There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part five

In Part Four, we discussed a very common reason for why people get declined for life insurance: “unreasonable” underwriters.

In Part Five we will bring to light a different problem:

Lack of medical follow-up.

Life insurance undwriters rely heavily on the medical records of an applicant to detemine mortality risk. When they see notes about prior treatment, they naturally look for indications that treatment has been completed, and the problem resolved.

Loose ends, in terms of treatment or follow-up that was advised but not taken, rasies immediate concern. They simply do not know the current health status, and cannot make an accurate underwriting assessment. So they decline or postpone coverage.

Here’s a good example. A number of years ago, a business owner asked me to help him get a policy. He wanted to take out a big loan, and the lender required life insurance in order to approve the amount. This is very common.

He had been decllned for coverage by many carriers. When my firm got a hold of his records, we saw that he had had a heart attack, but there was no records of any follow-ups after surgery. I asked him why. He replied that he had moved to a new state after the operation, and had not yet found a new cardiologist.

So every underwriter who had seen his records had no idea how healthy his heart was currently. I told him this, and stressed that a) if he wants to get a policy – and get his business loan – he needs to get his heart checked; and b) hey! it’s a prudent health practice to get tested after major surgery.

He took this all “to heart;” got tested; found out he was okay; and got the funds – and insurance protection – needed to expand his business.