Reader Question: I need San Antonio life insurance. I just moved to San Antonio from Las Vegas….I totally love it here!  I was looking for a life insurance agent in San Antonio that would help me get a few quotes for coverage. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and I smoke…I know I know, I am not very healthy!

Blake

Hey Blake, I am in somewhat the same boat as you are except I have a heart attack 18 years ago that still counts against me when they check my medical history to get the premium for life insurance.  I would highly recommend you stop smoking, work hard to lower your blood pressure and if needed loose some weight before you ask to get the quote.  You don’t want to be denied for things that you CAN work on and over come with some effort.  You will not only look and feel better but you will live longer and pay much less for life insurance.  Bob Hayes is a good life insurance agent here in San Antonio, but you can compare San Antonio life insurance rates from this site much faster than calling an agent.

Nic

Reader’s Question:

What are some important considerations when choosing whole life insurance company online?

Cherry

San Antonio TX

There are many benefits when you deal with an online insurance agency and buy whole life insurance from them. But, it’s crucial to make sure that you are careful enough when selecting an online insurance company that handles your life insurance needs. Below are some important points to consider when choosing a life insurance provider through the internet.

Provide Quotes Instantly

One of the key benefits when searching for your whole life insurance online is the ability to obtain information and receive quotes quickly and conveniently. Verify if your online insurer is capable of providing you with instant quotes so you would no longer have to deal with delays when researching for whole life policy options. In addition, you don’t have also to wait for several months to get coverage if you buy whole life insurance online.

Display Contact Information

One way of determining that you are working with a legitimate online insurance carrier is through their contact information. Verify if the company has thorough contact information published on its website such as a telephone number and a physical address. You may validate such information by calling them or asking around your local community.

Privacy Policy

When you buy whole life insurance online, it is inevitable to provide personal information to the insurer. Before sharing some confidential matters with them, make certain that the company you have chosen practices a sound privacy policy. Check if whether they can handle and treat your personal data with utmost security and respect and that it will never be shared with any third parties without your consent. You may confirm if they have existing privacy policy by searching for any privacy statement published on their website. If found, make sure that you are able to comprehend the stated information clearly before you go and buy whole life insurance with them.

Reader’s Question:

What are the basic kinds of life insurance in Texas?

Mary

San Antonio TX

There are plenty of cheap life insurances that you can choose from in Texas. Life insurance Texas actually has two basic kinds: Term life insurance and whole life insurance.

Term life insurance Texas, as the name suggests, is a type of life insurance that provides coverage for a certain term or period. The terms are usually in 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. So if you opt for 5-year term coverage, then it means that you will get cover within in 5 years only. If anything happens to you within that period, your beneficiaries gets the amount of your coverage. Compared to whole life policies, term life is generally much cheaper. However, some companies increase their term life insurance rate once it is up for renewal. The older the person is, the more expensive is his premium costs.

Whole life insurance Texas, on the other hand, may be more expensive than term life but can provide you more peace of mind as your loved ones are ensured of lifetime protection. A whole life plan can be payable in ten years and premium rates are fixed for that period. Once premium payments are completed, the policy holder enjoys protection until his death or until he turns 99 years old. Just like term life policies, it also recommended to purchase whole life insurance Texas as early as you can to avail of cheaper rates.

Whatever type of coverage you will choose, what is important is you can provide your family enough security from future liabilities brought about by an untimely loss. If your budget does not allow you to purchase a whole life, stick with a term life insurance that has longer coverage and then settle with a whole life policy once your finances have stabilized.

Reader’s Question:

I want to get the best whole life insurance deal in San Antonio. What are the different types of whole life insurance?

John

San Antonio Texas

Life insurance usually falls into two categories. One is the term life insurance which provides the beneficiaries with death benefits, usually in form of cash, upon the insured person’s death. The other type is permanent life insurance. The permanent insurance provides death benefits, plus, on top of that, it has a savings element that builds cash value which the insured person can take advantage of while he is alive. Since permanent insurance has an added feature, it comes more expensive than term insurance.

Whole life insurance falls under the permanent insurance category. That’s why it is important that you will get the best whole life insurance as it involves quite a big amount of money from you. Following are the variations of plans. This can give you basis which is the best whole life insurance plan that fits you.

1. Non-Participating. In this type of whole life insurance, the premium amount you will be paying for the rest of your life will be determined only once at the time your policy is issued. This does not pay dividends.

2. Participating is also called with-profits policy. This pays dividends to the insured person.

3. Level Premium or Economic is like a combination of term plan and participating insurance plan. The policy holder will be paying premium payments that are level throughout his lifetime. The excess of the premium or the dividends will be invested by the insurer to generate the cash value of the policy.

