I went to the big city with my wife the other day. Now understand that I dislike shopping about as much as a person can, but a couple of times a year I will give in, amuse my wife, and do it with a smile.

That is in sharp contrast to shopping for the best life insurance deal for a client, something I do daily and with gusto. It pays off big time for my clients. Today we got an approval for a client who has bipolar disorder. He had thrown it to the wind several times and was declined with the exception of a highly rated approval by one company.

We shopped it were able to get a standard rate approval for this client, a full $5000 a year under the best offer he had received from his other applications. There are rewards for being methodical and not haphazard when it comes to shopping and there are rewards for not assuming that just because most companies are going to beat up on an individual, that one company won’t bust through and get the job done.

This particular client fit perfectly into the criteria that I’ve laid out in this blog so often for bipolar, the steps to a good approval.

1. Someone who has not been hospitalized for bipolar disorder other than for diagnosis?
2. Someone who has not attempted suicide or had bouts with suicidal ideations?
3. Someone who is compliant with their treatment, both medications and regular followups?
4. Someone who is leading a stable family life or social life?
5. Someone who is exhibiting a stable work life?
6. Someone who is not on disability for bipolar and does not have issues with drinking or drugs? If there’s a problem here, then the answers to 3, 4 and 5 are no.
7. Best rates come when a person is not using anti psychotic drugs for control

Bottom line. Shopping with gusto is something I can do as long as it’s for life insurance and not shoes.