Dollars and Sense

Chapter 4

Life Insurance

  Life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the insured to provide benefits for another named party if the insured individual dies while the contract is active.  Obviously, no benefits would be paid if the contract had lapsed due to nonpayment of premiums.  Life insurance proceeds are paid outside of probate proceedings so there is no delay in receiving the funds – an important point since families often need cash immediately.  The existence of the policy and proceeds will be included in the probate proceedings, however.  Federal and state governments may not necessarily tax the proceeds but never think they don’t want to know of their existence. 

  Most professionals in the finance fields agree that life insurance is necessary for the majority of people.  Even so, not everyone needs to buy life insurance.  In most cases, the goal is financial protection for the named beneficiaries, often spouses and children.  Others may also need life insurance protection; even business associates realize they need to protect themselves from the death of a key person in their office.

  If no life insurance is currently in place the first question is simple: “Do I need to purchase life insurance protection?”  To answer that question, another question becomes necessary: “Would another individual suffer financially if I died?”

  If no other individual would suffer a financial loss, then the conversation ends there.  No other questions need be asked since there is no financial need for purchasing life insurance.  Desiring insurance is not the same as needing insurance.  Some people still purchase life insurance simply because they want it.  Perhaps the named beneficiary will be the local homeless shelter, an animal rescue group, or Great Aunt Mary.  Although all three might appreciate receiving life insurance proceeds, they don’t need the proceeds to meet their bills and continue the same lifestyle enjoyed while the insured was living.  In other words, the local homeless shelter might have many financial needs (and receiving the proceeds would certainly help them meet their goals), but the insured has no moral or financial responsibility to name them as beneficiary.  Desiring life insurance proceeds does not automatically mean there is a responsibility to provide benefits. 

  If there is someone the insured is responsible for, such as children or even aging parents, a life insurance policy is often the most logical avenue.  It might be possible to save enough money to take care of another without life insurance proceeds, but most people are not able to accumulate enough savings to meet this goal.

  The amount of life insurance one should purchase depends upon several factors, including current income and lifestyle, the length of time the benefits must cover the listed beneficiaries, and personal choice.  For example, a disabled child probably needs to be taken care of for his or her lifetime whereas a spouse may only need benefits to cover living expenses while attending college or vocational schooling, enabling him or her to then earn their own way in life.  Generally speaking, it is better to leave the beneficiary too much money than not enough so most professionals recommend providing more than may actually be necessary by today’s standards.  By the time the insured dies, what appeared to be excessive at the time of purchase may not be at the time of death due to inflation or changes in lifestyle.  Of course, this is also a valid reason to reassess the amount of life insurance one carries periodically.

Policy Provisions

  Although policies are not exactly the same in wording, they all contain the same basic provisions, many of which are mandated by the state of issue.  The provisions contained in life insurance policies are called general policy provisions.  Cash value policy provisions are likely to include nonforfeiture options, dividend options, and settlement options.  The policy’s first page will include the insuring agreement between the policy owner and the insurance company, the beneficiaries’ names, a statement that provisions attached are part of the contract, and the amount of the periodic premium payment.  Following those, there will be two types of general policy provisions: required and permissible.

  When an individual buys an insurance policy, he or she always makes various decisions regarding the purchase they are making.  Such decisions will relate to beneficiary designations, ownership, and policy options.  Agents help their clients make appropriate decisions, basing that help on meeting the insured’s needs and goals (never the agent’s needs).  Product suitability must always be a priority.

Defining the Contract

  A contract of insurance is a legal contract establishing the rights and duties of the insurer and the policy owner.  The policy is a complete document, but references may be made to statutes and court decisions to make its interpretation complete. 

  There is no short definition for insurance contracts that is complete and accurate although virtually all insurance manuals and educational courses provide one.  Generally, insurance is defined as a financial arrangement where one party agrees to compensate another if a covered loss occurs.  While that is accurate, it is not complete.  Many agreements would meet this definition even though they are not an insurance contract, for example.  It is necessary to make note of the differences between insurance and non-insurance in contracts because the distinction is very important.  Insurance transactions and their contracts are among the most regulated of all industries.  Contracts and companies that are not insurers do not have to adhere to the regulation that insurers must.  The rights of the involved parties in an insurance contract are determined by common law and statutes peculiar to insurance.  Corporations could have a contract that meets the above definition even though they would operate under charters rather than insurance law.

  Consumers complain that their insurance contracts are difficult to read and understand.  Even agents have voiced this complaint, but the situation is unlikely to change since insurance is not a simple profession.  Besides the tremendous amount of regulations involved, the contract must be able to stand up in courts and operate as they were intended to.

Policy Application

  Policies have two basic instruments: the application and the binder.  The function of the agent is to solicit prospects for insurance coverage.  For life insurance agents that typically means going to the applicant’s home for a face-to-face meeting.  In some cases, such as property and casualty insurance contracts, the applicant might come to the agent’s office.  Today the agent may also be a voice on the telephone as more and more insurance business is completed from long distances.  The internet has opened up a new way for agents to conduct business with several insurance companies and brokerages operating primarily by telephone and internet.  Agents were accustomed to competition from other agents, but the competition they are experiencing from internet based companies has left many wondering if they will survive.  The truth is simple: if the agent is not competent at his or her job and continuous in their client contact they may well lose business to these entities.

  Agents have many roles.  The first role is solicitation of business.  In many cases the agent must find a company willing to accept the risk imposed by the client.  Most types of insurance, including life insurance, will have specific application forms that must be used.   A written application states the kind and amount of insurance requested and asks specific underwriting questions of the applicant.  Initially these preprinted forms were used primarily for underwriting but after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 many of the forms also reflect questions relating to applicant identity.  It is known that life insurance products are used in money laundering activities.  While insurers may not be able to identify specifically when their products are used for such activities by verifying identities of the applicants, it does allow the federal government to track them.

  The insurance contract is considered to be a contract of adhesion.  The insurance agreement is prepared by the insurer’s attorneys in cooperation with state regulatory authorities.  It is then offered to applicants on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.  The applicant is not able to bargain price or benefits; both are set by the insurer offering the contract.

Policy Ownership

  In most cases the policy is owned by the insured but that is not always true.  It is possible for another person to own the policy or even an entity, such as a business.  Life insurance proceeds are included in the taxable estate when the insured owns the policy.  The same is true if the “estate” is the named beneficiary regardless of who owns the policy.  If the life insurance policy is part of estate planning, the owner should be someone other than the insured.   When the owner is someone other than the insured, a successor owner should be named in case the insured survives the owner.  When the beneficiary is the spouse it is not necessary to have someone else as owner since the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (ERTA) eliminated the necessity for spouses to have cross ownership of the life insurance on their lives.  ERTA excludes property transferred from the deceased spouse to the surviving spouse from death taxes.  Even so, if the values of the combined estates (husband and wife) are high it might still be advisable to have another, such as a child, named as the policy owner to save death taxes when the surviving spouse dies.

Preventing Money Laundering Activities

  Insurers and agents have always had responsibilities regarding the processing of policy applications.  They now have additional responsibilities related to anti-money laundering. This will be a new frontier for the majority of those associated with the life insurance industry.

  The insurance sector, including insurers, reinsurance companies, and their intermediaries (agents and brokers), face the potential risk of having their products misused by criminals and terrorist groups.  Criminals look for ways of concealing the origins of illegitimate funds since knowledge of their illegal activities would bring about legal consequences.  Those involved in terrorist activities look for ways to finance their acts of violence while concealing their intent.  Cash value products, such as universal life products and annuities, provide the opportunity these individuals are seeking to launder money.

Terrorism Produces Insurer Risk

  Insurers were not always recognized as having money-laundering risk.  Although other types of companies may face greater risk, risk does exist for insurers.  Insurers and agents can knowingly or unknowingly aid in money laundering and therefore, the financing of terrorism and other illegal activities.  The following insurer and agent risks exist:

1. Legal risk, such as the possibility of lawsuits, judgments or contracts that turn out to be unenforceable which could adversely affect the operations or stability of the insurer. 

2. Reputational risk, which is the loss of the insurer’s reputation.  Insurers must have the public’s confidence; if that confidence is lost it will mean lost business even if the adverse publicity is not accurate.

3. Operational risk, which is the risk arising from failure of systems, internal procedures and controls leading to financial loss.  Operational risk would include custody risk.

  Insurers must take measures to prevent the risk that comes from money laundering tactics, whether it involves criminal or terrorism activities.  Some measures are legally required of insurers.

  The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) made specific recommendations regarding the steps insurers and their employees could take to reduce the risk terrorist activities presented.  These include the following:

1. Identify their clients and potential clients using reliable, independent source documents, data and information.

2. Determine whether the client is acting on behalf of another person.  Take reasonable steps to obtain sufficient identification data to verify the identity of that other person.

3. Identify the ultimate beneficial owner, and take reasonable measures to verify the identity of that beneficial owner so that the insurer is satisfied that it knows whom the person or entity is.

4. Obtain information on the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship and any other relevant factors.

5. Conduct ongoing due diligence on the business relationship and scrutiny of transactions undertaken throughout the course of that relationship to ensure that the transactions being conducted are consistent with the insurer’s knowledge of the customer/client and the beneficial owner, where applicable.  This would include knowledge of their business and risk profile including the source of funds to the extent that is reasonable and practical.

  Such due diligence is essential in some types of transactions and prudent in others of a lower risk profile.  Much of the due diligence will be based upon the products current policy owners and future applicants are interested in, with cash value products being the most likely to be used in money laundering schemes.

Legal Requirements Adopted

  Although many of the current procedures are new the concern is not.  Since 1970 most financial institutions have had anti-money laundering (AML) laws, requiring reporting and record keeping procedures.  Both the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and various NASD and SEC requirements have sought to prevent money laundering.  As far back as 1970 the BSA required banks to report cash transactions over $10,000 via Currency Transaction Reports (CTA).  The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 was initiated for banks, but continuous changes and additions have included other institutions as well.

  In 2001 came the USA PATRIOT Act (2001 Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools to Restrict, Intercept, and Obstruct Terrorism Act).  This Act requires government-institution information sharing, including voluntary information among financial institutions.  Customer identification verification and related due diligence is required, as is anti-money laundering programs in the financial services industry.

  Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, referred to as the International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-terrorist Financing Act of 2001, requires financial institutions to address anti-money laundering (AML) provisions and amendments that were added to the Bank Secrecy Act.  It is this act that extends the requirements to insurers.

  Until 2002 insurance companies were thought to be at low risk for money laundering activity so they were exempted from the USA PATRIOT Act.  This changed on 12/5/2005, with an effective date of 5/2/2006.  Under the FinCEN final rule, pursuant to the BSA, insurers must now establish AML programs.

  The USA PATRIOT Act dramatically increased anti-money laundering awareness and proactive requirements for the insurance industry.  Today insurers must establish anti-money laundering programs that also meet the Bank Secrecy Act.  Of course, not all insurers are considered at risk for money laundering, so this affects some types of insurers to a greater degree than others.  Only those dealing in specific products are included.  Broker-dealers already have AML requirements and are not required to duplicate those already in place by the newer insurance company requirements.

  Under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 financial institutions are prohibited from selling, using or accepting money orders, bank checks, cashier’s checks or traveler’s checks for more than $3,000 in currency.  Larger amounts may only be accepted if the cash or cash equivalent and the purchaser’s identity is verified and recorded.  Even when a financial institution does not sell these items, the rules still apply.

  The final rule of the BSA requires insurers to implement procedures for obtaining customer identity information and to file suspicious activity reports when applicable.  The Money Laundering Control Act (MLCA) prohibits any person from knowingly engaging in any monetary transaction in criminally derived property valued at $10,000 or more.  For the agent selling automobile insurance, this might mean he or she could not insure a luxury car that was known to have been purchased with money derived from criminal activity.  It is only necessary to know that money was somehow involved in criminal activity, not that these particular funds were involved or derived from a specific illegal act.  Therefore, if the automobile is sitting in the driveway, already having been purchased, it is not necessary for the agent to know that illegal funds specifically purchased this car, only that the income of the car’s owner comes from illegal activity.

  The Money Laundering Control Act added provisions to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) including a prohibition against structuring transactions, which means making multiple small transactions from one lump sum, the point of which is to conceal the origins of the money.  By making smaller multiple transactions the depositor hopes to avoid the BSA’s reporting threshold, which would alert authorities.  The multiple smaller deposits may be made in the names of multiple people, using the money launderer’s family and friends to open accounts.  They might also use a single account, making multiple small deposits, each of which are under the reporting limits.

  The Money Laundering Abatement Act adds criminal and civil penalties that can be up to two times the amount of the transaction, not to exceed $1-million for violations of specific BSA provisions.  The MLCA provides for up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine twice the laundered amount not to exceed $500,000.

  A part of the US Treasury, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) may also place sanctions on financial institutions.  These provisions prohibit doing business with identified enemies of the United States or with Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), as determined by OFAC and other government agencies.  Many financial institutions routinely check their customers against this list.  Should a professional encounter such a person (SDN), they must contact OFAC within ten days.  If a Specially Designated National is discovered to already hold an open account it must be frozen, including any pending transfers.

  The Office of Foreign Asset Control prohibits working with identified money launderers, which includes companies and countries as well as individuals.  Sanctions are currently in place against the Balkans, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe.  Members of drug organizations, such as Columbian drug cartels have also been identified as money launderers under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.  These lists are updated continually, so there may be changes or additions to the previous list.

Broker-Dealer Requirements

  Some insurance products or insurers are affiliated with broker-dealer firms.  As a result, they may be subject to National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) requirements.  NASD has specific rules for companies offering certain products, such as variable annuities.  Applicants must provide certain information when opening accounts, which includes:

1. Their legal name.

2. Place of residence.

3. Whether of legal age (usually 18 years old in most states).

4. Signature of registered representative who introduces the account and the signature of the member, partner, or officer/manager who accepts the account.

5. If the customer is a corporation, partnership, or other legal entity, the names of any persons authorized to transact business on behalf of the entity must be obtained.

6. NASD Rules 2110 and 2310 require additional information.

     (a) 2110 requires the firm to maintain just standards of trade, and

(b) 2310 requires the firm to gather, as much as possible, information to help determine the suitability when making recommendations.  Suitability information includes the client’s financial status, tax status, and investment objectives.

  Customer Identification Programs (CIP) that broker-dealers adhere to must be appropriate for the size of their business.  It should be regularly reviewed to ensure methods of verification are accurate and current.  Additionally, there should be procedures to check a client’s name against the government’s list of known terrorists.

