How Do You Know if a Life Insurance Offer is Legitimate?

You might have been offered something that you think is “too good to be true” personally or online recently. This is why you’re currently wondering how to validate the legitimacy of an insurance offer. There are several ways to ensure that the offer is genuine but they will require a few calls and maybe even some time and effort. If you are really interested in availing of this offer, then you wouldn’t have any problems doing any of the following.

The first thing that you have to do that could help ensure that the offer is genuine is to validate the legitimacy of the insurance company where the offer is coming from. The easiest way to start doing this is to ask around. Get feedback from friends and search for the company on line. There are a lot of ratings and reviews available on line from independent industry analysts. Look at feedback and check if there were any complaints that can be considered as a “rip off”.

The next step that you could take is to determine if the company is well-respected, law abiding, and has never been considered “predatory”. You could contact your state department of insurance to verify these kinds of information from them. Ask if the company or the agent is licensed and is in good standing with your home state.

Once you’ve validated the legitimacy of the company, this does not immediately mean that the insurance offer being sold to you is legitimate. The word legitimate can be very subjective. Even if the agent is licensed and by law he is legally bound to offer you legitimate products, there are still several dishonest and unethical practices that some agents may subscribe to. Some of these practices include churning (convincing you to buy some superior policy that you wouldn’t need), sliding (adding an extra policy that you haven’t agreed to buy), and overselling (neglecting to inform you the possible risks or downsides of the insurance policy). If you feel that the agent offering you the life insurance seemed to have done any of these three to you then you should reevaluate the offer. The policy may be legitimate but the agent is keeping something from you.

At this point, if you are still wary and unsure, you should determine if the agent you’re talking to is like the company he/she works for; well-respected, law abiding, and has never been considered “predatory”. It’s important to know that you could count on the agent to tell you the truth and offer you the product without churning, sliding, or overselling. You could ask around again and see if any of your friends or anyone you know has ever heard of the agent or ever bought any life insurance policies from him. Be aware if he’s ever had a complaint. You could even consult the company and ask them if the agent has ever gotten a negative record. The best way to know, at the end of the day, is to listen to the words that the people you can trust say.

If you have determined that the company is legitimate and that the agent is well-respected and law abiding, it doesn’t automatically make it a sign of encouragement. The legitimacy of both the company and product being offered to you may have been proven to be legitimate but you still have to exercise proper judgment.