Insurance Professional

Description of Services

An insurance consultant helps people find adequate amounts of insurance coverage at competitive prices. The insurance consultant may specialize in, or work for a company that specializes in certain types of insurance. It is important that the insurance consultant disclose what lines of insurance that they, or the companies they represent, specialize in. The different types of insurance are 1) auto, 2) homeowners, 3) health, 4) life, 5) disability income protection, and 6) long term care.

What to Expect from an Insurance Consultant

Below is a listing of some of the key elements an insurance consultant should cover when recommending respective lines of insurance:

Auto -- Make sure the liability coverage is adequate based on the person's net worth. If one's assets exceed the maximum coverage limits, an umbrella policy should be recommended. Make sure property damage coverage is adequate for their neighborhood.

Homeowners -- Check to see that the coverage is adequate to rebuild the house. Also, the insurance consultant should explain the benefit of replacement value or replacement value contents as well as explain the advantage of features like code upgrade.

Health -- An insurance consultant that writes health insurance should be able to explain the difference between an HMO, PPO or a straight indemnity plan. They should also disclose the importance of the size of the provider network and whether a person can choose their own doctor or go directly to a specialist. Being consistent with the two principles of risk management, the associate should point out how the coverage would work not only for small claims but also large which could be more financially devastating. They should also explain that the more serious the sickness or injury, the greater need for a top specialist and that some plans may limit access to certain treatments or Doctors.

Life -- The insurance consultant should thoroughly and adequately explain the difference between Term, Whole Life, Universal Life, and Variable Universal Life. If the insurance consultant does not offer any of these types of life insurance due to licensing or company affiliation, that should also be disclosed. For example, if the insurance consultant works for a company that represents only one type of life insurance, that should be disclosed. If the agent is licensed or qualified to write each of the four types of life insurance recommendations should be made based on the best interest of the client. The insurance professional should recommend a life insurance product only if there's a need for life insurance. Life insurance should not be sold primarily as an investment or a retirement vehicle. The insurance professional should also clearly disclose the costs of replacing an existing cash value life insurance policy. The insurance consultant should disclose that due to the increased cost of insurance (due to age), additional surrender periods, and new up-front costs of the insurance policy, replacement might not be in the best interest of the customer.

Disability income protection -- The insurance professional should point out that the person's ability to get up and write a paycheck is perhaps the largest asset they may currently possess. In recommending coverage they should point out the benefits of the "future increase option" and the "cost of living adjustments" option could double or triple the lifetime benefits of the policy. They should also be able to disclose how the policy defines total disability. The insurance consultant should also explain the difference between a disability policy that is based on a medical condition and an income replacement policy that is based on loss of income. The insurance consultant should also disclose if there is a social insurance offset. Any recommendation should be made with the best interests of the customer in mind.

Long Term Care -- It is important that the insurance consultant stresses the need of Long Term Care insurance. It was recently disclosed that the amount of Long Term Care expenses paid to individuals is almost as much as the amount paid by the public sector (through Medicaid and other government programs). It was also disclosed that of the amount paid by individuals, only 15% was covered by insurance. The rest was paid out of pocket. It is important that an insurance consultant help people realize that Medicare pays for a tiny fraction of long-term expenses.

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