  Customer Identification Programs may use non-documentary means of identification if necessary or desirable.  Companies might use reporting agencies, references, checking account information, or other public sources when the identification used by their client has expired or when the client reports that their identification has been stolen or is otherwise unavailable.

  Broker-dealers should notify their customers that such identity verification procedures exist.  While suspicious activity reports are made without notifying the client, identity verification is not kept secret.  Government issued identifications, usually a driver’s license or passport, are typically required as part of the process.  For businesses, a certificate of incorporation or a business license is used.  Personnel are not required to verify whether or not the identification is genuine; they must merely record the information.

  The Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) protects personal financial information that might be shared by financial institutions.  Prior to this Act it was common for the information gathered to be sold to other institutions.  It is not permissible to obtain client information from financial institutions under false pretenses.  Institutions must give clients clear notice of how and when information will be shared.

  Not all suspicious clients will appear on government lists.  Citizens from non-cooperative jurisdictions should also be considered with caution, since people from such jurisdictions have a high incidence of money laundering.

AML Program Requirements

  The Department of the Treasury has instituted procedures that must be followed when an agent, broker, or insurer suspects money laundering is taking place or could take place using insurance products.  This brings up the obvious question: how is an agent to know such activity is occurring or has the potential of occurring?  It is that question that anti-money laundering courses attempt to answer.

  Ongoing training is required under the USA PATRIOT Act.  Insurers must inform their employees and intermediaries (agents and brokers) of where training can be obtained or provide training so that they may learn to detect unusual or suspicious transactions.  Employees must also know how to comply with the federal rules, regulations, and reporting requirements.  Relevant manuals should be available to new employees who may not have yet had such training.

  The PATRIOT Act also requires companies to determine which employees need additional training periodically in anti-money laundering.  Some departments are likely to need more training than others.  This would include treasury, operations, margin, credit, corporate security, audit units, and legal departments.  Evidence of additional training should be maintained.

  Anti-money laundering program requirements are now required for insurance companies.  By May of 2006 insurers were required to develop and implement a written anti-money laundering program applicable to the products they sell.  The program must be reasonably designed to prevent the insurance company from being used to facilitate money laundering or the financing of terrorist activities.  Senior management must approve the program.  The insurer must make a copy of its anti-laundering program available to the Department of the Treasury, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or their designee upon request.

  A key provision of the USA PATRIOT Act says employee training can be presented through various formats, including:

1. Live presentations,

2. Videos,

3. Online training programs, or

4. Other media formats.

  Insurers must notify agents of the requirements or provide some means of instruction in-house.  In all cases, the program taken must comply with anti-money laundering regulations.

  Regardless of where the education is acquired, agencies must develop an independent audit program to test whether it has been effective.  Insurers must stress the requirements with their intermediaries and urge compliance with all aspects of AML procedures.  Every employee should receive written copies of consequences of non-compliance.  There are civil, criminal, and disciplinary penalties for money laundering activities.

  At minimum, the program was required to incorporate policies, procedures, and internal controls based upon the insurance company’ assessment of the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with its covered products.  Policies, procedures, and internal controls developed and implemented by an insurer must include provisions for complying with the applicable requirements of subchapter II of chapter 53 Title 31, integrating the company’s insurance agents and brokers into its anti-money laundering program.  Insurers must also obtain all relevant customer-related information necessary to ensure an effective program.

  Each insurer will designate a compliance officer who will be responsible for ensuring that the anti-money laundering program is implemented effectively.  This would include monitoring the agents and brokers to be sure they have complied with all requirements.  It will be necessary to update the program as changes or additional knowledge requires it.  Appropriate persons must be educated and trained so that they can adequately meet the requirements mandated. 

  Besides the compliance officer, there will be others who must receive appropriate education in order to understand and prevent money-laundering tactics using insurance companies and their products.  This would include the company’s agents and brokers as well as other in-house employees.  To accomplish this, insurers must either directly train their intermediaries and employees themselves or verify that such training has been obtained elsewhere.  Some insurers will request their agents and brokers acquire this education from outside companies that provide continuing education requirements.  Agents will be required to submit their completion certificate as proof of compliance. 

  Insurers may use some type of testing to determine if their agents and brokers understand the risks imposed by money laundering.  Insurers are required under the law to have some method of determining that their intermediaries understand the risks as well as complying with these requirements.  The scope and frequency of the potential testing would be commensurate with the risks posed by the insurer’s products.  The testing might be done in-house or by a third party.  If performed in-house, the compliance officer may NOT be the person doing the testing.

  Minimum requirements must be followed by agents and their insurers. The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requires financial institutions to establish anti-money laundering programs and to define the companies and insurance products that are subject to this requirement.  The Bank Secrecy Act (Public Law 91-508) authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations requiring financial institutions to keep records and file reports that are determined to have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, and regulatory matters, including the conduct of intelligence or counter-intelligence such as analysis of terrorism activity.

  Originally signed into law on October 26, 2001, the USA PATRIOT Act Section 352 became effective on April 24, 2002 requiring anti-money laundering programs for all financial institutions.  Although insurance companies have been considered financial institutions for some time, the Bank Secrecy Act had not defined “insurance companies” for their purposes.  They also had not issued regulations regarding insurance companies.  There was much to be considered since insurers had different sizes, locations and services.  It was felt that education of agents was a key element in detecting suspicious activity and it was also recognized that few agents had the background to detect such activity, even if it was occurring with their own clients.  Since money laundering is a key element in financing terrorist activities it was important to immediately address the situation.

  Not all insurers are affected by money laundering activities.  For example, it is unlikely that purchasing a health insurance policy would enable an individual to launder money, although fraudulent claims against a health care policy might occur.  Terrorist members and other under-world groups (such as drug cartels) look for products that allow them to put their wealth into financial vehicles, and then withdraw untraceable funds.  While term life insurance would not allow this to happen, permanent products such as universal life contracts would.  These individuals do not care what amount is lost through early surrender penalties or other fees.

Know Your Customer (KYC)

  A program regulated by the PATRIOT Act, Know Your Customer (KYC), requires verification of the client’s identity to the extent that is reasonable and practicable of any person seeking to open an account or place an application.  The Act requires firms to maintain records of the information used to verify an individual’s identity and check the names against a government list of suspected terrorists.  KYC requires risk-based determinations about:

· Their customers,

· Their customer’s sources of income, and

· Their customer’s expected transactions.

Compliance

  Compliance is mandatory.  Compliance will be monitored by the Department of the Treasury, through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or its delegates, under the terms of the Bank Secrecy Act.  Failure to comply with the requirements could constitute a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.

  The final regulations of 31 103.137 requiring insurance companies to establish anti-money laundering programs under the USA PATRIOT Act was issued on November 3, 2005.  It is actually the insurance companies (the entities in the business of issuing or underwriting a covered product) rather than the agents and brokers who have a direct obligation to establish an anti-money laundering program.  Since the insurer has the size to do so, they are viewed by regulators as better able to bear the administrative burdens and associated costs of complying with the regulation’s requirements.  Insurers will have procedures, however, that require agents and brokers to adhere to specific anti-money laundering requirements (including education).

Suspicious Activity Reports Filing Requirements

  The requirement to identify and report suspicious transactions applies only to insurance companies – not its agents or brokers.  Insurance companies must obtain customer information from all relevant sources, which would include its agents and brokers.  Any suspicious activity (based on this information) must be reported.  A Suspicious Activity Report by an Insurance Company (SAR-IC) would be used by the insurer and must be used within 30 days of detecting the suspicious activity.  Depending upon the situation, other forms may also be applicable.  Prior to the PATRIOT Act insurers filed reports of $5,000 or more with the IRS.  Most insurers did so voluntarily. 

  The threshold amount requiring an insurer to report suspicious transactions is at least $5,000, whether the cash payment is for a single policy application or multiple applications that total that amount or more.  Payments made by check would not cause concern.  This threshold amount is not limited to insurance policies whose premiums meet or exceed $5,000; it includes a policy in which the premium or potential payout meets the threshold.  Insurance companies are encouraged to voluntarily file Suspicious Activity Reports any time they seem appropriate.

  When an insurer voluntarily files a Suspicious Activity Report they are protected from civil liability to the same extent as a company filing a Suspicious Activity Report would be when required by law.

A Change in Thinking

  Life insurance agents can no longer accept clients at face value.  They must be alert to the tactics of money launderers who use insurance products as the laundering vehicle.

  Insurance agents and insurance brokers are specifically exempt from the definition of “insurance company” or “insurer,” which means they are not directly covered by the rules. An “insurance agent” is defined as a “sales and/or service representative of an insurance company.” This does not mean that agents do not have requirements regarding money-laundering activities since their insurers will be requiring specific new application requirements and mandated education on money laundering.  Agents and brokers are an integral part of the insurance industry; they are certainly the ones most likely to be obtaining applicant information. This places agents in a critical position of knowledge regarding the source of investment assets, the nature of the clients, and the objectives and goals considered when purchasing insurance products.

  While agents are exempt from the definition of insurance companies, the Rules require each insurance company to develop and implement policies, procedures, and internal controls that integrate the company’s agents and brokers into its anti-money laundering program.  This places significant oversight responsibilities on insurers.  It is never easy to oversee people working independently in the field.  Education seems the only efficient way to integrate agents and brokers into the prevention of money laundering activities.

  The final anti-money laundering stage of integration especially applies to insurance companies offering covered products, as defined in the rule. The final rule focuses on insurance products possessing features that make them susceptible to being used for money laundering or the financing of terrorism. This typically includes life insurance policies with cash surrender value features and annuity products. Cash values can be redeemed by a money launderer or can be used as a source of further investment of tainted funds. By taking out policy loans against the cash values, these individuals have received legitimate funds in place of their tainted funds. Similarly, annuity contracts offer an ideal financial vehicle for laundering illicit funds or funds whose origins must be kept secret. Annuity products allow the policyowner to exchange illicit funds for an immediate or deferred income stream of clean funds upon redemption. Products without cash values, such as term life insurance products or group policies where there is additional control, do not pose the same opportunities for money launderers.

  Those involved in terrorist activities (and criminals as well) must avoid the attention that sudden wealth would bring. Therefore, they look for means of merging their illegal funds with legitimate business funds, such as insurance proceeds. The first stage of this process is called the “placement” stage of money laundering. This is because they are “placing” their illicit funds among legitimate funds. This initial entry into the financial systems may be done in a variety of ways, including the purchase of money orders, opening and closing checking accounts, or purchasing insurance products.

  Illicit money is most vulnerable to detection during the placement stage.  The placement stage serves two purposes:

1. it relieves the criminal of holding and guarding large amounts of cash; and

2. it places the money into the legitimate financial system.

  The second stage of money laundering is the “layering” stage, sometimes referred to as structuring. Like the initial placement stage, this might also include the opening and closing of multiple checking accounts at various banking institutions, or by buying and cashing out insurance products. The goal in this stage is to separate the illegal funds from their source through a series of financial transactions that would make tracing their origins difficult. While the funds may not always be illegally gained; however, the goal is to conceal where they originated. This would especially be true for terrorists and their contacts that do not want to be identified.

  The final stage of money laundering is the “integration” stage. Once the illicit funds have been converted to seemingly legitimate funds, they are returned to the criminal or criminal organization with the objective of not drawing attention and giving the appearance of coming from a legitimate source. The now legal-looking funds are introduced back into the financial systems. Integration would include buying legitimate businesses, real estate, or any item that would “integrate” the funds into our financial systems.

  To recap: first comes placement stage, followed by the layering stage. The final step is the integration stage.

A Global Problem

  Money laundering and the problems it creates for financial institutions around the world have not gone unrecognized by the international community.  While there are no firm estimates (after all, the point of money laundering is to hide the activity) it is thought to be in the billions of dollars.  The International Monetary Fund believes it could be as much as $600 billion annually.

  It is not surprising that money laundering is a worldwide problem.  Money launderers seek safe havens to cleanse their money.  Some countries make that easier than others.  Terrorists and criminals want locations that pose the least risk to their activities.  That might be a terrorist-friendly country or simply one that is not financially developed in their available technology.  Eventually terrorists and criminals want to move their money through stable financial systems, such as those in the US.

  One might believe that insurers would be able to tighten controls making such transactions difficult.  However, it seems no matter how careful legitimate companies become or what procedures they put in place, criminals and terrorists simply become more creative.  That is why we must be aware of what indicates money-laundering activity.

  As the international community recognized the role insurers could play in money laundering activities they focused on creating corrective measures.  The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established in 1989 at the G-7 Summit in Paris as a result of international concern.  Starting with 16 members, today membership has grown to 31 countries and two international organizations.  The Financial Action Task Force developed recommendations that looked at insurers and focused on those businesses involving the underwriting and placement of life insurance and other investment related insurance having cash values or surrender values.

  Criminals have considered insurance products a good avenue for laundering illicit funds for some time.  A 2002 federal grand jury indictment against five Colombian nationals laundering cocaine money using life insurance policies demonstrated how easily it could be accomplished.  Called Operation Capstone, the investigation revealed approximately $80 million had been laundered through insurance products.  Although there had already been concern regarding the use of insurance products for money laundering, Operation Capstone illustrated the ease with which it could be accomplished.

  The Colombian drug cartel did not purchase only US insurance policies.  Policies were bought in continental Europe, the United Kingdom and in smaller jurisdictions, such as the Isle of Man.  Using narcotics proceeds from the United States and Mexico, the traffickers bought approximately 250 life insurance policies in the Isle of Man alone.  The insurance policies had values ranging up to $1.9 million each.  They were taken out in the names of cartel associates and members of their families.  Usually, they would cash out part or all of the policies prematurely, even though there were penalties of as much as 25 percent or more.  While a legitimate policyholder would try to avoid such penalties, these individuals considered them a business expense in the process of laundering the illicit narcotics proceeds.

  During the last five years a number of Suspicious Activity Reports were filed that reference the use of an insurance product in suspected money laundering activity.  For example, several reports described large, lump-sum purchases of annuity contracts, followed almost immediately by fund withdrawals.  Sometimes the entire balance was withdrawn soon after purchase.

  Most participants in the drafting of anti-money laundering legislation felt that education was the key to success.  They felt it was important not to simply focus on educating the insurance company principals, but also their employees, agents and brokers who are, so to speak, on the front lines of the money laundering process. 

