Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Interesting Underwriting Dilemna

Had an unusual message when I arrived at the office today:

"Good morning! I'm considering donating a kidney to my father, and I've been told to ask about my life insurance. For one thing, can they cancel it or raise my rates if I do go through with with the donation, and will it affect my ability to increase my coverage later on?"

Great questions. First, no, companies can't cancel or increase the premiums on existing plans if you do go ahead. Carriers are only allowed to cancel existing plans if you either stop paying premiums (which is really you cancelling them) or for committing fraud when you applied.

The going forward part is interesting though: I presumed that there could (indeed, probably would) be some negative impact, at least initially. But I offered to reach out to the underwriter at my primary company, and she told me that "the client can be considered for coverage and for preferred class as long as the remaining kidney is functioning normally."

Pretty nifty!
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