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CPS Texas Underwriting

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Key To Success: Answer Your Underwriter’s Questions Before They Ask

If you were an underwriter and received the following application on your desk, what questions would you have?
 
  • Female, age 35
  • Noted to be retired with no annual income; Net worth left blank on the app
  • Seeking $8 million of term coverage; Purpose of coverage left blank on the app
I know you’d be scratching your head wondering why is this woman retired at such a young age and why is she looking for $8 million of coverage?
 
What the producer forgot was a good cover letter explaining the purpose of the coverage. This client just inherited a very large estate and recently quit her job. Estate taxes were a concern. Based on the inheritance, the $8 million applied for was justified.
 
How can we help in this situation?
We are here to provide our expertise when it comes to writing good cover letters. We can even write them for you. We will help explain the purpose of your applications to our carrier underwriters.
 
However, the most important source of information about a proposed insured is you, so we’ll need your help to prove your applications are financially justified.
 
Key information we’ll need includes:
  • What is the purpose of the insurance?
  • How was the face amount determined?
  • Who will be the policyowner and premium payor?
  • What is the current amount of in-force and applied for insurance?
  • Do you have any other pertinent documentation you can provide to explain how the amount of insurance was determined?
Give us the opportunity to help you move your applications smoothly through underwriting. If we answer our underwriters questions before they ask them, who knows?
 
Quicker approvals leading to faster receipt of commissions – then we move on to your next big app waiting to happen.
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Underwriting Credits Help Make The Sale

Carriers use crediting criteria to improve your clients’ ratings. The following case study shows how the identification and application of underwriting credits can significantly reduce premiums.
 
Case Study:
  • Male, age 35, NS
  • Seeking $2 mil of term
Scenario:
  • No tobacco use
  • Build is 5’8”, 204 lbs
  • Blood pressure 130/85
  • Cholesterol 273 with cholesterol/HDL ratio of 5.5
  • Father diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 56, but still living at age 67
Underwriting Rating: Using traditional criteria, this proposed insured would qualify for Standard Plus with a $3300 annual premium.
 
Crediting Criteria: Crediting Criteria added 1 inch to the proposed insured’s height, making him 5’9”, 204 lbs. He was then considered Preferred for build.
 
Final Decision: Case was moved to one class higher and issued Preferred – Annual premium = $2271 and saving nearly 30%.
 
On each case we see, we work hard to identify any underwriting credits your client may qualify for. Contact our Underwriting Department today.

Parkinson’s Disease: Standard Is Possible!

Parkinson’s disease affects about one million people in the United States and ten million worldwide.

The cause remains largely unknown. Although there is no cure, treatment options vary and include medications and surgery.

One of our A+ carriers takes a responsibly aggressive approach to underwriting Parkinson’s disease and can offer favorably on those cases that are well controlled with other favorable risk factors.
 
Take a look at this recent case study:
  • 65-year-old female
  • Applying for $500k of Term coverage
  • Non tobacco user
  • Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years ago
  • On low dose of Sinemet daily with no progression of symptoms
Initial underwriting assessment of Table 2.
 
With the application of the following credits:
  • Controlled blood pressure
  • Good cholesterol ratio
  • Routine physicals and preventative screenings
  • Good family history
  • No tobacco use in the past 10 years
Underwriting offer after credits: STANDARD!
 
Contact our Underwriting Team today to see how we can help you place your next impaired risk case.
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The Underwriting Differentiator

We are ready for the challenge…

Bring us your difficult cases and let us help you turn them into policies for your clients and commissions for you.

Case Study:
  • Female, age 68, non-smoker
  • Seeking $1 mil of UL
  • Two vessel coronary artery disease with coronary bypass surgery performed 3.5 years ago
  • Our offer: Standard!
Our experience and expertise make a difference – we’ll be your advocate.
 
Contact our Underwriting Team today.
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Brain Power For Underwriting Seizures And Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by recurring seizures. Diagnosis is typically made when a person has had two or more seizures.

Seizures are a result of disturbances in the electrical activity of the brain.

There are many causes including genetics, traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain tumors. Epilepsy is termed as ‘idiopathic” when the specific cause cannot be identified.
 