Covered Products

  Since anti-money laundering requirements will involve those who deal with specific products, what does the Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) mean by any “insurance product with features of cash value or investment” under the definition of “covered products”?  Their definition of “covered products” includes:

1. A permanent life insurance policy, other than a group life insurance policy;

2. An annuity contract, other than a group annuity contract or charitable gift annuity; and

3. Any other insurance product with features of cash value or investment.

  The purpose of including the language of number three, “any other insurance product with features of cash value or investment,” is to ensure that any newly developed products in the life and annuity field having cash value characteristics that could be vulnerable to money laundering would automatically be covered by the requirements.  It is not intended that group life insurance policies or group annuities (with or without these characteristics) would be covered since group policies are administered differently than individual contracts are.  There is typically a trustee or administrator involved and there are specific guidelines that govern group contracts making their use difficult for money launderers.

  “Covered products” do not include term, credit life, health, title, property, casualty insurance, or group products.  Charitable annuities and reinsurance or retrocession contracts are also not considered covered products.  If cash values become involved, this could alter how the definition affects them.

  Currently insurance companies are not subject to 31 CFR 103.121 requiring them to implement a Customer Identification Program (CIP) and obtain minimum mandatory information verifying the identity of a customer.  Even so, other applicable Bank Secrecy Act regulations require insurance companies to obtain and retain identifying information from customers in specific circumstances.  Insurance companies must obtain all relevant and appropriate customer-related information necessary to administer an effective anti-money laundering program. 

  The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) studies the methods and trends used by individuals to launder money.  Their objective was sharing of information among law enforcement and financial institutions while also providing a basis for informed decisions on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing policy for the United States and other concerned countries.

  FATF recognized the vulnerabilities in the insurance industry.  The global insurance industry provides risk transfer, savings and investment products to a variety of consumers around the world, including individual policies, business insurance, and governments.  As we have discussed, those intending to cleanse their wealth or conceal its origins use cash value products to legitimize their funds.  Research conducted by FATF noted inherent characteristics of the insurance industry that make it particularly vulnerable to money laundering (ML), that characteristic being the cash values that some products contain.  Inconsistent regulation and supervision across the industry was also noted as providing unique opportunities that were likely to be recognized by money launderers.  When FATF looked at the insurance industry there were unusually low money-laundering detections in place, especially when compared to other financial industries of comparable size.

  While there are no specific facts on the extent to which the insurance industry has been exploited by money launderers there is no doubt that it has taken place, as witnessed by Operation Capstone.  The specific aim is to prevent not just crime lords from using the insurance industry, but specifically to prevent terrorist organizations from doing so.  Worldwide the insurance sector generates premiums of some USD 2.941 trillion per annum[1] so the potential for abuse is obvious.  In some product areas, premium dollars have doubled in the last ten years.  The insurance industry gathers most of their premium through agents and independent brokers so that the insurer itself has limited control.  While there is some life products marketed directly to the public without intermediaries (agents and brokers) the bulk does come directly from a field staff.  An increasing share of the market is being sold by financial service industries, such as banks.  While the individuals selling these products must still hold an insurance license in most cases, the fact that they work within another industry may affect how they understand insurance money-laundering schemes.  Only a very small percentage of policies were found to have been purchased over the internet or through telephone marketing.  However, any significant increases in such sales could affect how anti-money-laundering procedures are considered.

Nine Identified Money Laundering (ML) Methods

  The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) identified nine typologies from their 2004-2005 study.

1.  Single Premium Life Insurance Contracts

  Single premium products of all kinds enable the money launderer to purchase a policy with a lump sum payment.  This product is ideal because the purchaser can deposit a significant amount of money at one time.  Since the annual premiums will be paid from an account, which has to be funded with the total amount, what would seem to be a lower ML risk life product actually bears the features of the higher risk single premium policy.

2.  Early Policy Redemption

  While every agent has probably experienced a policyholder who surrendered his or her policy early despite penalties, a client who routinely does so should be considered a potential money launderer.  It is very often combined with high single premium or deposit account life insurance policies.  A conspicuous fact is that some of the respective clients opted for early redemption even when it seemed very financially disadvantageous to do so.  Some of these policies experienced unusually high penalties (as much as 40 percent in some cases).  An agent must be suspicious when the policy owner shows little regard for the loss he or she will experience.  Such early policy redemptions do not always happen immediately, though some will.  Often the policy owner will wait a year or more to redeem their policies.

3.  Claim Fraud

  Claim fraud can occur with any type of insurance product since the intent is to receive capital from the claim rather than policy cash values.  This represents a general structure of criminal behavior in the insurance sector by transferring illicit funds into clean money paid out as claims from an insurer.  Agents have seen claim fraud for many reasons; money laundering is often not involved.  Since claim fraud often does not involve money laundering only those cases that seem to continually happen or seem suspicious from a premium payment standpoint might point to money laundering.

4.  Cash Premium Payments

  Most people want a paper trail for their own protection.  Therefore, most people pay major bills by check or some other method that can be proven if necessary.  While the agent would issue a receipt for cash, that is not the normal method used to purchase a life or annuity product.  This would especially be true if the premium required was a large amount.

  In the past when policyholders paid with cash, their agent merely deposited it into their personal business account and wrote a personal business check to be submitted to the insurer.  This method works quite well for money laundering since the agents themselves presented the vehicle for cleansing illicit funds.

5.  “Free Look” Periods For Newly Issued Policies

  Insurance policies allow a specific period of time following issuance for the new policyholder to “look it over” and decide if he or she is satisfied with the contract terms.  Agents usually have a few clients who choose not to keep their policy, but usually it has to do with their client’s finances or decision as to whether or not they actually need the protection.

  When money laundering is the objective, individuals purchase policies they never intend to keep.  These are often purchased with illicit cash.  The individual may buy one very large policy or a number of smaller policies through various agents.  When the policy or policies arrive the buyer cancels them and receives a refund in the form of a check from the insurer.  This has allowed the money launderer to mingle his or her illicit funds with legitimate insurer funds, receiving “clean” money back.

  Agents should question a sale if the buyer seems more concerned with the size of the premium (preferring larger premiums) than with the benefits of the policy being purchased and pays the premium with cash.  It is important to note that it need not be a cash value policy since the goal is not withdrawing values but rather canceling the policy soon after issuance.

For Example:

  Ben buys a nursing home policy requesting the highest benefits available.  The premium comes to several thousand dollars and Ben pays with cash.  Once the policy is issued and delivered, Ben cancels it and receives a refund check from the insurer.

  The policy selected will be some type that produces a significant premium amount.  The individual may buy the same type of policy from several different insurers, canceling all of them upon issuance and delivery.  Our example of a nursing home policy would probably not be significant enough in size unless Ben could pile on enough benefits to make the cost high (and worthwhile).  The more likely type of policy would be an annuity or an Investment Bond.

6.  Collusion of Customer Intermediary and/or Insurer Employee

  Most agents and employees of insurance companies are honest people, but those who deal in illicit funds are sharp observers.  They often recognize individuals who can be manipulated.  Of course, there are also dishonest people who need no manipulation at all – just the promise of wealth.

  There have been several cases of collusive behavior between the customer and the agent or between the intermediary and the insurer.  The intermediary (an agent or broker) involved accepted illicit funds and transferred them in exchange for high commissions.  There was a case in Canada where a drug trafficker purchased a life insurance policy informing the agent that the funds came from illegal activity.  The agent charged a higher commission for issuing the policy.  Three months later, the policyholder cashed in the policy.

7.  Third Party Premium Payments

  This typology pays the premiums on policies through third parties.  A third party is a person who is not the policyholder and who has not been subject to identification by the writing agent or issuing company.  Therefore, neither the agent nor the insurer can verify the person or the relationship to the policyholder.

8.  Risks Involved in International Transactions

  International transactions exist in a variety of ways.  It may be a simple payment of premiums from a foreign bank account or the payout of policies to a foreign jurisdiction.  Exercising a foreign transaction is not necessarily a sign of money laundering of course.  Typologies include those with more complex transfers where the goal may be the concealment of money origins. When transfers are complex (moving money via bank accounts or checks through different jurisdictions) complicating the control of the legal source of funds, it should be considered a suspicious situation.  When money laundering is the goal, it may involve foreign customers and customers domiciled abroad who seek insurance policies through domestic or foreign intermediaries.  The policy payout is usually to a foreign jurisdiction.

9.  Fraudulent Customers, Insurers, or Reinsurance Companies

  FATF noticed that criminals established or took over complex corporate structures and then entered into business relationships with insurers to get coverage.  The purpose of the various commercial insurance contracts was to invest illicit funds.  In some cases this was facilitated by the fraudulent setting-up of insurance or reinsurance companies for the purpose of laundering money.  The criminals were able to invest proceeds of crimes into legal business entities and initiate transfers of money behind the veil of an insurance company or reinsurance company.

Money Laundering Indicators Not Unique to Insurance Products

  Some aspects of money laundering are not unique to the insurance industry.  Of course, money laundering will exist anywhere there are vehicles to accomplish the illegal act.  The following are characteristics of money laundering wherever they may occur.

1.  Large One-Off Cash Transactions

  The use of cash in situations that would not normally call for cash should always cause suspicion.  This is especially true today when we have so many methods available to us to pay for goods and services.  The insurance industry is one that is unlikely to need cash to acquire the products they produce.  If insurers were retail stores, we might not be so suspicious of cash sales, but we are not retail dealers; we are agents who would normally expect to receive a check for our products.

2. Use of False Addresses

  Most agents would assume it was a simple error if their customer’s mail was returned to them as undeliverable (and in the past that would be a correct assumption).  Today, however, given the number of cases in which fraudulent customers have been involved (accounting for 7% of total cases), agents must be aware of the potential that exists for receiving purposely incorrect information from clients.  Agents must now check key personal data provided by their customers and increase the attention they give to verifying its correctness.  Most agents will request a piece of identification during the application process, or follow whatever instructions are given by their insurers.

3.  Overseas Business From Higher Risk Jurisdictions

  There was a time when only a handful of agents expected to receive business from foreign countries but times have changed.  International transactions are one of the riskiest from the standpoint of money laundering and this is especially true of certain high-risk jurisdictions.  Of course, that does not mean that all international transactions are forms of money laundering, but it does mean that agents and insurers alike must be aware of the potential involved in such cases.  Most insurers will be requiring enhanced identity verification and monitoring procedures to guard against potential money laundering tactics.  This is particularly true for business coming from NCCTs (non-cooperative countries and territories) and tax havens, since the re-routing of funds through foreign locations and intermediaries is commonly used to further screen the origins of the funds.

  If the Treasury Secretary decides a money laundering concern exists involving a foreign jurisdiction or an institution, they may require record keeping and reporting of certain financial transactions, including identities of those involved.

Policyholder Characteristics and Behaviors

  Most of our policyholders are not terrorists and are not attempting to launder money.  That’s the good news.  Some of our potential policyholders may be trying to use insurance products to launder illicit funds or to hide the origins of their premium dollars.  That’s the bad news.  How can an agent or broker tell the difference?

  A customer’s profile is the most likely way to differentiate between the typical policyholder and the individual who has a different agenda.  The profile should look at both the individual’s financial and personal data as it relates to the products they are interested in purchasing.  Some indicators will pertain only to the insurance industry while others would be universal to all industries.  At all times the agent must be aware that having these policyholder characteristics does not necessarily signify illegal behavior.  Even so, when a policyholder raises suspicions, it is necessary for either the insurer or the agent/broker to verify the reasons for the activity or characteristics.

  There are particular clients that would automatically be considered high risk.  This would include citizens of uncooperative jurisdictions that have been identified by FATF as money laundering havens.  While coming from such a jurisdiction does not automatically make the individual or company a criminal it should alert the agent to the possibility.

Companies or clients whose funds come from offshore banks or uncooperative jurisdictions must also be considered questionable.

  Finally, senior foreign officials and their family members or political figures whose transactions of funds could be the result from embezzlement or misuse of public funds must be considered as potentially suspicious.

  Even when these individuals are not on OFAC or SEC lists, they have a higher potential risk so agents must use caution when doing business with them.  To consider the previous list in respect to filing a suspicious activity report (SAR) some elements would be considered, including:

1. Whether or not the client has been with the agent or insurer for an extended period of time.  A client that has been with the agent or insurer long enough to have a record of normal insurance transactions could be viewed without suspicion, whereas a new policy owner might warrant suspicion.

2. How the client was obtained.  Was he or she a referral from a trusted long-term client?  Did the client call the agent with a request to purchase a specific cash value product?  If so, how did he or she hear of the agent?  These questions can easily be asked and the answers could prove valuable when assessing the threat of money laundering activity.

3. Whether the client’s business is more likely than others to involve money-laundering opportunities.  For example, cash intensive businesses offer more opportunity to launder money than those that seldom use cash.

4. The client’s home country may indicate a greater likelihood of money laundering activities since some jurisdictions are known for doing so.

  Should an agent decide that suspicious activity is taking place, and especially if the agent is concerned that a terrorist act might occur, he or she must call the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s Financial Institution’s hotline: 1-866-556-3974.

  In addition to filing a SAR, the agent would be required to contact the proper authorities immediately.

All SAR reports are confidential, and it is not necessary or even advisable that the individual in question be told of the report’s filing.  If an agent is subpoenaed in response to the filing of a suspicious activity report, the agent is not required to provide any information.  He or she should immediately contact FinCEN.

  If an insurer receives a subpoena, it should not confirm or deny the report.  The insurer should contact the Chief Council at the FinCEN office at 1-703-905-3590.

A Known Criminal or Criminal Associate or Relative

  Many people have relatives or past associates that are less than angelic.  That does not automatically make the individual a terrorist or criminal.  However, when suspicious activity and criminal association are combined it should raise suspicions that must be either confirmed or denied.  While it is unlikely that individual agents or brokers would be aware of a person’s past criminal history there are cases where an individual is so well known that it would be hard not to have such knowledge. 

  Usually, suspicion is not raised because an agent or broker is aware of a client’s past criminal history.  Instead, it is how they purchase or use policies that would cause concern.  That concern would then be cause for effective customer due diligence procedures and the use of normal information sources that may provide necessary knowledge to prevent money-laundering activity.

Erratic or Abnormal Use of Policies

  Most policyholders purchase a policy for a specific reason; once purchased the contracts are allowed to perform as they were designed to perform.  A person who buys a policy for money laundering purposes generally does not use them in a typical manner.  Those who are using insurance contracts to launder money may deposit unforeseen funds (that do not seem consistent with their income or lifestyle), make abrupt withdrawals, or have unjustified intervention of third parties who make deposits or withdrawals on the policyholder’s behalf.  There may be an unacceptable refusal to provide personal information or information to intervening third parties.  Ideally, the agent should know their customers well enough to be able to assess such events and make evaluations, but it is unlikely that we will know all of our customers well enough to do this.  What we can do is know our customers well enough to recognize abnormal behavior and report such incidents when prudent.

