I’ve been writing long enough that I am bound to be a little redundiferous at times, but I don’t think it can be said too many times. If you use the wrong agent to buy life insurance, who picks the wrong company for your situation, you will not enjoy a good outcome. Part of that equation is finding an agent who truly knows where each company he represents stands on underwriting.

I was interviewing an underwriter with Lafayette Life, a company that has a tremendous whole life product, today to see how they stack up if I took some impaired risk life insurance business their way. I had emailed half a dozen questions ahead of time so they wouldn’t have to shoot from the hip.

These were my questions, Lafayette’s answers, and what I could expect from the companies I use for impaired risk cases on a day to day basis.

1. Will Lafayette write foreign nationals living outside the US? No waffling here. Lafayette won’t do that. I have several companies that will underwrite this situation at regular rates. Gotta jump through a few hoops, but not bad.
2. How would Lafayette rate a type 2 diabetic, onset age 55 with an average A1c of 7. They said they would likely go standard on that if there weren’t any other issues. That’s pretty good. We can occasionally get a standard plus with other companies, but standard isn’t bad at all.
3. How would Lafayette rate a history of prostate cancer, Gleason grade 6, Stage 2. Treated by radical prostatectomy and 2 years later the PSA is still 0. They said this would be a standard plus a $5.00 flat extra for two years. A little brutal. We can get a straight standard plus with no flat extra one year out, sometimes sooner, through other companies.
4. Will Lafayette underwrite juvenile life insurance at higher than standard (table rated) rates? In other words, will they underwrite children with serious health issues. The answer was no. That is the industry standard. Companies are afraid to underwrite children with things like type 1 diabetes.
5. How would Lafayette rate mild to moderate sleep apnea with good compliance on a cpap? They said standard or worse depending on compliance. With good compliance we can get preferred plus with other companies.
6. How would Lafayette rate mild situational depression with no hospitalization and no suicidal thoughts. Well controlled with a standard anti depressant. They said if it was truly situational they might not rate it, so possible preferred plus. If there were any wrinkles in that story like taking having to see a counselor it would likely be standard. We should be able to get preferred plus all day long whether they are seeing a counselor or not.

So, how would I rate Lafayette from an impaired risk underwriting direction? Well, I have to give them a lot of points for being willing to talk about it. That means a lot because when I am fighting for a case that means there is intelligent life on the other end of the fight.

Bottom line. I would rate Lafayette Life as middle of the road on their underwriting. That is offset by their financial strength and their great whole life products. If you have any questions or have been looking into the “Be your own banker” concept, call or email me directly. Let’s talk.