Life Insurance for Police Officers

Learn how to get the best life insurance rates for police officers and get approved in only 24 hours!

If you’re reading this blog post, I am going to assume you are a police officer shopping for life insurance. I want to first thank you for your valuable and much appreciated service. Secondly, I would like to show you how to choose the best company to apply with and in inevitably secure the lowest rates, so please keep reading. Regardless of the fact that police officers and other members of law enforcement sometimes have a hazardous occupation. The insurers do their best to keep the rates as low as possible and not penalize you because of your occupation.

This is why you should apply with a company that feels the most comfortable insuring the lives of law enforcement officers and offer you the best health classification. Preferred rates will always provide the lowest premiums. The largest percentage of law enforcement personnel can actually qualify for preferred rates when insured with the most applicable carriers. Our job is to make purchasing police life insurance simple and as cost effective as possible. 

 

The four most common questions asked by police officers:

1. What is the best type of life insurance for police officers?

When policemen ask the question “what is the best life insurance for police officers”. Our first question would be pertain to how long they do they want their coverage to stay in force. If the answer is for the rest of their life then we recommend considering Universal Life which is a permanent policy. If they only need the life insurance for a specific period of time then we recommend low cost Term insurance. It can also be a wise choice to have a portfolio which contains both Universal Life and Term.

2. Is there group coverage available for police officers?

There sure is, many police officers don’t realize that their employee benefits contains a specified amount of term insurance. The only issue is, many times the face amount is very limited with death benefits such as 15, 25 or $50,000 which is not enough to cover their families needs if they pass away naturally or are killed on the job. The best solution is to have their own personal policy for the proper face amount to completely cover their survivors needs. Group coverage for police officers is great to have alongside their own private policy with the company and plan design of their own choice.

3. Is life insurance more expensive for police officers?

The answer to this question is normally, not at all. The only time the rates could be slightly increased is because they have an especially dangerous list of duties on the job. This does not happen very often and most of the time the police officers can qualify for Preferred or even Preferred Best rates.

4. Can police officers qualify to buy life insurance?

Police officers can buy life insurance just as easy as anyone else. They can purchase life insurance just like any other occupation. The insurance companies DO NOT penalize them because of their occupation in law enforcement. As with all applications for coverage, they consider your health history, height & weight and other information such as tobacco use. Police officer life insurance can be purchased just as easy as an officer worker.

 

Comparing  the best rates for police officers from top insurers can be performed in less than a minute

Law enforcement agents can now compare rates for police officers quickly and easily with modern quote engines. You can quickly determine who has the lowest rates because the companies are compared side-by-side. All the rates are in real time which means the premiums you see are pulled directly from the data servers from the life insurance companies themselves. The rates are not coming from any type of software which can quickly become obsolete due to rates fluctuating. This gives you the major advantage of quickly knowing what company will be your best choice to apply with.

 

The standard application process 

The standard application process for police officer life insurance is very simple and similar to other occupations that may or may not have more risk involved. You can compare a police officers occupation with an iron workers job for example. The police officers job may be hazardous, but knowing exactly what his or her duties are make all the difference. If the policeman works a conventional patrol environment the risk factor is considered low and preferred rates can easily be offered. In fact most duties a police officer has is subject to some of the lowest rates possible.

 

Hazardous duties can affect your rates

Only a small percentage of police personnel  are involved with dangerous work such as S.W.A.T. teams or undercover narcotics investigations and could possibly be classified as a high risk applicant. Unfortunately, society has become more violent than ever before. A law enforcement officer has to put his or her life on the line each and every day. The statistics for police officer injuries or deaths is rising. But the life insurance industry has still been taking good care of America’s law enforcement personnel. They realize just how important a policeman’s job really is.

 

Applying for coverage with pre-existing medical conditions?

Always keep in mind that any existing medical conditions can have an impact on your rates regardless of what kind of policy or occupation you have. An individual’s physical and mental well being is a carriers first concern. Most policeman are in good physical condition due to their job requirements. Purchasing life insurance for police officers is usually a simple process with preferred rates as an end result.

If you do have any medical conditions. The insurance company you apply with will need to fully understand what your conditions are and can they be controlled with medication. You can submit our medical pre-screen form if you have any conditions you are concerned with. We will review it and consult with you about them with no cost or obligation.

 

Information that can affect your application

If you are considering a conventional fully underwritten application. You would start out with an application which we usually recommend doing over the telephone to save time. The quick and simple telephone applications take about 20 minutes are a joy compared to the original 20 or 30 page paper applications. After your application, you will have a Para-Med nurse visit you for a very basic physical. Finally medical records are requested from your doctor and then there will be a period of time for the insurer to do their underwriting. Here is some of the information they look for to review.

• Your current health history
• The Para-med nurses report
• Your job duties (if unusually hazardous)
• Dangerous sports if any
• A pharmacy check for prescription drugs
• Your driving record
• Possible foreign travel plans
• Physician statement ( medical records)

 

Application process times

A conventional application can usually take between 3-6 weeks. If you decide to purchase a No Medical Exam policy, your underwriting time could be reduced to 24-48 hours. Just keep in mind that No Medical Exam type policies cost more than fully underwritten policies. We find that most law enforcement agents choose the fully underwritten standard application process so they can take advantage of the best rates for police officers. We always recommend the standard application to be able to achieve receiving the lowest rates.

