Helping the Underinsured, Ethos Makes Term Life Insurance Affordable
No other financial product provides the kind of security you get from life insurance. It helps beneficiaries during truly painful circumstances. Sadly, most adults either don’t have life insurance or have insufficient coverage for all of the things that arise in bereavement and its aftermath.
Today about 40 percent of U.S. adults don’t have any form of life insurance, according to Life Insurance and Market Research.
Among the 60 percent that do have policies, many of them are provided by employers and the default coverage amounts typically fall short of the actual amounts needed to cover funeral expenses — and also don’t do anything to replace the lost income following the death of the family’s former breadwinner.
Further exacerbating the insufficient coverage, 44 percent of the people that do have insurance never update their policies to reflect changing life circumstances, like having children or buying a home, according to MarketWatch.
Many families don’t fill in the gaps left by this insufficient coverage, out of their misconception that the cost would be prohibitive or that the application process might be too cumbersome.
Luckily, there is a solution to this dilemma: Ethos Life Insurance.
Underinsured? Ethos Can Help.
Ethos has been breaking down the barriers that made it hard for families to secure life insurance, especially the tedium of the application process. It used to take weeks before an applicant could find out if they qualify for coverage in the first place.
“Applying for life insurance is a cumbersome experience,” said Richard Hu, vice president of partnerships at Ethos. “Weeks of back and forth with an agent, doctor’s appointments, and paperwork are the norm.”
Ethos uses modern technology and an intuitive user interface to drastically reduce the time to apply for coverage: as little as 10 minutes.
Substantial Coverage at Lower Prices
Ethos provides term life insurance, which is ideal for people who want substantial coverage at low costs, according to Investopedia; these policies tend to have lower premiums and more generous coverage amounts than other types of life insurance.
You can get a $25,000 policy for as little as $6 per month through Ethos. For those who require more coverage, policies are available up to $10 million.
The typical Ethos customer is in their 30s or 40s. Usually, this is the time when people are raising children and paying a mortgage, so having sufficient coverage is a must.
However, even people in their 50s can benefit from term life insurance. As Hu points out, “If they are taking care of an elderly parent, then they may need some life insurance to provide some security for them.”
Additionally, life insurance can be used to pay for final expenses, such as funeral costs. This allows the customer to ensure that there is no burden on surviving family members.
Matching Customers to Policies
When a potential customer contacts Ethos for a quote, the price is often a big concern.
“Most people are price sensitive. Their budget helps determine their policy amount,” said Hu.
Ethos gathers basic information, such as age and gender, and then recommends three different policies at various price points.
Name Your Price
“You can also name your own price,” he added. If a customer chooses that option, a policy is created based on those requirements.
So, how much life insurance should you opt for? Hu said that you don’t necessarily need to buy as much as salespeople used to suggest, which was seven to 10 times a person’s salary.
It can certainly be less than that, since the customer’s budget and life circumstances are more important considerations.
For example, individuals over 50 without children and who have a paid off their mortgage might not need much life insurance at all.
Instead, they may only need to cover final expenses and any other costs they don’t want to offload onto their families after their passing.
Families First
A driving principle at Ethos: Customers’ families comes first. That’s why the company goes out of its way to make its insurance accessible, easy to understand and honest.
Ethos prides itself on providing top-notch customer service — made possible by different management strategy than what other insurers use.
Like Hu explains, “Our staff isn’t paid by how many policies they sell or how much the policy is worth. Once the incentive is removed, you free the employee to offer great advice that can really help the client.”
“They can focus on making the customer happy and ensuring they don’t feel like they are being taken advantage of. The customer success agent is empowered to help families find the right policy for them, no matter what that may be,” he said.
Strong Coverage
Ethos also derives strength from a partnership with Assurity, a leader in the life insurance space. Assurity has been in business for over 100 years.
The partnership enables Ethos to cover a wider range of applicants. Similar backing also comes from partnerships with Munich RE, RGAx and Aon.
Ultimately, getting a policy through Ethos is easy. You can get covered in as little as 10 minutes, giving you the ability to secure your loved ones’ finances.
Plus, there is never any commitment to buy simply because you request a quote. Ultimately, it gives you the power to find the right policy for you, whatever that may be.
If you have anyone depending on you financially, you owe it to them to not be underinsured. Ethos can help. Find out more about how you can close this gap by clicking here.
Readers, do you have any life insurance — and if so, how much does your policy cover?
Read More
- Will Your Family’s Health History Impact Your Life Insurance Quote?
- 5 Ways to Get the Cheapest Price on a Term Life Insurance Policy
- Whole vs Term Life Insurance
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Tamila McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial advisor. After retiring from the Army, she spent eight years as an AFCPE-certified personal financial advisor for wounded warriors and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits programs for numerous financial websites.
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