cases, Critical illness insurance can be quoted in addition to disability insurance to cover a waiting period or to enhance coverage levels. Like disability insurance, underwriting critical illness for medically-impaired clients can be challenging if you don’t have expert guidance.

Medically-Impaired Underwriting Cure

If you’d like to target the medically-impaired market, or just help clients in your book that were previously declined, we’re here to help.  Call us at 800-898-9641 to discuss the best paycheck protection strategy for your clients.

Remember, the best part about the “ugly” market is that competition is scarce and need is high. If you provide a medically-impaired person a competitive disability insurance quote, you are almost guaranteed success.

Now that you know about the “UGLY” market, would you like to know about the GOOD and BAD markets? Our free report tells you all you need to know to Choose the Perfect DI Prospect.  Download it now!