 

Using the correct insurance carriers can drastically reduce your rates

Before you apply, you are going to want to make sure you are choosing the best company to apply with. Insurers who are in very good financial condition usually have the lowest rates. They can afford to charge less for their products and still show a strong profit margin each year. The most important step to finding the lowest premiums  for police officers is to use to the most applicable company. Every major carrier will process their applications differently. For example, all of the life insurance companies have a big concern with tobacco users. Other carriers are going to be more liberal with applicants that smoke. Just as one company will be more concerned about medical conditions than another.

 

Police officers will require just a few additional questions when applying:

• Do you work high in crime areas? The more dangerous the area you work in can reflect a higher rate of risk to a police officers safety.
• What types of safety measure do you follow on the job?
• How often do you work in the field and out of the office?
• Do you have a specialty which is more hazardous such as undercover narcotics or criminal investigations?
• Do you work with a partner or multiple other police officers?

The two main types of policies to consider:

One of the two main types of plan designs to consider will be a temporary form of coverage. These policies start and end with a specific date designated in the policy contract. The other type of policy will be permanent plan design which lasts continuously as long as you pay your premiums. Depending on what your needs for coverage is, one of these policy types should be a good choice for you. You can even have both types running simultaneously for a well designed life insurance portfolio. High quality police life insurance can be designed with either type of coverage. Here is a description of these plan designs:

Term Insurance

Low cost term insurance is by far the most common form of coverage purchased in America. The number one concept concerning term is its a temporary form of coverage. You must carefully determine what term length to apply for. The last problem you want is having your policy expire when you still need it. The big reason for this is term plan designs have the lowest premiums and are very cost effective.

When an individual looks for an individual plan design, term life insurance will always offer the lowest rates. People can then secure the higher face amounts they desire at an affordable cost. Use our face amount calculator to help you calculate your most applicable death benefit required for your specific needs. Remember, you can also purchase a term plan design with no medical exam required.

Permanent Insurance

Universal life is permanent coverage for you to keep in mind. The UL policies are excellent plan designs that will last for the rest of your life. All of the universal life insurance plan designs cost more. This is simply because the companies know they will be paying out a death benefit one day. In many cases, people that own term insurance outlive the policy and this is very profitable for the companies. An excellent portfolio can have a term policy up front with the highest face amount. Then after that, a smaller universal life policy will continue after the term policy expires leaving no gaps in coverage.

 

How much coverage should you apply for?

This is one of the most important questions of them all. How much coverage you will need will depend on a number of important variables:

How long you will need the coverage? 

Younger policemen usually have more debt to contend with because they have younger families. This usually can mean young children that will have to be supported for quite a few years to come. Also, a young female spouse can be restricted as a stay at home mom and will not be able to run out and get a job if the income suddenly stops. The young police officer will usually have a mortgage that is recent where they will have a substantial nut to crack for quite a few years. We also can’t forget one or two car payments in the formula along with plans for college tuition.

Other coverage you may have

Many police officers today usually always have coverage through their departments that they are employed by. The face amount of these policies are usually much lower than what they really need to be properly covered. The face amounts are usually based on their annual income with the department. A young man usually does not have enough time on the job to make much rank. This will limit his face amount on the departments life insurance program.

In many cases group coverage may not be portable where you can take it with you if you leave the department. You can never totally depend on your employers life insurance especially if you leave or change departments. Having your own personal policy will be your only guaranteed way to make sure your dependents are properly covered.

Your financial budget

Let’s definitely not forget your monthly budget. Regardless of what face amount you should actually have, how much you can actually afford will be one of the most deciding factors. You always want to make sure you can comfortably afford your monthly premium. The industry projection is 7-10 your salary, but what you actually need can be higher or much lower. You can also add a dollar amount such as $100,000 of coverage for every child you have to your projected face amount. But as I said before, your personal budget will usually determine what your face amount will be.

Rates are regulated by law in every state

• The insurance companies actuaries create the life insurance rates based on mortality statistics. Once these rates are developed, the company will publish their rates for the agents and consumers to review and consider. The insurance company underwriters work with these rates and apply them to life insurance applications. This works exactly the same for coverage for police officers too.
• The rates have to be approved by each state’s Department of Insurance. After that, the rates will be regulated by law. The agent and brokers have absolutely nothing to do with these rates except, to use them to run insurance quotes for people. Whoever you purchase your insurance from, the rates will always be the same for the exact same life insurance product. This means nobody can sell for less that one another. Shopping around on the internet for the exact same product is redundant and not necessary because the premiums will always be identical.

In Conclusion

You may call us toll free 7 days a week to get answers to all you questions without any cost or obligation. If you are shopping for life insurance rates for police officers, we hope this information has helped you. We also want to say, thank you very much for your service. Many times a law enforcement officers job can seem like a thankless one. But keep in mind there are millions of Americans that appreciate what you do everyday including myself! Take a moment to visit our new police life insurance website dedicated specifically for the law enforcement professionals. Please take care and stay safe out there!

All the best,
Jack Venturi