There are two major groups: focal seizures and generalized seizures. The difference between the two is how and when they begin in the brain.
 
Focal seizures involve activity limited to only one area of the brain:
  • Simple or Partial Focal – affects a small part of the brain without affecting consciousness or awareness. They may alter emotions, smell, feel, taste, sound. Involuntary jerking or sensory symptoms may also occur.
  • Complex or Partial Focal – similar to simple focal, but also involves impaired consciousness.
Generalized seizures involve widespread activity in both sides of the brain:
  • Tonic-clonic or grand mal – involves body convulsions. Muscles will stiffen (tonic phase) and the body will jerk and twitch rhythmically (clonic phase).
  • Absence seizures or petit mal – a milder, brief type of activity that causes unconsciousness without convulsions.
Here are two case studies:
  • A 52-year-old male
  • Has a history of childhood idiopathic epilepsy with mild absence type seizures that started at age eight.
  • Controlled with medication which was stopped at age 20.
  • There have been no seizures since.
Offer: Preferred
 
  • 42-year-old male
  • He began having complex seizures at age 26.
  • His MRI was negative.
  • For the past five years he has been maintained on two drugs with an average of five seizures per year.
  • Does not drink alcohol.
Offer: Low substandard
 
Call our Life Underwriting Team to discuss the specific details of your client’s seizure or epilepsy history. Let’s work together to get the offer you need!
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Vaping – Underwriting Non-Combustible Tobacco Use

Non-combustible tobacco products are those that do not require burning the tobacco for consumption. Vaping, or electronic cigarettes, is a type of non-combustible tobacco that is heated at a lower temperature to create an aerosol for inhaling.

Generally, vaping is rated the same as combustible tobacco; at smoker rates.

There is a special program offered by one of our carriers that can allow non-tobacco rates for vaping if an additional biomarker lab test checked by the carrier is negative.
 
If eligible, the rate class can be improved from tobacco rates to non-tobacco rates with a one-class downgrade. For example, a Preferred Tobacco rating to Standard Non-Tobacco.
 
To qualify:
  • Tobacco use must be non-combustible only; nicotine delivery devices (vaping), chewing tobacco and snuff
  • No use of cigarettes or cigars in the past 10 years
  • A tobacco combustion biomarker ordered by the carrier is negative
Contact our expert Underwriting Team to find out more about this special program.
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How To Multiply Your Sales Using Just The Basics

How much does an insurance company think that your client is worth? Many times, it is much more than how much your client actually does, and we have their underwriting guidelines to prove it! Let’s factor in the details that could multiply your sales.
 
The most common insurance need among clients is to replace the income survivors would have anticipated had premature death not occurred. The starting point for calculating the amount of coverage a carrier will issue for purposes of income replacement is determined by a multiple of current annual compensation based on the proposed insured’s age.

The multiple decreases with age, understandably, because death denies a person fewer potential income-producing years as they get older. Multiples vary from company to company.

Consider one of the more aggressive examples:
AGE / MULTIPLE

To Age 40 / Multiple 35
Ages 41 – 50 / Multiple 25
Ages 51 – 60 / Multiple 20
Ages 61 – 70 / Multiple 10
Ages 71 – 80 / Multiple 5

Carriers will usually only take earned income into consideration unless it can be shown that the insured’s death might have a direct effect on unearned income. Many of our carriers can insure non-working spouses, too, for an equal amount as the working spouse. This could yield two sales instead of one.
 
Please note that each carrier has their own specific guidelines, so contacting the Life Underwriting Team first to get those details will be key. We’ll do the math for you. Multiplying those sales never looked so good!

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Prostate Cancer – Great Offers Are Possible!

What is prostate cancer? Prostate cancer occurs when cells in the prostate gland grow out of control.
 
Some prostate cancers can grow and spread quickly but most grow slowly. There are often no early prostate cancer symptoms, but some men have urinary symptoms and discomfort. Prostate cancer treatment options are surgery, chemotherapy, cryotherapy, hormonal therapy, and/or radiation. In some instances, doctors recommend “watchful waiting.”