High Premiums Compared to Verifiable Income

  Agents are now required to obtain reasonable information regarding their client’s incomes and finances.  Through the sale of financial vehicles we have the ability to ask questions of a client that we would not ask in a social situation.  Data concerning a client’s economic standing is vital for assessing the consistency of behavior and of the transactions being initiated.  Because insurers have a history of paying particular attention to their individual customers they have been able to make long-term investments that other industries that lack specialized client knowledge cannot do with short-term speculative financial instruments.  Therefore, it may actually be easier for insurers to protect themselves from illicit funds and those that launder them.

  Most insurance products are purchased through continual payments, usually monthly or quarterly, over a period of time.  These payments are typically related directly to the policyholder’s personal earnings, rather than originating from other financial sources.  When there is inconsistency between a customer’s verifiable economic profile and the scale of investment in insurance products, it is a significant indicator of possible money laundering, which would certainly require further investigation.

Lack of Concern for Charges or Costs

  The typical policyholder is always concerned about surrender penalties or other costs that might remove part of their policy values.  Anyone who is not concerned must have a reason.  Agents must ask themselves what that reason might be.  If the lack of policy owner concern exists because he or she has no intention of terminating prior to maturity, which would activate a penalty, there is probably no reason for concern.  If, on the other hand, the policyholder terminates a contract prior to maturity triggering a significant penalty there is valid reason for concern since it is a sign of money laundering risk.  Money launderers seldom care what policy costs exist because they consider them a valid cost of doing business (screening their illicit funds through an insurer, receiving back funds that appear legitimate).

Undue Interest in Payout Options

  A client who withdraws sums that trigger losses of contract values (whether penalties or other costs) displaying no concern regarding these losses should raise suspicion.  When a new policyholder is less concerned with policy benefits and more concerned with potential payout options, agents must recognize the risk this signifies.  It means that the client may initiate behavior at a later stage, even if not currently, that might signify money laundering.

Change of Beneficiary

  While it is not unusual for a legitimate client to change their beneficiary, a widely observed and effective indicator of risk relates to repeated changes in the beneficiary designation of a policy.  Repeated and unexplained changes increase the chance that money laundering is occurring.  Such events gain further significance in those cases when the relationship between policyholder and beneficiary is not clearly established.  Payout requests may be made on the basis of death, with proceeds going to unsubstantiated beneficiaries.

Insurance on Assets That Appear Inconsistent With Income

  Criminals are like the general population: they insure the assets they acquire.  Insurers that are asked to insure assets that have been acquired with no means of income are an indicator that illegal activity exists.  It is an effective indicator of inconsistencies between the customer’s economic profiles and the values or assets they are seeking coverage for.

Early or Suspicious Claims

  It is known that general insurance is affected by money laundering risk.  In other words, insurance products that do not produce a cash value may also be at risk from money laundering activities.  Typologies demonstrate that money launderers also may purchase contracts and submit suspicious claims or claims very early in the policy.  A claim placed by a policy owner after a very short period from the issuance may be related to frauds or may signal that the coverage was sought for money laundering purposes.  Agents who stay in contact with their clients are those who are most likely to recognize fraudulent behavior.

  When opening a new account/application for an individual the agent has never met before, there is specific money laundering indications to be aware of.  While many of these seem very similar to the previous characteristics these should specifically be applied to the new client filling out an application.

  These characteristics would include:

1. An unusual interest in the insurer’s compliance record with government reporting requirements.  The individual might ask the agent whether he always confirms client income, for example, stating that privacy is very important to him.

2. A reluctance to provide government identification (such as a driver’s license or passport) may be an indication of possible money laundering activities or intent.

3. Vagueness on the part of the new client regarding information about his business activities or income sources should arouse the agent’s suspicions.

4. If the new client has difficulty describing how his business operates or seems to lack knowledge regarding it, suspicion should be aroused.  Agents can determine this very casually through normal conversation and should do so since it is a valuable tool in detecting ML activities.

5. If the new client seems to be acting on the behalf of another but refuses to provide identification information of that person or company, the agent should consider the client suspicious.  Comments such as “He wishes to remain in the background” or “That is classified information” are strong indications of money laundering intent.

6. If the individual indicates a desire to make insurance transactions that do not make good business sense the agent must consider the person suspect.

7. Transactions that seem to be evading BSA requirements are always a risk indicator.  This would include making multiple policy applications using cash in amounts below normal reporting requirements.

  Of course, if any identification does not seem genuine the agent must be suspicious.  While the agent is not legally required to investigate the authenticity of produced identification material, if it seems to be false, it is necessary to note this with the application sent to the insurer’s underwriters.  In fact, any indication the agent has of potential money laundering activities must be reported to the insurer.  Certainly, knowledge of use of illicit funds to purchase insurance products must be reported by the agent.

  Anytime an existing or new client is not concerned with the product’s performance the producer’s radar should be on.  Most of our clients have a definite concern with policy performance so a lack of concern would be a prime indicator of illegal intent.  If the applicant or existing client also displays a desire to avoid required government reporting requirements there would be little question as to their intent.

  Sometimes illegal intent is not as obvious so it is important to recognize other signs that might indicate suspicious activity.  This would include (but may not be limited to):

· A desire to deal only in cash or cash equivalents (money orders, cashier’s checks, or traveler’s checks).

· Multiple fund transfers, often going to and from countries listed as non-cooperative or high risk.

· Multiple wire transfers for no apparent business purpose.

· Purchase of long-term use products, but either withdraws funds from or closes the vehicle prematurely.  Especially if more than one of these products is used in this manner it would indicate ML activity.

· Makes requests to wire transfer funds from the insurance product to a third party or company without any apparent reason for doing so.

· Deposits bearer bonds followed by requests for distribution of funds.

· Fees for premature withdrawals or other costs associated with product use do not seem to concern the client.  The client may even suggest the agent receive higher commissions than normal.

Product Characteristics and Maintenance

  Once an insurance policy is purchased, producers are often in a position to better understand their clients and any possible connections that might exist to money laundering activities.  While the following activities do not individually indicate money laundering activities, when combined or exercised repeatedly the producer (agent) should consider them suspicious.

1.  Policy Payments from Third Parties

  Policies are typically purchased and paid for by the policy owner or the insured, which may or may not be the same person.  If the policy owner is not also the insured, the writing agent probably understood the relationship between the two when the policy was applied for.  This information would likely be relayed to the underwriter of the insurer.

  A third party is a person that was not part of the original application, so the agent and insurer have no knowledge of their identity or relationship with the insured or policy owner.  Involvement of third parties could signify that the policy owner is a figurehead on behalf of the real provider of financial resources invested in the policy, with the intent of concealing the origin of the premium dollars or investment dollars.

2.  Multiple Sources of Funds to Pay Premiums

  It is unusual for premium funds to originate from multiple sources, even when all sources are tied to the policy owner.  Most people signify one specific source for their premium payments, often utilizing automated payment methods such as checking account drafting.  When premiums are paid from multiple sources it may indicate operations of layering or the integration stage of money laundering.

3.  Significant Premium Top-Ups to a Policy

  Sizeable or regular premium top-ups, especially if not anticipated at the time of policy application, is a key indicator of money laundering risk for investment types of life products.

4.  Overpayment of Premium

  Overpayment of premium, especially when followed by a request for repayment to a third party or another jurisdiction, is a sign of money laundering.  This is an effective method of exchanging illicit funds for legitimate insurer funds.  It is also effective in hiding the origin of funds.  Insurers often detect this, however, and may refuse to finalize the transfer or report the request for transfer to the designated authorities.

5.  Using an Insurer Like a Bank

  Insurance companies are offering more financial options than ever before.  Many investment-type life policies offer considerable flexibility in the making of additional premiums or early redemption.  When these features are used in ways resembling banking activities (making additional premium payments and frequent partial withdrawals) this is an indicator of possible money laundering.  The risk is increased if transferring funds are received or paid to numerous accounts or to foreign jurisdictions.  This especially applies if the jurisdiction is considered risky or non-cooperative or if the foreign exchange restrictions are in force in the receiving jurisdiction.

6.  Early Redemption

  As we have discussed, early redemption is a common method of laundering money.  It enables an individual to invest tainted money and remove legitimate money.  Therefore, individuals who seem interested in withdrawal options over their interest in policy benefits should be suspected of money laundering.  Of course, asking such questions does not make a person a money launderer and their motives may be quite innocent.  If, however, policyholders actually exert their right to terminate a policy before its maturity, the agent should consider this a potential money laundering risk.  This would especially be true if no logical reason was given for the withdrawal or policy termination and the transaction was significantly uneconomic for the policy owner.  Some money launderers look for policies that will not penalize the agent (require return of commission) for early surrender since these individuals do not wish to alert the agents to their activity.

7.  Unusually High Commission Charges

  Studies have shown that policies paying unusually high commissions are often selected by money laundering groups or individuals.  In some cases, the intermediary (agent or broker) was directly or indirectly involved in a money laundering operation.  In other cases, the intermediary sensed the transactions were shady and therefore selected a higher commission for him or herself.

Customer Due Diligence (CDD)

  There is little doubt that customer due diligence (CDD) is required on all levels of the insurance industry if money laundering activities are to be minimized.  The quality of customer identification is pivotal to preventing the use of insurance products for terrorism purposes.  Under the USA PATRIOT Act, verification of new accountholders will be focused on.  The Treasury Secretary issued regulations establishing standards for customer identification that must be applied to all new account applicants.  Insurers must:

1. Verify the identities of the new account holders.

2. Maintain records of the information used to verify a person’s identity.

3. Consult government lists of known or suspected terrorists and associated terrorist groups prior to issuing policies.

  Failure to identify potential terrorists and criminals will allow money laundering to continue unchecked.  CDD should be considered as a specific feature of financial intermediaries’ risk management.  Therefore, failure to adequately identify an applicant early in the application process merely magnifies the problem later in the business relationship if the agent must correct the omissions.  Why would an agent not properly identify a new applicant?  The Financial Action Task Force stated in their 2004-2005 report that the most likely reasons include lack of expertise, time pressures, and lack of appropriate insurer requirements.  Intermediaries are not directly accountable for customer due diligence, but they are accountable for following insurer requirements.  Since it is obvious that intermediaries, such as agents and brokers, have direct contact that the insurer does not have, it is sensible and prudent for insurers to require specific identification processes during an application completion.

  Agents and brokers are those most likely to initially notice suspicious activity.  It is the agent, during face-to-face encounters that would recognize strange client behavior or an economic profile that may justify filing of a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR).  It is self-evident that agents and brokers must comply with anti-money laundering procedures that enable their insurers to prevent the activity.  Agents are in the best position to realize if policies are being written on assets that do not seem consistent with the individuals’ income or economic level, for example.

  One of the concerns regarding placing too much responsibility on the field staff that meet face-to-face with their clients is the insurance producer’s possible reluctance to ask the necessary questions of new applicants.  Agents have incentive to make the sale, not discourage it.  It is hard to imagine Agnes Agent saying to her new applicant: “I can’t take this application because I can’t verify where your premium dollars are coming from.”  That is why education is necessary so Agnes Agent realizes she is not required to state this.  Instead, she should complete the application, attach her notes regarding the fact that cash was used and she could not see means of income, and forward it to her insurer with the application.

  It is not always easy to recognize suspicious activity.  In general, agents were not trained in money laundering activity so they were not alert to the signs.  Surveys have revealed that agents typically believed the insurance business was not at risk for money laundering activities.  However actual risk, as measured by the amount of cases involving insurance products and businesses, does exist. 

  Once money is deposited into some type of financial vehicle, such as a cash value insurance product, the origins of the illicit funds has already been partially obscured, so it becomes easier to layer and place the partially laundered funds.  The link to the money’s origins may be very difficult to determine at this point since premium may be paid from a legitimate bank account or by a cashier’s check.  Not all such transactions are money laundering of course; it may be a repositioning of assets from a Certificate of Deposit into an annuity; the client may have received an inheritance or even lottery winnings.  It is the job of the agent to determine, within reasonable means, the origin at the time of application.

For example, an agent might ask:

  “Okay, Mr. Peterson, do you wish to reposition an asset into your new annuity or would you prefer to make periodic payments from your checking account?”

Or state:

  “I am so sorry, but I am not in a position to accept cash.  If you could deposit that into your checking account, I can accept a personal check and allow you time to make your deposit.”

  Seldom would a client be reluctant to state where premium dollars or a deposit originates.  In fact, more often the client is proud of their ability to save if that is the case.  A new applicant that is reluctant to disclose the origins of premium dollars would be suspicious.

  Unlike the banking industry, insurance companies have not seemed to establish information-sharing devices as they relate to money laundering, which reflects their belief that it is a banking problem rather than an insurance industry problem.  Criminals were quick to recognize this delusion of agents, brokers, and insurers.

  Many regulators accused insurers of doing an inadequate job of monitoring and training their agents.  In their defense it is very difficult to monitor a group of mostly self-employed contractors. 

  As competition from various financial markets intensified, insurance products emerged to compete in the worldwide marketplace.  Many of these new products seemed more investment oriented than traditional insurance.  Unfortunately, the market expansion and product changes were not developed with a corresponding understanding of the money laundering tactics used by criminals and terrorists.  In the past, there did not seem to be risk of criminal and terrorist infiltration since the products were not attractive to their goals.  Today’s products offer cash values that fit their needs very well.

  Cash value life insurance products appear to be a primary target of criminal and terrorist infiltration since substantial funds can be invested in widely available insurance products.  Many of these products have a high degree of flexibility.  While the honest policyholder appreciates these elements, money launderers love them.  They offer the ability to legitimize illicit funds.

Policy Features and Provisions

  Life insurance contracts have various features and provisions that reflect the type of product it is.  While all life insurance contracts will have some similarities, there will also be differences.

Premiums

  Insurance contracts have premiums; a premium is the payment the insured makes for his or her insurance coverage.  The premium due date will be listed on the policy.  The insured has the option of paying premiums monthly (usually through a bank draft), quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.  Annual premiums may be less than quarterly or semi-annual payments.  If the insured pays their premiums monthly through a bank draft costs are likely to be less than monthly payments the insured must manually send in.

  Policies have grace periods for payments.  This is the amount of time allowed past the premium due date to pay the premiums without lapsing the policy or providing proof of insurability.  If the premium is not paid within the grace period the policy will lapse and the life insurance coverage ends (except in policies that have provisions to pay the premium from cash values).  Reinstatement may require proof of insurability.

