Don’t use a life insurance agent to buy your life insurance if you want to over pay. Just because you can buy life insurance online doesn’t mean you are getting the best coverage at the best price. If you Google life insurance, you are not finding your best policy, you are finding the life insurance companies that spend the most money to be found on search engines and advertising. Guess how they recoup marketing dollars? You guessed it, higher premiums passed on to you. Life insurance companies that don’t advertise, use life insurance brokers to sell polices because they have lower rates because of lower marketing budgets. Commissions are paid to life insurance agents. Life insurance companies do not discount their premiums just because you decide to do it on your own.

Each life insurance policy sold has 14 different levels of rates. They can range from “Best Preferred” which is for super healthy clients, to “Standard” rates which includes over 65% of buyers, to “Table Rating” which can increase multiple times over. Most online life insurance quotes give the preferred rating knowing less than 8% of buyers qualify for that rate. When the policy is finished in underwriting, the rate comes back standard which is double the quoted rate. You just overpaid because you decided not to use a life insurance agent.

Take the story of one of my most recent clients. He is a young 30 year old personal trainer with a family of five. Clearly should qualify for a “Best Preferred” rate, as he is in great shape and eats healthy. I normally quote higher rates because I like to under promise and over deliver. But in his case, he will get the best rate. Underwriting comes back with a “Standard” rate which is 100% higher than my quote, because, get this, his cholesterol is too low! He is too healthy for the best rating? No way, because I am an independent broker, I took his exam information to another life insurance carrier with a bit more common sense underwriting department and 8 days later found another policy for .40 cents per month higher than my original quote and half of the previous policy. If my client went online, he would have had to accept the first offer or worse, not protected his family out of cost. Simply because he lacks the knowledge of 24 years in the business.

I realize when it comes to most items, shopping online makes sense to buy a book, a shirt, a movie or a vitamins, but life insurance is a complicated process that needs a level of expertise. Before you buy your next life insurance policy contact an independent experienced life insurance broker. Remember the service is free to you, the consumer.

Be sure your family is protected today!

“An expert is a man who has made all of the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field”—Niels Bohr

Image by Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, grandfather of 1, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, employee benefit specialist, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger, author and team leader with over 29 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.