We talk. That's all that happens.
No forms, no medical questions, nothing signed. I ask what you're trying to protect and who depends on you, and you ask me whatever you like. If you already hold a policy, bring it — I'll read it and tell you what it actually does, including whether you're on a waiting period you didn't need.
Sometimes the honest answer at the end of this call is that you don't need anything, or that what you already have is fine. I'll say so. I'd rather be the person you call in five years than the one who sold you something today.
I go shopping — across carriers, not at one.
This is the part a captive agent can't do. I take your age, your health history and the amount you're after, and work out which of the carriers I hold contracts with underwrite your particular situation most favorably. A controlled condition one company rates up, another overlooks entirely.
You get real numbers from more than one company, and I tell you which I'd choose and why.
The application.
Health and lifestyle questions, honestly answered. Depending on the product there may be a short phone interview, and the carrier will check prescription history and the industry information exchange. Some policies need a paramedical exam at your home; many now don't.
Answer everything accurately. A policy issued on a false answer can be rescinded during the first two years, which is the worst possible outcome — and the conditions people hide are usually ones a carrier would have accepted anyway.
Underwriting.
Simplified-issue and final expense policies are often decided in minutes to a few days. Fully underwritten coverage with an exam commonly runs three to six weeks. I chase it so you don't have to, and I'll tell you where it stands rather than going quiet.
If the offer comes back at a different rate class than we applied for, we don't have to accept it. That's the moment having other carriers matters most.
Issue, delivery, and your free look.
The policy arrives and coverage begins once it's issued and the first premium is paid. Read it. Every state gives you a free-look window — commonly ten to thirty days depending on where you live and the product — during which you can return it for a refund, no explanation owed.
If this is replacing existing coverage: do not cancel the old policy until the new one is issued and in your hands. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not looking after you.
I stay on.
Rates move, carriers change products, families grow, and a policy written once is rarely right forever. You'll hear from me before enrollment season rather than after it closes, and my clients call me years later about a new grandchild, a move, or a retirement date.
And when it's finally needed, your family calls one familiar number and I handle the claim with them.
What this costs you
- The conversation: nothing
- The policy review: nothing
- The shopping and applications: nothing
- My commission: paid by the carrier
- Your premium: identical whether you go through me or direct
What I'll need from you
- Your date of birth and the state you live in
- A rough sense of your health history
- Medications you take, if any
- Whether you use tobacco
- Who you want to protect, and roughly for how much
Why not put it off another year
Nobody buys insurance because they enjoy it. They buy it because of the order things happen in:
There's a practical edge to that too. Life insurance is one of the few things you can only buy while you don't need it. Underwriting takes weeks, premiums are set by your age at application, and health changes close doors that were open the year before. Waiting doesn't hold your options steady — it quietly narrows them.
Medicare is stricter still: the enrollment windows are fixed, and missing one can attach a penalty to your premium for as long as you hold the coverage.
What I won't do
I won't pressure you on a first call, I won't sell you permanent coverage for a temporary problem, and I won't recommend a policy I couldn't explain to your family afterwards. If a cheaper product does the job, I'll tell you — even where it pays me less.
That isn't generosity. Nearly all my business arrives by referral, which means the only version of this job that works is the one where you'd send your sister to me.