Policy Options

  Cash value or participating insurance policies offer three sets of options: nonforfeiture, dividend, and settlement options. 

Nonforfeiture Options

  Nonforfeiture options provide an avenue of premium refund.  If the owner discontinues paying premiums the insured may:

1. Surrender the policy for its cash value, if any;

2. Convert the policy to a paid-up contract of the same type but with a reduced face amount; or

3. Convert to a paid-up term policy for its full-face amount for a period usually shorter than the original policy.  This is called extended term insurance.

  If the policy is participating the insurance under the reduced-paid-up option continues as participating.  Insurance under the extended term option often becomes non-participating.  Some companies might continue the extended term as participating but at higher rates.

  Policies commonly have provisions that automatically convert to extended term insurance if the owner discontinues payments and fails to elect one of the other available options.

Dividend Options

  Dividends are paid on insurance policies participating in the insurance company’s earnings.  It is usually expressed as “par” for participating and “non-par” for non-participating insurers.  Mutual insurers are commonly companies that issue dividends to their policy owners.  Stock insurers may issue both non-par and par policies, but most stock insurers issue only non-par policies.

  A par company generally pays dividends in cash, but typically no money is actually transferred unless the policy is paid up (all premiums have been paid).  The insurer applies the cash dividend towards the next premium that comes due.

  Dividends may be “accumulated at interest.”  The insurance company retains the dividends in this situation and accumulates them at not less (and usually more) than the interest rate specified in the policy.

  Dividends may also be used to buy paid-up additions to the policy at net rates.  This is an opportunity to acquire low cost insurance since these additions are purchased at net rates.  In other words, the insurance is purchased without the expense allowance.  This can be especially important if the insured has experienced declining health since this additional coverage is purchased without regard to current health or even occupation (some occupations are considered high risk) when the dividend is paid.  Paid-up additions must be the same type as the policy the dividend is paid on.  Paid-up additions may be selected for current dividends at any time without proof of insurability.

  Another dividend option is one-year term insurance.  Under this option the amount of insurance that can be purchased by the dividend is often limited to the cash value of the policy.  If the dividends exceed the amount required to purchase the maximum term insurance the policy owner may elect to use the excess for a different option available under the policy.

  If the policy owner wants additional death protection either the paid-up insurance or the one-year term dividend option is a good choice.  If the insured is more interested in saving money for retirement the accumulate-at-interest dividend option could be chosen.  Interest paid on dividend accumulations is taxable income but annual increases in the cash value of paid-up additions are not generally subject to current income taxation.  As always, it is important to consult with a tax expert.

Settlement Options

  The generally accepted method of paying proceeds from a life insurance policy is by lump sum distribution.  However, two alternative methods offer periodic payments:

1. The interest-only option, and

2. Annuity options.

  If an annuity option is elected there are several choices available, including lifetime income options, installments for a specified time period (such as twenty years), and installments of a fixed amount of money each month or each year.  The amount of income available and the time over which income is available is directly related to the amount of money deposited into the distribution vehicle (the annuity).  Obviously, the more money deposited the more income one will receive.

  The word "annuity" means "a payment of money."  The insurance industry designed them to do just that.  Choosing an annuity payout option requires understanding of how payout options work.

  There tends to be standard options offered:

1. Lifetime Option (Single Life):  For as long as the annuitant lives, he or she will receive a check each month for a specified sum of money.  The payment amount received each month will never change.  This option will pay the maximum amount in comparison to other available annuity payout options.  Selecting the lifetime option is a gamble.  If the annuitant lives a long time, he or she could collect handsomely over time.  If their life is cut short, the insurance company will keep any balance left unpaid.  No leftover funds will be distributed to any heirs. 

2. Joint-and-Survivor (Two or More Lives):  Under this option, the insurance company will make monthly payments for as long as either of two named people lives.  In some cases, it could involve more than two lives, but usually there are just two people involved as annuitants.  This option is often utilized by married couples.  However, the couple need not be married.  Any two people named will be honored by the insurance company.

3. Life and Installments Certain:  The key word here is CERTAIN.  The "certain" period of time is usually either ten or twenty years but may be another time period also.  This option states that should the annuitant die prior to the stated "certain" time period, payments would then continue to the beneficiary until that specified number of years had been met.  On the other hand, the annuitant may receive payments longer than the "certain" period stated.  That is where the "life" part comes in.

4. Cash Refund Annuity:  If the annuitant dies before the amount invested has been paid out by the insurance company, then the remainder of the invested money (plus interest) will be paid out in monthly installments or in a lump sum to the named beneficiary or beneficiaries.

  In each of these options, the insurance company pays nothing beyond the agreed period of time:

1. Single Life = nothing after the death of the annuitant (no beneficiary designated money);                  

2. Joint and Survivor = nothing after BOTH named people have died (no beneficiary designated money);       

3. Life and Installment Certain = nothing after the death of the annuitant or until the stated time period; whichever comes last (so a named beneficiary could receive something if the annuitant died prematurely).  

4. Cash Refund = nothing after the full account has been paid out whether to the annuitant or a beneficiary.

  A lifetime option will mean a higher monthly payment to the insured but the insured is gambling that he or she will live long enough to receive more than they deposited into the annuity.  If the annuitant dies before they receive the amount deposited the insurance company keeps any remaining money; heirs receive nothing.  However, when considering retirement financial security is the first consideration, not potential beneficiaries.

  Under the interest-only option the insurer retains policy proceeds paying interest to the beneficiary.  A minimum interest rate is guaranteed with the actual interest payment determined by the amount the insurer earns.  Although there are minimum guarantees, the amount actually paid has traditionally been higher.

State Required Provisions

  Each state will have specific state requirements.  While these may vary from state to state (so we are not quoting any specific state’s provisions) there does tend to be some basic requirements in all states.  There will be some provisions mandated by the state, some provisions allowed by the state and provisions the insurer feels are necessary.  Some provisions are included to protect the insurer from excessive claims although that is more likely to occur in health contracts than in life contracts.

  Generally, all states have specific items they feel are necessary for consumer protection, which may include incontestability, misstatement of age (sometimes even misstatement of sex), deferment, nonforfeiture, loan values, grace periods and reinstatement provisions.  It is always important to know one’s own state laws; as an insurance professional this is an agent’s duty and moral obligation to his or her clients.  It is also an obligation the agent has to the companies they license with.

Incontestability

  The incontestability provision prevents the insurer, following a specifically stated period of time, from rescinding (contesting) the policy on the basis of misstatements made or omission of facts on the original application.  While the applicant may not have intended to leave out information or state the facts incorrectly, during the initial period following policy issuance the insurer could rescind the policy for such occurrences.  States want that period of time to be reasonable so they impose incontestability requirements.

  Exact wording will vary based on state requirements but the incontestability statement may be similar to the following:

“This policy shall be incontestable after it has been in force during the lifetime of the insured for a period of two years from the date of issuance, except for nonpayment of premiums.”

  If premiums are not paid in a timely manner, the policy will lapse independent of any omission or misstatement of application facts.  The courts have interpreted the clause in favor of consumers, allowing it to become an agreement to disregard consumer fraud.  It makes sense to do so since it would be impractical to gather enough evidence or find sufficient witnesses to prove the applicant intended to defraud the insurance company.  The insurers also realize that misstatements and omissions in the application sometimes result from agents who wish to receive a commission.  In other words, the applicant claims he or she did in fact disclose the information to the agent, but the agent failed to disclose them to the insuring company.

  One advantage of incontestability clauses that agents and policy owners alike may not be aware of is how it affects beneficiaries.  The clause is valuable to them because it prevents delayed settlements resulting from long and costly court action if the policy has been in force for more than two years.

Misstatements in the Application

  Generally, misstatements concern the applicant’s age, but it can involve the stated gender as well.  The incontestability clause does not excuse the misstatement of age or sex since they are primary life insurance rating factors.  Obviously the older an individual is the greater the risk to the insuring company.  The gender is also a factor since women generally live longer than men.  However, such misstatements would seldom cause the policy to be rescinded although the insurer is allowed to adjust premium rates and back charge to the inception of the policy for any additions that are owed in premium.  If the insured is deceased, an adjustment would be made in the face amount of the policy to correctly reflect the premiums that were paid.  In other words, the beneficiary is paid the amount of proceeds the premiums would have purchased if the age and sex had been correctly stated.

  The author is not aware of any adjustments stated in policies for surgical sex changes.  Generally, issues of this nature must experience a court case before it becomes legally addressed in policies.  However, even in surgical sex changes it is likely that insuring factors would be based on the gender at birth since all those attributes (risk factors based on age and gender) would still exist.

Deferment Clause

  In the 1930’s insurance companies experienced multiple policyholders withdrawing or borrowing cash values from their policies simultaneously.  This forced insurers to sell assets at depressed prices, causing the companies substantial financial losses that would not otherwise have occurred.  Since then, life insurance companies have been required to include a clause giving them the right to defer payment of cash or loan values in policies for a period not to exceed six months, unless the loan is for renewal of premiums.

  The deferment clause does not apply to death proceeds when the insured dies, although it may apply to lump-sum withdrawals of proceeds left with the company under the interest-only option or the prepayment of any guarantees under an installment or life income option.

Nonforfeiture

  Since cash-value contracts contain nonforfeiture provisions, the cash-value rights in a policy are not forfeited if the policy is discontinued.

Loan Values

  Many types of life insurance policies develop cash values.  Term insurance never develops cash values, so this would apply to the various forms of permanent life insurance.  Some term policies are coupled with such things as annuities but only the non-term portion would acquire cash values.

  If the policy owner wants to keep his or her life insurance policy in force while still acquiring cash he or she can arrange a loan from the insurer up to the cash value in the policy.  The insurer lends the money at the guaranteed policy rate; the rate varies so it is necessary to consult the policy and policy attachments.

  Some policy owners may feel it is unfair to charge interest when they withdraw their own policy values but there is a valid reason for doing so.  Insurance companies take into consideration the investment income of the cash values when computing premium.  Therefore, if the policy owner withdraws the cash values the insurer must be compensated for the investment income they lose.

  Originally the purpose of policy loans was to provide a source of funds for policy owner emergencies but people soon realized they could use the money for any purpose – not just emergencies.  Savvy investors pulled their cash values through policy loans and invested them in short-term vehicles at higher rates to earn a profit.  For example, a policy owner earning 5 percent on his cash values might withdraw the money and invest in short-term financial paper at 8 percent, earning a higher rate than he could have in his life insurance policy.  This became a widespread occurrence and it put insurance companies at a competitive disadvantage.

  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, partially as a result of this problem, approved a model bill permitting a policy loan provision for new policies that allowed periodic adjustments of the policy loan rate.  The adjustments are based on specified indexes of long-term corporate bond yields.  The maximum loan rate for each policy must be determined at regular intervals, at least once a year but not more often than once in any three-month period.  The rate charged may be increased if the increase would be 0.5 percent per annum.  It must be decreased if the decrease would amount to 0.5 percent per annum.  The NAIC model bill permits a fixed policy loan interest rate of 8 percent in place of the variable rate.

Grace Periods and Reinstatement

  Insurance contracts provide a grace period during which the insured may pay their premiums without losing insurability.  While it is never wise to pay premiums late, the grace period does allow policy owners to maintain their policies even if premiums are paid late, as long as they are paid within the grace period allowed.  Grace periods are 30 or 31 days following the premium due date.  If late premiums are paid within this time period the policy remains in effect, as though premiums had been paid on time.

  If premium is not paid by the end of the grace period policies without cash value will terminate.  Those with a cash value will be placed on the appropriate nonforfeiture option.  If death occurs during the grace period any unpaid premium will be deducted from the life proceeds the beneficiary receives.

  Policyholders may reinstate their lapsed policy within specified time periods.  He or she will be required to pay all back premiums prior to reinstatement and provide proof of insurability.  The length of reinstatement varies but usually the time is three to five years.  If reinstatement is sought by the insured within a short time of lapse proof of insurability may be no more than a simple statement made by the policyholder.  For longer periods of lapse the insurer may require a medical examination similar to what a new application would require.

Allowed Policy Provisions

  Some policy provisions are allowed since they do not violate state or federal requirements.  State laws generally allow insurers to include restrictions for such things as suicide, aviation, and war, for example.

Suicide

  If an individual was suicidal, it would be logical to first buy a life insurance policy naming loved ones as beneficiaries.  This would be considered “adverse selection.”  Obviously, it would not benefit insurers to have very many people buy a policy and then commit suicide.  Therefore, there is a restriction in life insurance policies restricting benefits when death is the result of suicide.  Policies will not pay benefits for suicide within two years from the date of issuance (a few restrict payment for one year).  Insurers must still return all premiums that have been paid but no death benefit is due.

Aviation

  Aviation restriction provisions are usually limited to planes flown by nonprofessionals and the insured individual.  Flight in commercial airlines would not be restricted.  Usually the provision states exclusion “for aviation deaths, except those of fare-paying passengers on regularly scheduled airlines.”  Military aircraft is typically excluded since that would imply active duty in the military, which would be covered by military life insurance.  Military exclusions may read similar to: “exclusion of deaths in military aircrafts only; exclusion of pilots, crew members, or student pilots and aviation death while on military maneuvers.”  There was a time when only policies issued during periods of war would include these clauses but today, with America involved in non-declared war conflicts, these are more likely to appear in contracts.

War

  War clauses vary widely so it is always important to review the actual policy for details.  Some policies will totally prohibit payment for deaths resulting from war in any capacity while others will prohibit payment only for specific situations.  If the death occurred while the insured was in the military, for example, but the death itself was not related to war activities the policy might still pay benefits to the beneficiary.  The insurer will refund any premiums that were paid or an amount equal to the policy reserve.

General Provisions

  Insurance companies certainly underwrite and create policies with profits in mind.  It would actually be unethical for them to do otherwise since they must remain in business if they are to pay out benefits to those that deserve them.  Even state and federal laws recognize that insurers must remain profitable.  With that goal in mind, there are general provisions designed for the protection of the insurer, which in turn protects policy owners.

Deduction of Indebtedness and Premium Refund

  Indebtedness to the insurer from a policy loan will be deducted from any proceeds payable to a beneficiary at death, or from cash values upon surrender of the policy.  Insurers may refund unused premiums if the insured dies with an insured term paid for, but this is not generally required by law.

For example: Ivan Insured mails a quarterly life insurance premium payment to his insurance company on December 15^th for the policy term from January 1 through March 31.  On December 28^th he unexpectedly dies from injuries incurred in an automobile accident. His insurer may or may not automatically refund his quarterly payment to his estate, depending upon company practice.

