At DomoInsurance, we work as Independent Life Insurance Brokers, not as captive agents. Being independent allows us to provide you access to an enormous marketplace by connecting you with many of the nation’s most respected insurance companies. Additionally, we are not like some of the massive on line brokerage platforms you may come across; where you are jammed into the system and then treated like a number. We are a family company with family values and we pride ourselves on our extraordinary and personalized customer service. Our goal is to:

• Educate our clients on the features and benefits of the basic options that are available.
• Guide our clients to help them determine the type and amount of insurance that will best fit their needs and budget.
• Deliver the best possible service from taking the application to coordinating the various third-parties involved in the insurance acquisition process, including underwriters, examiners, lab result companies, and medical record providers.

This is correct. While our expert knowledge and vast industry recourses typically allow us to properly manage client expectations with regard to the expected cost of their coverage; it is not until the underwriting process is complete and a “rate class assignment” is specified by the carrier that the actual cost of coverage can be known.

Determining an applicants risk is the purpose of an underwriting process. At the end of the process, the degree of risk that an applicant poses to a carrier is reflected in their rate class assignment. Rate class assignments are as follows: “Preferred Plus”, “Preferred”, “Standard Plus” and “Standard”. Beyond “Standard” there are substandard assignments, also known as “table ratings”. Theses range from “Standard Rated Table 1” through “Standard Rated Table 16”. A more sever rating than “Standard Rated Table 16” is considered a “decline” by the carrier. About 25% of applicants achieve the “Preferred Plus” rate and roughly 50% of applicants receive one of the top two rates. The other 50% fall somewhere into the spectrum below “Preferred”.

The underwriting process is a series of inquiries and evaluations that an insurance carrier makes to determine an applicants risk and what the corresponding rate for their coverage will be. Some of the requirements and areas of evaluation included are:

• A completed application with personal information, financial information and medical declarations.
• An in home “exam” processes requiring a blood and urine sample and a question and answer session with a Registered Nurse.
• A MIB (Medical Information Bureau) check
• A DMV background check
• The review of the medical records of your doctors and specialists
• A possible phone interview

Underwriting criteria for all companies is essentially the same as that criterion is dictated and handed down to carriers by the world’s two largest re-insurers, Swiss Re & Gen Re. That said, some carriers are more favorable than others when it comes to specific health issues such as; diabetes, heart or cardiovascular history, cancer history, or for individuals who smoke, are over or under weight etc… Therefore unless there is a specific instance of health history or current health condition, rate class assignments will typically be the same across all carriers per applicants with the same age, build, medical history and normal lab results. For this reason, if you are deemed to have a standard and clean profile it always makes sense to apply with whatever highly rated carrier is showing the lowest rates for your profile.

So you are a 40 year old female, with a “Preferred” Profile looking at $500,000 – 30 year level term quotes and you notice that Prudential’s rate for all 40 year old females who receive the “Preferred” rate class assignment at this coverage amount is nearly half the price of Met Life’s; so what gives!? Simply what this is telling you is that Met Life currently has enough 40 year old “Preferred” females on their 30 year term product and is currently not looking to add more. It may be the case that at this very same time Met Life is most competitively priced for 50 year old male smokers and their rate for men in this category is half that of Prudential’s. Your first thought may be “why would an insurance company try to attract 50 year old male smokers and push away 40 year old female non smokers!? This is because all life insurance carriers need to maintain a balanced portfolio of risk. Their actuaries have calculated what percentages of each type of risk they need in the portfolio at all times to experience what is called “predictable claims paying experience”. Predictable claims paying experience is what ensures that the carrier remains profitable and most importantly that money is instantly available to pay a claim upon the death of one of their insured.

One of the advantages of working with DOMOINSURANCE is that we have a comprehensive system for transparency as well as checks and balances. We have the resources of one of the largest teams of case managers, independent underwriters and general support staff in the industry, none of which work for any insurance carrier. They work for us, which means they work for you. When we submit your application it is almost as if we have you applying with over 35 companies simultaneously. This is because each and every applicant’s approval is evaluated individually. If your rate class assignment falls outside of the range of what was expected during the quoting process because you unknowingly have high blood sugar or cholesterol etc… Your file is immediately handed over to an independent underwriter for review. That underwriter will identify the reasons for the status of the approval and then will look at the criteria of over 35 additional carriers to see if a more favorable offer can be obtained with another company. After their review is complete if it is the case that we are advised you have a better shot with a different company, we immediately will transfer all of your underwriting results, exam, labs etc… to that new carrier along with a new application for approval. It is rarely the case that this happens though because as mentioned before, unless there is a known health condition or an unknown health condition that pops up that you are just being made aware of for the first time; over 90% of all carriers will assign the same rate class to the average applicant’s profile.

For any of our clients that have some form of health issue that we would consider an obstruction to a rate class assignment of “standard” or better, whether it is sleep apnea, a past bypass surgery, history of cancer, stroke, diabetes etc… We have a unique process and service we offer that you will not find offered by the majority of our competition. It is called “The Informal Process” or “The Time Saver Approach”. What we do is take an informal application for no specific carrier, we omit your identifying information like SSN, address etc. We then submit that application to one of our in house informal underwriters. They then order your doctors records, review them and begin to put together a summary of your profile that focuses on the specific issue or issues at hand. Once this summary profile is complete they then send it out to multiple carriers and essentially poll them. Each carrier will respond with what they feel their rate class assignment would be based on the information provided and make an “informal offer”. We select the two carriers with the most favorable informal offers and then formally submit applications to them.

At no point in time are you financially obligated during the application and approval process. Even if you choose to accept your coverage and make your first premium payment all carriers offer what is called a “free look period” which is typically 20 -30 days. At any time during this free look period if you decide you do not want your policy you can simply return it for a full refund.

Our compensation comes directly from which ever insurance carrier you choose to use and it in no way influences your premium. If you were licensed to sell insurance and bought your own policy, you would pay the same exact price as every other applicant who is your age and gender and in your rate class assignment per that carrier.

at any time you decide you no longer want or need your coverage you can simply stop making payments and after a 30 day grace period you policy will lapse. Unlike other financial obligations that are not unilateral, such as your phone or a utility bill; if you decide to stop paying your life insurance premiums there is absolutely no affect or impact to your credit. Your coverage simply lapses. Additionally, if you made payment for the year but at the 6 month point decide you want to terminate and lapse your coverage, you will receive a check for the prorated difference of the coverage you paid for in advance but did not use.

The answer is No. 100% of the proceeds of a life insurance contract are non taxable to the beneficiary. The money is treated by the IRS at as neither income nor capital gains.