99mkw
I met with my Northwestern Mutual agent yesterday. I'll post more about his life insurance rec's on my other thread after I receive some follow-up information but some aspects of his disability pitch were disconcerting. The basic background is that I am about to start medical residency and will be earning less than 50k but would anticipate making 200k after finishing. Based on my reading, key aspects of a policy for me are a strong definition of own occupation and a large future increase option in case my health status declines before I finish residency.
The insurance broker who provided my group policy as a student recommended looking at Guardian and Standard. When I mentioned Guardian to the NWM guy, he said that they are generally cheaper and "the stuff they write on the contract sounds better" but that they were less likely to pay a claim. He said that Guardian has aggressively pursued the physician market by underpricing and over-promising and that they couldn't sustain this. I asked if he had any objective evidence to back this up and he said he had internal data which he wasn't at liberty to share showing that NWM was the only carrier whose DI division was in the black the past several years (maybe he was speaking specifically of the medical profession subsegment). From this he reasoned that they either wouldn't be around or would fight legitimate claims because they couldn't afford to pay.
Maybe I really would be better off paying more for a weaker contract from an insurer that is more likely to pay claims. On the flip side, maybe NWM makes money off DI by charging more for less. Does anyone know if the situation for companies like guardian and standard is as dire as he implied? I know that overall the companies are strong, but he suggested that if Guardian's DI book flounders they'll spin it off as Berkshire to preserve their name in other areas. Thanks for your thoughts.
The insurance broker who provided my group policy as a student recommended looking at Guardian and Standard. When I mentioned Guardian to the NWM guy, he said that they are generally cheaper and "the stuff they write on the contract sounds better" but that they were less likely to pay a claim. He said that Guardian has aggressively pursued the physician market by underpricing and over-promising and that they couldn't sustain this. I asked if he had any objective evidence to back this up and he said he had internal data which he wasn't at liberty to share showing that NWM was the only carrier whose DI division was in the black the past several years (maybe he was speaking specifically of the medical profession subsegment). From this he reasoned that they either wouldn't be around or would fight legitimate claims because they couldn't afford to pay.
Maybe I really would be better off paying more for a weaker contract from an insurer that is more likely to pay claims. On the flip side, maybe NWM makes money off DI by charging more for less. Does anyone know if the situation for companies like guardian and standard is as dire as he implied? I know that overall the companies are strong, but he suggested that if Guardian's DI book flounders they'll spin it off as Berkshire to preserve their name in other areas. Thanks for your thoughts.