  His insurance company is not required to return his premium but may do so if it is their normal practice to do so.  Even when an insurance company does not ordinarily return unused premium, they may do so upon request.  Therefore, estate administrators typically do request refund of unused premiums as a matter of standard estate settlement practices.

Change of Beneficiary

  When an application is taken for life insurance coverage the agent requests a primary beneficiary listing.  The beneficiary may be a single person or multiple people.  When multiple people are named the application will request a listing of each beneficiary percentage of proceeds upon the insured’s death.  For example, it may state: Mary Maxwell: 50% and James Higgins: 50%.  If the agent is wise, he or she will also request a contingent beneficiary in case the first named beneficiary or beneficiaries predeceases the insured. 

  In most policies the applicant reserves the right to change the primary and contingent beneficiary designations.  In many cases change of beneficiary is merely a matter of filling out a new beneficiary designation form, but some companies may require the original policy be returned along with the completed form.

Assignment

  In property insurance contracts the consent of the insurer is needed to assign benefits to another, but this is not typically the case for life insurance contracts.  However, the life insurance company is likely to require notice of assignment be filed with their home office.  This is usually considered a consumer protection measure.

Beneficiary Designations

  While it is not mandatory, the wise policy owner will always name an individual or individuals as policy beneficiaries.  Seldom would entering “estate” on the beneficiary line be wise.  Policy benefits bypass probate proceedings when a person is the listed beneficiary.  The designation may be either revocable or irrevocable.  Most people would always choose a revocable designation, meaning the insured can change his or her named beneficiary any time they wish to, and usually as often as they wish.

  If the beneficiary designation is irrevocable all policy rights are vested in the beneficiary and the policy owner may not assign the policy or borrow on it without first getting the beneficiary’s permission.  An irrevocable beneficiary designation may be either reversionary or absolute.  In reversionary designations the policy rights revert to the policy owner if the beneficiary dies first.  In absolute designations the value of the policy is included in the beneficiary’s estate for the beneficiary’s heirs.

  It is important to be precise when listing beneficiary designations.  An agent is unlikely to ever allow his or her client to list “Granddaughter Nancy” for example.  While there may currently be only one granddaughter named Nancy there is no way to know what the future may bring.  It is important to list full names so there is no doubt as to who the intended beneficiary is.  If available, listing the beneficiary’s Social Security number is also advisable.

  Policy forms allow both a primary and secondary beneficiary listing.  The secondary beneficiary is often referred to as the contingent beneficiary designation.  The contingent beneficiary would receive the life insurance proceeds if the primary beneficiary had died prior to the insured individual.

  Some third-party rights do exist in life insurance contracts.  Beneficiary rights are determined by the type of beneficiary designation and by the ownership of the policy.  In some cases the beneficiary is both the beneficiary and the policy owner; certainly he or she can then exercise all policy rights by virtue of contract ownership.  The owner may exercise all policy rights including policy loans and assignments regardless of the type of beneficiary designation.

  If the beneficiary is not also the owner but is revocably designated as beneficiary he or she has a contingent interest in the policy.  This is an interest that is contingent upon the subject dying prior to the named beneficiary and prior to revoking that person in favor of another.  A revocable designation may be changed to someone else if the insured wishes to.

  A person named as an irrevocable beneficiary has a vested interest in the policy.  He or she can deny the owner permission for policy loans, assignment and any other action relating to the policy that would affect the proceeds the irrevocable beneficiary would receive, assuming he or she outlives the insured.

  Creditors’ rights to the insured’s cash values and life insurance proceeds are generally restricted by common law, federal statutes, and state statutes.  Sometimes creditors’ rights depend to some degree on how the beneficiary designation is stated.  If the insured dies and the beneficiary designation listed “estate” it will likely make the funds available to creditors.  It may be possible to legally attach a life insurance policy but the availability of any cash reserves or values would depend on the policy’s provisions.  If removing the cash values will not cancel out the policy, the courts may allow it.  Even so, if the right to collect is a policy option to be exercised by the insured, the insurance company is not obligated to pay the cash value until the insured elects that option, so creditors may not be able to actually receive the cash values.  Creditors do not have the right of election and the courts will not typically force election on the insured.  Creditors can claim cash values only through formal bankruptcy proceedings.

  In the case of death, the courts have ruled that policy proceeds then belong to the named beneficiaries, as long as “estate” was not listed rather than an actual person.  As a result proceeds are not subject to the insured’s creditors because they now belong to the third party beneficiaries.  If the insured owes taxes, usually collection is limited to cash values, not death proceeds.

Two federal statutes concern creditor’s rights to life insurance: federal tax liens and bankruptcy. The federal government can collect its tax claims directly from the insured’s insurance company, although it is limited to the policy’s cash values. If the insured dies prior to paying the taxes he or she owes, the tax claim is still collected but it is limited to the cash values contained in the policy immediately prior to death.

  When a policy owner files bankruptcy the Federal Bankruptcy Act determines how life insurance policies are treated.

  State statutes have generally exempted life insurance from creditor’s claims, although each state will have variances.  State statutes take precedence over the Federal Bankruptcy Act.  Crossman Co. v. Ranch in New York stated exemptions on life insurance proceeds were enacted for “the humane purpose of preserving to the unfortunate or improvident debtor or family the means of obtaining a livelihood and preventing them from becoming a charge upon the public.”

  In many states the exemption extends only to policies payable to the insured’s spouse and children.  In some states it extends the protection to any person that was dependent upon the insured, which could even include aged parents.  Some states extend this creditor protection to any listed beneficiary (that is not the estate).  In most states this protection includes not only the death proceeds but also any cash values.  A few states provide protection from creditors to the beneficiaries as well as the insured.  If the statute is not applicable to the beneficiary’s creditors the insured may provide this protection by including a spendthrift trust clause in the policy settlement agreement.  This clause gives the beneficiary protection from their personal creditors.  A spendthrift trust clause requires the policy owner to elect an installment settlement option.  Only the proceeds held by the insurer for the benefit of the beneficiary are protected; any money the beneficiary receives is then available to creditors.

  Every time an application for life insurance is made the applicant has several decisions to make.  These decisions concern beneficiary designations as well as ownership and policy options.  All decisions are important.

Policy Payments

  Policyholders and beneficiaries may receive payments under the terms of their life insurance policy.  The payment amount depends upon a variety of factors relating to the policy.  Obviously, a term insurance policy would not have any cash values whereas a universal life insurance policy might.  Even in a permanent policy, such as universal life, payments would depend upon how many and how long premiums have been paid.  It would also depend how the insurance carrier handles policy costs.

Cash Values

  All forms of permanent insurance, such as universal life, have cash values if sufficient premiums have been paid.  The policy will state the amount of cash value available each year the policy remains in force.  A cash value policy is expensive if the insured does not keep the policy active for a sufficient length of time; short term life insurance needs are best suited to term coverage (with no cash values).  Experts recommend cash value policies be kept for no less than ten years.  For those that do select cash value products and keep them long enough to make the cost worthwhile cash values can be effective in supplying retirement income or emergency cash. 

  Cash values may be accessed at any time at the policy owner’s request.  However, there are other options besides just withdrawing the funds.  These options include:

1. Borrowing against the policy.  Once money is borrowed, if the insured dies prior to repaying the loan, the amount borrowed will be subtracted from the benefits that are payable to the listed beneficiaries.

2. Buying reduced coverage.  If the insured finds he or she is not able to pay the premiums but still wants to keep the coverage, it is possible to get reduced permanent life insurance.  The cash value is used to buy a smaller policy that is paid in full.

3. Changing to term insurance.  If it becomes difficult to manage the premiums in a cash value life insurance policy, the insured could elect to reduce the cost by using cash values to purchase a paid-up term life policy, assuming sufficient cash values exist to do this.  When the term contract ends, coverage also ends.  This may be referred to as extended term life insurance.

Dividends

  For insurance purposes, dividends are refunds of premiums for those who have participating policies.  A participating policy (called a par policy) is one that has a premium fixed at an amount higher than the insurance company believes will be needed to cover the costs of providing protection.  The extra payment is returned to the policyholder as a dividend after the actual insurance costs are determined.  The policy owner is guaranteed not to have to pay higher premiums than those stated in the policy.  The dividends can be used to pay the lower premiums, buy additional insurance, or earn interest if left in the policy cash values.

  Nonparticipating policies, referred to as non-par policies, have premiums fixed as close as possible to the actual cost of providing the coverage.  As a result, there would not be any dividends paid to the policy owner.

Proceeds

  Proceeds are paid to a listed beneficiary when the insured individual dies.  To receive the proceeds the beneficiary must file a claim with the insuring company.  Once the proper filing has been made, the individual will receive the face amount of the policy, called the proceeds.  Proceeds can be received in one of several ways, called settlement options.  The settlement options include:

1. Lump-sum option, which allows the beneficiary to receive the entire amount in cash.

2. Amount option, which allows the beneficiary to take a certain amount each month until the money and interest run out.

3. Time option, which allows the beneficiary to take the money plus interest paid out over a specified period of time (such as ten or twenty years) on a monthly installment basis.

4. Interest option, in which the cash values are left on deposit with the insurance company to earn interest indefinitely.  The recipient simply withdraws the interest earning periodically as the need for cash arises.

5. Lifetime income option, in which the individual receives a guaranteed income for their lifetime.  The payments consist of interest only so they can never run out.

Special Clauses

  While all contracts can be intimidating, some of the most difficult contract language is found in insurance policies that have special clauses.  Special clauses may do multiple things, depending upon the insurer’s intent.  These clauses might limit the insured’s rights or grant the policy owner important privileges.  Agents must understand and be able to communicate the options or limitations special clauses contain.

  Nearly all policies have clauses of some sort.  They might include:

1. Incontestable clauses, which state that the insured has a “temporary” policy for a specified length of time; incontestability of the coverage is typically two years.  If the insurer finds the insured has lied or misrepresented the facts on their application for the specified period of time the company may refuse to pay a claim or even rescind (take back) the coverage entirely.  Of course, a life insurance policy would end anyway upon the death of the insured, so rescission is not really an issue if the insured has died.

2. Waiver-of-premiums clause, which waives payments for a stated period of time, usually six months.  This provision is particularly important if the insured becomes disabled, sick, or injured and cannot work for a period of time.  Without this provision failure to pay the premiums, even if it is due to a disabling injury, will mean lapse of coverage.  Some policies will pay the premiums on the insured’s behalf up to the age of sixty-five, so this provision is a significant benefit to the insured individual and his or her family.

3. Automatic premium loan, which will pay the premium on behalf of the insured if he or she fails to do so.  The premiums are charged against the policy as an automatic premium loan so the policy does no lapse.  Interest will be charged on the loan.

4. Accidental death benefit, which might also be called an indemnity.  An indemnity clause promises the policy will pay an extra amount if the insured dies as a result of an accident rather than natural causes.  We sometimes hear this referred to as a “double indemnity clause” when the insurer will pay double the face value when death results from an accident. It can be more than a double indemnity, depending upon contract terms; it could be triple indemnity or even quadruple indemnity.  There are often some identifying requirements for indemnity payment; for example, the insured may have to die within 90 days of the accident to receive these additional proceeds.  If he or she lives longer than the requirement, it would not be treated as death by accident, but instead it would be considered death by natural causes (so no indemnity payment would be available).  Most policies do charge an additional premium for the accidental death benefit, but it is typically very low since accidental death is not as likely as natural death.  The actual premium will depend upon risk factors for the insured.

5. Assignment clause: if the insured has kept the right to change his or her life insurance beneficiary, the policy can be assigned to another party to serve as security for a debt or loan.  Some banks will lend money on a life insurance policy if it can be assigned to them, for example.  If the insured does not have the legal right to assign the life insurance policy, then the beneficiary would have to give permission to do so.

6. Non-cancelable clause, which allows the insured to continue an insurance policy for as long as the premiums are paid.  It cannot be canceled for any reason other than nonpayment of premium.  This becomes very important if the insured develops a medical condition that renders him or her uninsurable.

7. Guaranteed insurability option, which allows the policy owner to buy additional insurance at some point without proving his or her current insurability.  Like the non-cancelable clause this becomes important if health status changes, making the insured uninsurable.  Typically, this option is available to new applicants who are under the age of forty who are buying a whole-life, universal life, or endowment policy.  Although the availability of buying additional insurance depends upon contract language, often additional insurance is available every few years until the age of forty.  The amount of additional insurance available may be limited so it is important to read the policy carefully.

8. Exclusions: some policies exclude certain situations entirely from coverage.  For example, non-fare airplane flight is often completely excluded under the policy exclusions.  Exclusions tend to be similar in all policies but since there may be some variance the buyer should shop around if a particular exclusion applies that he or she would like covered by their life insurance policy.  In many cases, if death results from an exclusion companies will return premiums if the death occurs within the first two policy years.

Contract Use

  Life insurance contracts have the ability to be used in many ways.  Obviously, life insurance, both term and permanent, are used to insure an individual’s life, but they may also be used in other formats.  Businesses may offer their employees group life insurance where the master contract is held by the employer.  Employees receive a certificate of insurability.

Group Insurance Principles

  Group insurance can include any type of policy that covers groups of people that have come together for a common purpose.  That purpose is often employment, but it can also include fraternities, labor unions, or any type of organized group.  It is important to note that the group may not be formed for the sole purpose of buying insurance.  Group insurance can include virtually any type of product, but usually we think of group insurance in terms of health coverage.  Group life insurance may not be as desired as group health insurance, but it is commonly offered by employers or employing organizations.  Since underwriting is performed on the group rather than the individuals within the group, those with health issues will find group life insurance beneficial.

Eligible Groups

  Any time an employer sponsors group insurance one eligibility requirement is sure to include employment.  Exactly what constitutes a group, however, can be far more encompassing.  Precisely what constitutes an eligible group for group insurance purposes is regulated by law since it pertains to specific tax benefits.

Single Employer Groups

  When XYZ Company brings in an insurer to underwrite an insurance plan for its employees, XYZ becomes a member of the most popular group: a single employer making group benefits available to its workers.  Employers can be sole proprietors, partnerships, or corporations.  All sizes of companies can offer group insurance plans to their employees – even if only one employee exists.  However, it is medium and large-sized companies that are most likely to do so.

Multiple Employer Trusts (METS)

  When the group is comprised of two or more small employers who have come together to purchase a single group plan, they are called multiple employer trusts, or METS.  The purpose of smaller employers joining together is one of finance: they generally receive the advantages of a large employer by increasing their size through unity.  Some plans have minimum requirements (usually 10 members), so by joining together companies can escape the limitations of their small size.

