Tips for The Actual Difficult Disability Insurance Conversation

You’re an expert at advising your clients of the need for financial planning through risk management and transfer, whether that’s medical insurance, life insurance, or disability and long-term care insurance. Obviously, you’re not afraid of bringing up these needs and having challenging conversations.

What may be contributing to a hesitation of selling DI or LTC, rather, could be the potential difficulty of the underwriting process. Complex cases, modified offers, and possible declines all loom as possibilities during the process of applying for disability and long-term care insurance. We get it—those are the actual tough conversations—when you’ve convinced the client of their need for DI and hiccups occur after they’ve agreed to apply.

That’s why we put together three tips for overcoming unfortunate underwriting situations.

1) Prequalify for a Positive Placement

Avoid a mess uncovered by underwriters by having your client fill out this health prequalification form. Advisors know any undisclosed medical history will be discovered in the underwriting process, so it’s best to encourage clients to be as honest as possible in these first steps.

2) Explain the Carrier Perspective

We’re not asking you to play devil’s advocate here, just that you’re ready to explain the carrier’s reasoning behind outcomes that may be surprising to a client. For example, a less desirable rate or premium, or modifications to the product applied for. Insurance only works when the amount of risk a carrier takes on wouldn’t leave the carrier bankrupt.

3) Compassion Carries a Case

We all know a compassionate demeanor throughout the underwriting process is implied. But we couldn’t write a listicle of “tips for having tough DI conversations” without urging our advisors to have these conversations with care. The sale and purchase of disability insurance may ultimately be a business transaction between all involved, but the policy represents a helping hand to your client at a time of need.

Having the disability insurance conversation isn’t the hard part anymore. Most people are aware of the need for some sort of income replacement in the event of a disabling injury or illness. And while the next step (obtaining the policy) might be where an advisor has experienced hiccups, we’re here to streamline the process as best as we can.