The onslaught of the health crisis of 2020 had people thinking about their future. To say that the coronavirus pandemic has ignited the interest in life insurance is an understatement.
This pandemic has awakened people’s perception of the necessity of having an insurance policy – it offers a safety net when things become uncertain.
Life insurance is crucial for single-income households. Think of it this way: if your family would struggle financially due to permanent loss of salary, there should be a backup plan. This is where the role of an income-replacing policy becomes vital.
If this is your first foray into the insurance world, it can get a bit intimidating – it is as if you’re throwing yourself into uncharted territory.
Yes, a learning curve is involved. Take heed of these tips to make life insurance buying amidst the pandemic worth your while.
How to Buy Life Insurance During the Pandemic
1. Think of the Policy as Part of a Financial Strategy
While life insurance aims to protect, it is not a be-all and end-all solution. It should be a part of broader financial planning.
If you do this, you will know how much you need from life insurance. This also ensures that your family’s financial needs are well-covered.
This is not a one-time investment either. You need to assess and reassess the policy and its coverage, so you can change, combine, or add up to the existing policies, that is if you have multiple products under your name.
2. Prepare for the Delays
You need to be prepared because of two things. First, there is a bulk of life insurance applications, particularly among the younger population. Second, some insurance companies are foregoing medical examinations while others do not.
So if you are looking for higher coverage (in the millions), online risk assessments may not suffice. You still need to undergo medical exams. Knowing that the medical facilities are already choking with active cases, expect a delay in the process. This is also true whether you are just securing a copy of medical records. If you don’t want any person-to-person contact, then you have to wait.
While at it, it is safe to assume that insurance companies would require applicants to undergo medical exams after the pandemic. You may take advantage of the no-exam policies since the prices are low compared with exam-requiring policies. This brings us to the next tip.
3. Be Honest
During underwriting, the insurance agent will ask several questions. However, this process too is changing due to the pandemic. This could be the invisible aspect of the health crisis because even the insurance companies themselves do not incline how the virus may manifest in the future, health-wise.
Expect COVID-19-related questions during the initial health assessments. These have become a standard process during life insurance applications. You have to be honest in answering the questions.
Some of the questions include: Did you test positive for COVID-19? Is someone from your household tested positive for COVID-19? Have you been a close contact? Have you been vaccinated? Your answers will affect the application—you can be accepted or rejected.
This is a growing concern among coronavirus survivors seeking to obtain life insurance coverage. Uncertainties loom, more so that the medical community has yet to establish how the virus affects both long-term health and life expectancy.
If you contracted the virus and survived and got rejected because of this, chances are, the policy is not for you. Keep looking until you find what works best for your situation.
4. Compare Insurance Product Prices
Insurance policies are offered at all-time low prices. Despite this and the fact that prices would go up again post-pandemic, you must not buy the first life insurance provided to you.
With expectations of higher prices in the months to come, you need to move fast. Though, even without a pandemic, you really should compare the prices of insurance policies when buying one. In essence, you are gauging your capacity to pay against the affordability of the life insurance product that you are eyeing.
You must find a policy with maximized coverage at a reasonable premium. Make sure that you compare apples to apples or similar products to ascertain the price differences for what they cover. Look into the riders or the add-ons to enhance your coverage. Bottom-line, customize your policy based on what you need first while sticking to a budget if you have one.
Premium amounts should not be your sole consideration, though. Understand how the policy of your choice can benefit your loved ones financially in case of sudden demise. We’ve seen everything in the news, rising death tolls anywhere in the world. You don’t want to leave your family with anything to start with.
Ultimately, the health crisis highlights how vital planning for both the unexpected and the future is. The most important realization is no one can still afford to put off buying life insurance.
If you are looking for protection, then protection is what this policy offers. The message is clear: no matter what you do, get life insurance.