  A separate trust is formed to handle the group business, including collection of premiums and filing claims.  Multiple Employer Trusts may be sponsored and administered by insurance companies or non-insurance organizations.

Unions, Associations, and Other Groups

  Organized unions are groups of workers who perform the same type of job or work in the same type of field.  Federal law requires a trust to be established to collect funds and administer the employee benefits.

  The group does not have to be an employer or labor union.  Any group of people can form an association or other type of group and purchase insurance on a group basis.  Types of eligible groups in this classification must adhere to state laws on group eligibility.  The group can be old car collectors, members of a community club, lawyers, or any group of people that come together for a common purpose (other than obtaining group insurance benefits).  The group need only have a common relationship that is recognized by law.

Creditor-Debtor Groups

  When an individual borrows money they may become part of a creditor-debtor group.  Creditor-debtor group insurance is offered by the lender to those who borrow money from them.  Usually, a form of disability or life insurance, its purpose is to protect the creditor if the debtor becomes disabled or dies prior to the debt being paid.  Some credit policies are individually issued rather than group issued.

  As we know, group insurance is based on a common purpose of membership.  In the case of creditor-debtor groups, the common purpose is the lending and borrowing of money from a common institution (a bank, savings-and-loan institution and so forth).  Labor groups and other associations may offer this type of protection based on the group association as employers or members of the group.  Credit unions offer such protection to their members, for example.  Credit card companies also offer creditor-debtor insurance; their common purpose is the credit card itself.

  In most types of group insurance, it is the group that is qualified and the insurer can usually be sure that the health or other risk factor involved is well mixed.  When a credit card company or other loosely defined group markets creditor-debtor disability or life insurance products, members choose individually whether or not to accept the group coverage.  Since those most likely to accept would have a reason for doing so (poor health for example) the possibility of adverse selection is much greater.  Adverse selection is the likelihood of high-risk individuals outnumbering healthy members.

Underwriting Advantages

  A major advantage of group insurance is the ability to avoid individual underwriting.  As a result, all members of the group have equal access to the benefits involved.  Of course, insurers are still concerned about adverse selection (having primarily high-risk members), but this is much less likely to happen in a mixed group of people coming together for a common purpose other than obtaining insurance.  Insurers view the group and underwrite it as a group.  The effect of this is balancing of risk.  The younger and healthier members will balance out the risks of those who are older and less healthy.  Group plans also tend to have a shifting membership.  In a company, some employees will stay for many years, while others will stay only a short time.  There is a constant shifting of ages, health conditions, and other factors that relate to group underwriting.  Group plans require the participation of a high percentage of eligible people to ensure that the plan is not composed primarily of those who are likely to have claims.

  Group plans have requirements regarding when employees or other members join the group insurance plan.  For employees, it is usually required that they sign up for coverage soon after being employed, usually within the first month.  This prevents the employees from only joining the group insurance plan when they know they will need the benefits.

  When the group is a MET, underwriting is stricter because the insurers know the group is made up of multiple smaller groups.  The MET sponsor, often an insurance company, decides what requirements the smaller groups must meet in order to be accepted for the group insurance plan.  If the MET is made up of enough small groups, the underwriting exposure for the insurer ends up being as favorable as that for one large group.

  As we know, it is an advantage for the insurer to have a large group since the law of large numbers then lessens their risk.  The law of large numbers says that a sufficiently large unit of insureds will balance out the risk of claims.  The younger and healthier enrollees will have fewer claims than older or sicker members and yet pay the same approximate premium rate.  The larger the numbers involved the easier it is for the insurer to evaluate their potential risk and set the premium accordingly.

  Just as large numbers help insurers, it also benefits those that are members of the group.  The advantage that most enrollees are most familiar with is price.  Another advantage is group acceptance regardless of existing health conditions or other claim risks.  Group acceptance means that every person has equal access to insurance protection.

  Group underwriting is becoming stricter, however.  As the costs of medical care continue to rise, and since it is primarily health insurance that is underwritten for groups, insurers are looking closer than ever before at the people who make up the group.

Keeping Current with Business Needs

  Even when a business appears to have insured the necessary risks, it is prudent to constantly review the insurance portfolio.  Most professionals feel an annual or even semi-annual review is necessary.  Probably everyone would like to be able to simply submit an application into a vast marketplace that brings instant results, and to some degree that may be possible.  Independent agents will submit proposals through multiple insurers, but that doesn’t guarantee that all risks have been recognized.  It is seldom that simple.  While there have been online sites for pricing automobile insurance with multiple companies (often through a single broker) business insurance has been slow to follow suit.  Part of the reason is the complexity of business insurance.  It is unlikely that a business owner shopping online would recognize all of his or her potential risks.  Therefore, he or she could overlook some financially devastating possibilities.

  Agents and brokers rarely appreciate consumer price shopping but it does actually benefit everyone.  When insurance companies must become competitive, they tend to put out better products and promote service.  In the end, this is a benefit not only to consumers but also to the servicing agents.

  It can be time consuming to continually price shop for existing clients, but such service often brings about a loyalty that would not exist otherwise.  Loyalty also brings about referrals.  In addition, it is generally harder to seek out and obtain new accounts.  It is easier to renew and update existing business.

  Most consumers, regardless of the type of coverage being considered, want to know one thing: how much money for how much protection?   Because consumers feel inadequate they often remain with an unsatisfactory policy because they have no idea how to compare products.  On the other hand, a consumer may change coverage merely because another agent recommends it, without really understanding if the change is beneficial or not.  Consumer laws are often passed due to the few who are unethical, causing all producers to jump through additional legal hoops.

  Agents face a dilemma that may not have a satisfactory answer: the public perceives agents as greedy people who want to make a sale at any cost to the consumer.  While there may be some agents that fit this description the majority are professionals who are educated and strive to deliver products that fit the consumer’s needs.  Of course, agents must earn enough commission to support themselves and their families, but seldom is that the first consideration for career agents.  Unfortunately, many consumers will never benefit from the professional agent because he or she is so mistrustful of the industry. 

The Informed Consumer

  It would be wonderful if all our business clients were informed on insurance products.  While a few companies offering group coverage do have a person in charge of such things, most do not.  Therefore, the agent must expect to spend enough time to fully explain all aspects of the proposed insurance.  There is no doubt that it is easier to sell a product when no other agent is also offering a counter-proposal, but whether there is a competitive situation or not it is important that the buyer understand what they are purchasing.  When the buyer is misinformed or does not understand the results can cause a backlash on the agent as well as the insuring company. 

  An agent cannot expect their clients to blindly stay with them year after year.  Unlike individual policyholders, businesses are more likely to shop the marketplace on an annual basis.  This means regardless of any work you may have previously performed, they are willing to change agents if prices or benefits seem better elsewhere.  Agents working the business insurance market must continually offer prices and benefits that are competitive.  Therefore, agents in this marketplace must continually price companies and products and be willing to change loyalties when necessary.

Providing a Quote

  Part of an agent’s job is providing insurance quotes.  This is one of the major steps in acquiring new business and keeping old business on the books.  Most agents provide a new quote each year to existing clients.  The new quote compares their current company with others the agent represents.  “Captive” agents may not be able to do this since they represent a single company.  In that case, their yearly quotes will be more of an annual review of the existing coverage.

  Although there are variances, providing a quote tends to follow these steps:

1. Outline the client’s current coverage;
2. Outline other available coverage in an apples-to-apples format;
3. Make note to the client of extenuating facts (such as waiting periods that might apply, benefits that cannot be compared to existing coverage, and so forth).

  Many agents initially mail the annual quote to their clients and then follow it up with a telephone call.  Some agents may present the quote in person, especially if the agent feels a change in companies is necessary due to price changes or benefits available.  Unlike the policies written on individuals, where constant replacement may be frowned on by regulating authorities, business insurance often changes from year to year.  Such change is considered to be a normal business routine.

  The quoting process is not as difficult as it may at first appear.  The Buyer’s Guide to Business Insurance[2] lists seven steps to the quote process rather than the three we have listed.  Their view is from the consumer’s standpoint and assumes that the agent is not operating in the client’s best interest.  While this can certainly be true in some cases, career agents have learned that the client’s best interests are also their own.  It is usually easier to keep a current client than find a new one.  Therefore, career agents try very hard to work in a way that will retain current business.

  An effective agent will keep informal contact with all their clients.  This might be something as simple as a timely birthday card, a quarterly newsletter, or occasional telephone calls.  Business insurance is purchased as a means of avoiding loss.  Therefore, it is very important that the agent act in the best interest of the business by offering coverage for potential losses.  A quarterly newsletter can be an effective way of introducing ideas in business insurance. A business could be severely affected if the agent is negligent.   A substantial loss could actually shut down a business.  Of course, the business owner has some responsibility in maintaining adequate insurance, but if he or she is relying on the knowledge and professionalism of their agent, the blame may be legally placed on that agent in court.  Therefore, besides the fact that commissions are lost when adequate insurance is not recommended, it is also a means of avoiding lawsuits.

  Every agent that is not captive to a specific company owes it to their clients to shop the marketplace for products.  Although the time spent can be considerable it is usually worth it.  As an agent gathers quotes for one account, much of the information will carry over to other accounts as well so the time is well spent.

  Nearly every business is advised to shop the marketplace.  If the current agent does not offer this service, they are likely to find one that does.  If an agent has not shopped the marketplace for a particular account for several years, the loss of that client is likely.  This is especially true if their premium rate has continually climbed.  Business owners typically notice any expense that rises year after year.  If their agent has not adequately explained the price increase there is no doubt that the client will be exploring other options.

  Agents do not always have sufficient policy options available to them for some types of accounts.  Unfortunately, some types of business insurance are difficult to obtain at reasonable rates, especially for small companies with few employees.  Even when the agent wants to provide benefits at an affordable rate, they may not be able to.  When insurers withdraw from a specific field of coverage it typically means a hardening insurance market.  Just like investments, some types of insurance experience both a soft market and a hard market.  When markets become hard (rising costs to insure with a lowering profit margin) companies will opt out, canceling existing policies and refusing new business.  Agents must search the marketplace for available coverage, sometimes with unsatisfactory results.

  When the existing agent is unable to secure the coverage at desired rates it is likely the business will seek out other agents in the hope of obtaining the coverage they want at a price they are willing to pay.  Of course, the business may not be successful, but it does open up the opportunity for another agent to pick up the client.

  It is common for a business to use the services of multiple agents or agencies.  This is not only common; it is sensible.  Agents tend to have areas of expertise, but seldom do they know everything about various types of coverage.  Agents who learn to work together, often through the same agency, are able to bring together the knowledge of multiple agents to the benefit of their clients.  While we would like to be able to “do it all” this is not realistic.  Experienced agents realize both their strengths and weaknesses.  Knowing this is an asset since it allows agents to combine their efforts with other agents whose strengths and weaknesses complement each other.  When agents look at their job from the perspective of the client, it can only benefit both sides.

The Contract Participants

  It is important to know those that participate in the legal arrangements we call insurance policies. 

The Insurer

  The organizations that issue the policies are called insurers or issuers.  They must be formed to administer insurance plans.  They might be corporations, partnerships, or syndicates of individual underwriters.  The ability to insure effectively depends upon a large number of people who are acquired by insurers, often through sales representatives called agents.  This group of people may be referred to as the field force.  The agents may be either employees or independent contractors.  Often insurers hire management people to provide any needed training and supervising they feel necessary, but this is not always the case.  Many insurers offer very little training or supervision.  In this case, agents are responsible for acquiring any training or extra knowledge that might be necessary to appropriately represent the company’s products.

The Insured

Before a policy may be sold, someone must agree to pay for it. The NAIC defines ‘insured’ as parties covered by an insurance policy. There may be more than one insured person listed on the same policy. In business insurance this usually applies to the company itself, either the entity or the group named as the insured. Individuals buying personal policies are more likely to have more than one insured person named on the same policy application. A company may, however, have more than one type of risk or perhaps multiple locations covered by the same contract. The term ‘insured’ is not always used, depending on the situation. For example, another term that may apply is policyowner, which may also be the insured individual or may by someone other than the insured. Another term that may apply is certificate owner, which is the same as policy owner but usually applies when it is a group contract. The term that applies, whatever that term may be, will be defined in the policy.

Insurance Contract

  Since insurers deal in promises a legal document is required.  That legal document is the insurance contract or insurance policy.  These contracts define the promises made by the insurer to the insured.  They define the exact circumstances under which the insurer will pay and the amount that will be paid.  Lawyers must prepare the contracts so there is necessary legalese involved.  Since lawyers do not always agree, even though one set of lawyers may write the contract, it is not unusual for another lawyer or group of lawyers to contest the meaning.  One might believe that the insurance company would be the determining factor since their lawyers wrote the contract, but that is not necessarily the case.  Since it involves a contract, the courts must often decide how payment is due under the contract (policy).  Even if the intent of the original policy is misstated in the contract, the word of the contract prevails (or how the courts decide the contract reads).

There is an industry joke:  How many lawyers does it take to write an insurance policy?

  Answer: 3; one to write the policy, one to dispute it, and a third to decide who is right.

  Of course, developing a policy is not just the job of an attorney.  It also involves analysis of a specific risk and the number of people or companies that risk involves.  There are technical and economic considerations in this process.  Rates and restrictions must be applied in a way that would make the insured risk profitable for the company and applicable to enough people or companies to make the issuance of such a policy worthwhile.  These decisions are made by underwriting specialists who take their job very seriously.  An error can cause the insurer severe financial problems.  Some of the specialists involved might include engineers, statisticians, physicians, meteorologists, and economists.

Underwriting and Rating

  The success of an insurance policy depends upon the equitable distribution of cost among those participating in the risks, which are the insureds.  Underwriters classify and rate each loss exposure to maintain a semblance of equity among the policyholders.  For example, a business that manufactures brooms and wants to insure against burglary will be charged a rate comparable to other similar manufacturers.  Premium costs will vary based on the probability of the burglary occurrence (location of the business is often a major factor) and the probable severity (what does he have that would be expensive to replace and likely to be stolen?).

