As COVID-19 takes its toll, people are thinking about life insurance in a new light. Only about half of U.S. adults have this coverage, which provides cash payments to survivors. About a third of those have life insurance through their employers, another concern as companies downsize or close their doors.
Most Americans have never purchased life insurance on their own and may not know how underwriting typically works, says Michael Baratta, CLU ChFC CAP, president of Fortress Brokerage Solutions in Atlanta.
“Traditionally an application can be 25 pages long,” he says. “You meet with an agent who submits it to an insurance carrier. Next comes in-person medical exams for urine samples, blood draws and medical reviews.”
“While your labs get checked out, you need to get your doctors’ offices to copy and send your records. A couple months later, the agent meets with you again to tell you what this is going to cost you. The whole thing is archaic.”
Baratta and his business partners, insurance innovators Doug McClure and Jay Clifford of Tucson, are taking a new approach to life insurance in the time of COVID: instant online term life insurance up to $1 million in coverage without a medical exam. They launched 4NoExam.com this month to provide just that.
“We put the consumer first, freeing them from agent visits, medical exams, and long waits,” says McClure, CEO of Global Investment Strategies with his own “Insurance Outsider” YouTube channel. “Especially now, do you really want to meet with someone who’s been in a dozen other homes today?”
“We’re in a new day of computer analytics for insurance companies,” Baratta says. “With today’s electronic reporting systems, we can instantly generate classifications for each applicant. The 4NoExam.com site’s proven algorithms and a wealth of actuarial data combine to determine immediate eligibility and premium costs.” With access to everything from Nexus Lexus and pharmaceutical records to credit histories (high debt correlates with shorter lifespans), the 4NoExam.com application process compresses months into minutes.
“We have to move to where technology and consumer preferences are,” adds Baratta. “You’re either in the 21st century or you’re not. When you have these types of tools, you can shift the dynamic to providing best-in-class customer service with A+ rated insurance carriers without the worst part of life insurance: the application process.”
McClure likes to say that if you have five minutes, you could get $500,000 in life insurance. Coverage from $50,000 to $1,000,000 for 10- or 20-year terms is available for qualified individuals 21 to 55 at affordable rates.
“First responders, healthcare workers, teachers, essential workers — people out in public cannot risk being without life insurance coverage these days,” he adds. “Anyone with a family and a mortgage needs insurance.”
After answering a few questions, online or at 844-4NO-EXAM (844-466-3926), applicants know the monthly fee. For a healthy, non-smoking 35-year-old woman, a $500,000 10-year-term policy could start at $20 a month. After paying the first month’s premium online, the policy starts immediately.
This summer Baratta, McClure, and Clifford put their project on hyperspeed. The site is meeting their goal: fast support for people wanting their loved ones to be financially secure should the worst occur. Their instant life insurance site provides peace of mind in a time when that commodity is hard to find.
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