4. Limited Pay is similar to participating plan but it will only require you to pay premium for a number of years for your whole life coverage plan. You can get a ’20-Pay life’ insurance – you pay premiums for 20 years. Another variation is ‘Life Paid at 60′ which means you end paying premiums when you reach 60 years old. The shorter the payment period means the higher the premium is and vice versa.

5. Single Premium is similar to limited pay plan but you will only pay policy premium one time. But of course this could mean shelling out a big amount of money.

6. Indeterminate Premium is akin to whole insurance plan except that premium will vary in coming years. The advantage is that premiums may lower over time, but it can also be the opposite.

Now assess what are your life insurance needs and investment needs. Then decide which among the whole plans, you think, is the best whole life insurance plan for you.

Reader’s Question:

My impression is that there are low cost term life insurances. Why are they low cost? Where can I find them? When should I buy one?

Shawn

San Antonio TX

You are right. There are indeed low cost term life insurances. These are available from any insurance provider or broker. This is actually one type of life insurance. The other one is called a whole or permanent life. A low cost term insurance is something that provides death benefits alone, hence, the lower premiums compared to other life insurances that provide for cash values. In other words, and to put it bluntly, if you don’t die, there is no financial benefit or inheritance to your beneficiaries.

Deciding between the more expensive whole or the low cost term life insurance depends on some factors. First, if you are on a tight budget and can only spare so much, then, you need a term life insurance. Second, determine how much you can spare within the next five or ten years. If you can spare a couple of hundred for a year, you can buy a term insurance for about $200,000, which may be enough to cover for your mortgage in case something happens to you. If you need more than that amount and can afford the additional cost, by all means, get a bigger amount. Third, if you only want a simple and straightforward coverage without having to think of other things.

Term life insurance  is available both online and offline. Offline means those traditional insurance agents whom you need to call over the phone and set up an appointment with to discuss your insurance needs. Or, you can buy this life insurance online by filling out an online application that gets to the insurance provider within seconds. You can choose either one of the two, whichever is more convenient for you. If you want to find it fast and get a quick approval, the online application system will work best for you.

Reader’s Question:

What’s unique about life insurance in San Antonio?

Jean

San Antonio TX

What an interesting question. Why? What have you heard about life insurance San Antonio? San Antonio does have a lot of military bases. There is Fort Sam Houston, Randolph Air Force Base, Lackland Air Force Base, and even Brooks City-Base. With the presence of these bases, there are insurance companies in San Antonio that offer military life insurance. Maybe this is what you mean by unique.

One such company is the United Services Automobile Association or USAA. People with what you can call as “normal” jobs, know that they have to have life insurance in order to help their family in the upcoming future. This becomes more important if a person is in the military.  San Antonio or any other place needs to adjust its policies in order to give better services to its customers.

Military personnel and their immediate family face a lot of issues when it comes to life insurance. Soldiers for example cam be called to serve on a very short time which gives them little or no time to deal with business or even personal affairs. Most life insurance policies are affected when the person who obtained the policy spends a lot of time away from home or even move out of the state. Insurance companies most have a way to address this.

There are also policies that have a provision known as the “war exclusion.” Under this provision, insurance companies have the option not to release the benefits if the death was the result of a military action or war. Now we wouldn’t want that for our military personnel now do we? Further, there are also exclusions on traveling by non-commercial aircraft.

As you can see, life insurance coverage in San Antonio being offered is unique in the sense that it gives special consideration to military persons.

Reader’s Question:

I’m frustrated with my deceased husband’s life insurance company. What should be my basis in determining the best life insurance company if ever I want to insure myself?

Anna

San Antonio Texas

If you examine all San Antonio life insurance companies, they have more or less the same products. They may vary in their rates, how they package their product, and some offer additional perks but the core of the product is the same. They offer death benefits — a specific sum of money the beneficiaries can claim upon the death of the insured person.

So examine your deceased husband’s insurance company, and identify what caused your frustration over them. Then use it as your basis on what you should look out in your search for the best life insurance company.

Can it be their bad customer service? They never give you feedback with your request. If ever they do, the time it took them to give you an update is unreasonably long. You feel you are left alone after they got your husband’s money. Therefore, one characteristic of a good life insurance company is that it should have a responsive customer support staffs who can assist you in your time of grief.

Do you feel that it took them forever to give you the benefits? You saw how your husband was diligent with his payments but when it’s time for you to collect, it seems that the insurance company is holding back the money which is rightfully yours. Truth is, even in best life insurance company, claims processing cannot be done overnight. It might even take months before you can collect the benefits. So when talking with different insurance agents, let them be honest with you regarding their processing time frame.

In processing the claims, did you feel lost? You had no idea where to start. You’d been thrown from one person to another when you apply for claims. So a good San Antonio life insurance company should have a very organized system, not only with the claims processing, but in all areas of their business.

Therefore, we can conclude that the best life insurance company is not only able to give you the best rate. But, they also have the best people to serve you, and a well-organized system.