All men are at risk for developing prostate cancer. Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men.

About one man in nine will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, but only one in 41 will die of this disease. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 66.
 
Factors, such as age, race, and family history that may contribute to the risk:
  • The Gleason Score (GS) indicates the tendency for rapid growth, recurrence or metastasis of prostate cancer, with two being the least worrisome and scores of eight to 10 being the most aggressive. Think of the stage as a car’s odometer and the Gleason Score as its speedometer. Generally, the lower the stage, the more likely that treatment will succeed with no recurrence of cancer.
  • The PSA is a blood test for prostate cancer.
  • A bone scan is sometimes performed to determine if the cancer has metastasized, that is, spread distantly from its origin.
  • The extent to which prostate cancer has spread is categorized by staging, usually determined by examination, ultrasound or MRI. However, examining tissue removed by surgery gives a more definitive picture of the stage of the cancer.
  • Treatments include Surgery (prostatectomy), Chemotherapy, Radiation; external beam or implants, Watchful Waiting, Hormonal Therapy.
Here is a case study:
 
Fred, 56 years old
Seeking $3 million of permanent coverage
  • Was told by his internist almost six years ago that his PSA was moderately elevated.
  • A biopsy showed prostate cancer.
  • After weighing the relative treatment risks and benefits, Fred decided on surgery. Cancer was present in two areas within one side of the prostate.
  • His Gleason Score was 6.
  • At a follow-up exam two months ago, Fred had no major symptoms and his PSA was so low that it was immeasurable.
Having been treated several years ago for his early-stage, moderately aggressive cancer and showing no signs of recurrence, Fred could qualify for a life policy at Standard rates.
 
Call our Life Underwriting Department today! Let’s work together to get the offers you need.
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A Sweeter Deal – Impaired Fasting Glucose

In the years leading up to the development of Type 2 diabetes, most individuals go through an asymptomatic condition called pre-diabetes. During this time, fasting blood sugar levels may be slightly elevated and there may be other signs of disruptions in normal metabolism, such as high triglycerides, low “good” (HDL) cholesterol levels and excess fat around the abdomen.
 
Approximately 1 out 3 American adults have pre-diabetes. When caught at an early stage, it is possible to head off development of Type 2 diabetes with diet changes and weight loss.

One of our A+ carriers can underwrite favorably on pre-diabetes cases that show a stable, well controlled condition.

Take a look at this case study:
Male, 55 years old
Non-Smoker
Seeking Personal Coverage
 
  • History of hypertension that has been well-controlled with medication and exercise.
  • Two years ago, a routine annual check-up revealed a blood sugar reading that was higher than normal.
  • Follow up glucose levels remained elevated (in the 100-103 range), but never high enough to suggest outright diabetes. He was then diagnosed with Impaired Fasting Glucose.
  • His doctor suggested exercise and a change in diet to include reduced carbohydrate intake.
  • Has done well with his new diet and exercise regimen; ongoing lab testing has shown no progression in his condition.
This client had the beginning of pre-diabetes caught early by routine testing. Because he responded well to dietary changes and exercise, this condition has not progressed and he is at lower risk of developing diabetes in the next several years — if he maintains his new, healthy habits.
 
Potential Underwriting Outcome: Super Standard Non-Tobacco, with potential improvement to Preferred using this carrier’s Healthy Lifestyle Crediting Program.
 
Call your Life Underwriting Team to discuss your client’s medical history today and let’s work on your next success story!
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No Adverse Underwriting For Family History Of Cancer

Family history of cancer can have an adverse impact on underwriting decisions despite a client’s own personal history of excellent health.

While most carriers limit eligible rate classes for this particular family history, there are still a couple of A+ carriers that do not underwrite family cancer histories at all.

This means a client with a family history of cancer can still qualify for all of the Preferred Rate Classes, including Best Class.
 
In addition, there are other carriers who disregard family history of opposite-gender cancers, such as, a male applicant whose mother died from uterine cancer or a female applicant whose father died from prostate cancer.
 
Let our Underwriting Team help you get the best offers for your clients with family history of cancer! Call us today.

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