  To avoid adverse selection, it is necessary to have a large number of policyholders that want to insure against the same risk.  Even so, the insurer may not be able to insure all that wish to be insured against the loss.  Following the principles of insurance requires skill in the selection of applicants.  Underwriters must refuse some because the likelihood of loss is too high.  In some high-risk geographical areas it can be very difficult to obtain insurance at all.  The incidence of burglary is just too high for insurers to want to issue policies.  Or, the underwriters might choose to issue a limited amount of policies in a given area to limit the amount of risk they assume.  Highly concentrated exposures run counter to sound underwriting principles.  Additionally, underwriters may refuse an applicant due to the physical nature of the property or the moral character of its owner.  In some industries this would be viewed as unethical, but in the insurance industry it is the premise on which underwriting is based.  They are legally allowed to discriminate when issuing insurance policies.

Finance

  Insurers are financial institutions; they collect, accumulate, and distribute funds.  The nature of insurance requires that they be expert handlers of money.  Some liability claims, for example, take years to settle.  Insurance companies must invest large sums of money to insure that when claims are settled, there are sufficient funds to pay claims.  As a financial institution, insurers have a significant effect on our economy.

  The courts have determined that insurance affects the public interest.  Much of the insurance regulation in our country has to do with protecting the public.  In fact, public regulation affects nearly all aspects of the insurance industry.  In nearly all cases, legislation has to do with financial aspects of the industry and how that affects the consumer.  Anytime incompetence or dishonesty is involved in an insurance transaction, it affects the consumer in some way. 

A Public Interest

  The concept of a business having a “public interest” is not new.  It originated in 1676 with the British jurist Lord Chief Justice Matthew Hale.  It took an additional 200 years, however, for the U.S. Supreme Court to establish first that a business was affected with the public interest and then apply due process.  In this case, the Court affirmed the state’s right to regulate when a public interest existed.  Under the Court’s ruling, when people (a business) operate in a manner that involves the public, that grants the public an interest in the operation of the property or business.  Therefore, the people or business must submit to control by the public for the common good.  Such control was held to be a legislative question rather than a judicial one, which would have involved due process.  Therefore, the courts cannot substitute their judgment for the legislature on a regulatory policy under the guise of due process.

  How does an individual know if their business has a public interest?  According to the Court, there is a public interest when the action or product affects the community at large.  Obviously, insurance products do affect the community.  The Court says a public interest extends to any industry that needs to be controlled for the good of the public.  Since insurance products affect those insured financially, regulation of the industry was certain to happen.

  Insurance is regulated from the beginning of the process to the end.  The formation of insurers, a company’s liquidation, policy provisions, rates, expense limitations, valuation of assets and liabilities, how funds are invested, and agent licensing are all regulated by either the federal or state governments.  Regulation is sometimes more intense for some forms of insurance than it is for others.  For example, anything to do with the senior marketplace tends to receive greater focus because it is perceived that the elderly are more vulnerable.  Regulation will vary from state to state and each agent must know their own state’s requirements.  This is not optional.  When an agent receives their license they are, from that point on, legally required to know and fully understand their state’s laws and follow them appropriately.  As the saying goes “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

Key Person Insurance

  A business operation often has one or several people who are vital to the smooth operation of the company.  In some cases, loss of a key person could actually cripple the company temporarily.

  Good insurance planning is necessary in all business functions, but loss of key personnel may be critical to the company.  The objective of business life and health insurance is either to maintain a business as a going concern or to retain the values of the business interest for the benefit of the estate following the death (or even disability) of the owner, stockholders, or other key people.  Insurance is often used to protect the surviving members of the business where the loss or disability of a partner, stockholder or key employee could:

· Adversely affect who controls the company,

· Dissolve the business entirely, or

· Adversely affect the company’s value.

  In a closely held business, numerous relationships exist that must be considered.  The deceased’s family must be financially protected, the business must be able to continue to operate (assuming others wish to do so), and there must be sufficient funds to operate effectively.  The death or disability of the owner in an individual proprietorship, or one of the owners in a partnership or a small corporation, or of a key employee calls for major financial adjustments, some of which will require up to a year or two to fully complete.  Without adequate funds the disabled person, the deceased owner’s estate, the position of survivors, or a combination of these, may be adversely affected.  Certainly, careful planning is required, which may require the skills of a business attorney.  It is necessary to have legal agreements to ensure that those most able to control and run the company are able to continue doing so without interference from family or other associates that may desire control.  It is unlikely that this could be accomplished without the use of insurance.

Buy-and-Sell Agreements

  A Buy-and-Sell Agreement (also known as a Buy-Sell Agreement or a Purchase-and-Sale Agreement) is a legal document used to protect the interest of a deceased or disabled member, while also protecting the interest of surviving or healthy members.  It is a contract that provides a positive market for the interest of the deceased or disabled person and a guarantee to survivors of its purchase at a reasonable price with the funds available for payment within a reasonable length of time.  It is a form of “business continuation” contract.

  The exact details of buy-and-sell agreements will vary based on the needs of the parties involved.  It will also vary based upon the type of company or business organization involved.  The names of all parties will appear in the agreement and the purpose of it will be specified in legal terms.  The buy-and-sell agreement may specify the purchase price in dollars or it may simply state a specific formula to be used to arrive at a purchase price.  For example, in the case of real estate a fair purchase price today may not be fair in twenty years.  Therefore, a formula would be stated, such as an official appraisal price by a specified type of appraiser.  All parties must legally commit to the plan for the purchase of the interest of the deceased or disabled associate.  The method of financing does not have to be through a life or disability policy, but that is a common way of doing so.  When insurance is used, the method of financing by use of life or disability income insurance is set forth and provision is made for changing the amounts of insurance, when necessary.

  It is important to note that there are usually provisions for changing the amounts of insurance in buy-and-sell agreements.  This would especially be necessary for a change of position within the company.  For example, a disability amount of $2,000 per month may be adequate when the contract was designed but ten years later it would be inadequate based on the person’s contributions to the business.  Therefore, it would be necessary to upgrade the policy to the monthly amount contributed by the owner or employee.

  Beneficiary arrangements determine whether the proceeds are to be payable to a trustee who will carry out the transfer or payable directly to the person who, under the agreement, must acquire the business interest of the deceased.  A disability income policy is most likely to be payable directly to the person who was disabled while a life insurance policy may be payable to the heirs, to the company, or to the person who will be buying the deceased’s interests.  There are many details involved in such a transaction, such as debts and the rights of termination, withdrawal, or amendment.  The agreement has important benefits for estate tax purposes if it is properly executed.  It will set the taxable values of the business interests for the estate, which may prevent delays in probate.  Life and health insurance policies are filed with the agreement.  Details are given as to the disposition of the insurance on the life of the surviving associates, as are the rights and privileges under the policies used during the lifetime of the insured.  The ownership of the contracts may be by the business firm, by the individual partners, or by a trust, depending on the particular business needs or situation.

  It cannot be stressed enough that a well-drawn up buy-and-sell agreement is worth whatever the attorney may charge.  A poorly drawn document is a waste no matter how little was charged.  The carefully drawn agreement, implemented with life insurance, precludes misunderstanding and provides that the interest of a deceased or disabled associate will be purchased at a fair price.  Life and health insurance can be used to make this financially possible at the time of need.

The Key Person Principle

  The principles underlying key person life and health insurance for one or more individuals of particular value to the company are primarily the same, regardless of its legal form.  The objective of key person insurance is to insure the loss of services caused by the death or disability of a vital employee and to provide resources with which to secure a successor in a competitive market.  The insurable value may be determined by estimating the portion of the profits for which the key person is responsible, the cost of replacing and retraining an individual to step into the shoes of the key person, or the investment that might be lost by the firm.  The life and health insurance purchased to cover these costs may be payable to, and be paid by, the organization that would be affected by the loss.  The premiums are not typically deductible, but at the death of the key person the proceeds paid to the organization are not taxed as income either.

Insurable Interest for Life Insurance

  Even though the life insurance contract is not one of indemnity, it still requires that there be an insurable interest between the policy owner and the person insured.  An insurable interest is only required at the time of purchase, not at the time of death.  Therefore, it is possible to maintain the policy even after the key person is no longer “key” to the company’s smooth operation.

  The doctrine of insurable interest is broader in the field of life insurance than in any other field of insurance.  Some state statutes apply and court cases vary considerably. Generally speaking, however, so far as a person’s own life is concerned, there is no monetary limit.  In other words, if people are purchasing life insurance on themselves they may purchase whatever amount they desire.  Since suicide is excluded in policies for a specified time period, the policy would not pay if the insured killed him or herself in the early policy years.  As a result, it is not necessary to limit the monetary amounts of the policy.  Additionally, the courts have held that every person has an insurable interest in his or her own life for any dollar amount.

  To establish insurable interest in other relationships there must be pecuniary (financial) interest in the continuance of the life of the insured.  In some cases, this interest is obvious.  For example, the financial interest between a husband and wife is presumed since they both contribute to the relationship.  Actual pecuniary loss resulting from the death of an insured, as well as the expectation of future contributions to the business must be established in key person insurance.

  A substantial amount of life insurance is written insuring the life of a partner in a business entity since a partner is obviously a contributing member of the company.  Typically, the proceeds, should the person die, are paid to the company but they may also go to surviving partners if it would mean a financial loss to them personally.  Some key person policies are set up to enable the surviving partners the ability to buy out the interest of the deceased from their family members or beneficiaries.

For example:

  Tyrone and Aaron have established an insurance agency together.  Each of them contributes by making business decisions, but also by the policies they write.  When they formed the company, they decided that half of the commissions on each policy written would be given to the agency to further future growth through advertising, office help, and general overhead (rent, utilities, insurance, and so forth).  Although this was a general agreement between them, there is no written requirement.  Therefore, if one or the other of them died, their beneficiaries would inherit the full commission renewals that are generated.  Therefore, unless the remaining partner can manage sufficiently on their own, it may be wise to purchase key person insurance on each of them for the benefit of the other.

  Some employees are considered key to the continuance of the company.  In the case of employees, insurable interest is dependent upon the value of the employee to the business.  Any employee who could be easily replaced would not be considered insurable as a key person to the company.  However, employees who occupy key positions, such as company president, executive officers, or department heads may be difficult to replace.  This might especially be true of employees with specific company knowledge that would not generally be held by a new employee no matter how well educated the new person may be.  If there is any doubt regarding an insurable interest, it is possible for the employee to purchase the policy rather than the employer.  The employee would designate the company as the beneficiary and the employer would pay the premiums on the life insurance policy.

  An employee who merely quits would not qualify the company for benefits under the life insurance policy.  Only the death of the insured would trigger benefit payment.

  Many small corporations are “closely held.”  What is a closely held corporation?  A closely held corporation is one where all company stock is held by only a few people.  Typically, the stockholders have common ground, such as blood relationships or bonds similar to partnerships.  In fact, a closely held corporation is often called an “incorporated partnership.”  Where stock is closely held the lives of primary stockholders may be insured, with the proceeds to be used to buy the stock of the deceased stockholder.  This enables the deceased stockholder’s family to have immediate access to cash and it enables the company to continue without worry of interference of those who may not have the best interest of the company at heart.  When life insurance proceeds are designated to purchase the rights of the deceased, there is usually some legal agreement also in place to ensure that the beneficiaries do, in fact, sell the interest to the company.

  There may be non-monetary losses if an important company person dies.  If non-monetary interests can be established, this is usually sufficient evidence of a financial interest (although typically both a monetary and a non-monetary interest exist).  Non-monetary interest usually relates to a reasonable expectation of future financial benefits.

Disability Insurance on Key Employees and Owners

  Companies often overlook key person health insurance.  This is unfortunate since an individual is much more likely to be disabled than die.  A disability is just as disrupting to the business as death since the person is still unable to perform his or her duties.  In fact, it may be twice as costly to the company since the person is (1) unable to perform his or her duties, and (2) the company must hire someone to take their place.  The objective of key person insurance is to insure the loss of services, not the loss of life.  Therefore, it makes no difference whether the loss is due to death or disability.  While we often consider disability as payment to the disabled person, in this case it may be payment to the company as well as payment to the employee that has become disabled.  It could even be payment only to the company, not to the employee.

For Example:

  Jose performs all the software programming for ABC Company.  Jose is the only employee with the experience and technical training to provide the type of services ABC Company requires.  ABC Company purchases both death and disability insurance on Jose with the business listed as the beneficiary on both policies.  If Jose wishes to protect his family as well, he must purchase insurance on his own.  ABC Company is only purchasing coverage to protect the business organization from the loss of his services.

  In our example, ABC Company was protecting the company from the loss of Jose’s services.  The company was not attempting to protect Jose’s family from his loss of income.  As we have stated, the objective of key person insurance is to prevent financial loss to the company resulting from the loss of employee services due to death or disability.  It is not necessarily designed to protect the family of the employee.  Furthermore, it provides the resources necessary to secure a successor in a competitive market.  Even if ABC Company can hire a successor to Jose, the company would still have to train him or her.  During the time that the individual is being trained, he or she may not be able to properly perform the duties, which may also cause a loss of income to the company.  The income provided to ABC Company from the key person insurance will replace their lost revenues.

  When purchasing this type of coverage, the business must determine what their potential losses will add up to.  The insurable value may be determined by estimating the portion of the profits for which the key person is responsible, the cost of replacing and retraining the key person, or the training and experience investment lost by the business entity (or all of the above).  The life and health insurance purchased to cover these costs is often payable to, with premiums paid by, the organization itself.  Disability premiums, like life insurance premiums, are not typically tax deductible.  Also like the life insurance premiums, income realized from the disability policy would not be taxed to the company as income.

  As with life insurance, when a company is purchasing disability insurance on key personnel there cannot be any doubt that the individual is vital to the organization.  While some would be obvious, like the company president, others may be less evident.  For example, a top salesperson with many personal clients would be vital to the company.  If this individual were disabled, it could be very difficult to transfer his or her clients over to another salesperson; it might even prove impossible.  The clients might end up changing over to another company entirely.  Therefore, the potential financial loss to the company could be severe.

  The types of people that are considered key to an organization will, of course, depend upon the business type.  The agent who markets disability insurance must be aware of the many types of people that make up a company.  Key employees can include such diverse positions as officers, stockholders in small closely held corporations, engineers, chemists, researchers, positions of management, or any other person that financially affects the company and who is not easily replaced.  In some cases, a key employee may not be immediately recognized.  For example, consider an auto sales company that has a recognizable advertising person.  If the individual that consumers frequently see on television advertisements suddenly dies, will that affect future sales?

  While key person insurance traditionally is purchased for the safety of the company, it can also be used to attract and keep key personnel.  Due to income taxation, an increase in salary may be less attractive than a plan that would provide a continuation of salary for a number of years following death or disability.  Often a combination of coverages is provided: indemnity to the organization for the loss of the employee’s services as well as salary continuation for the employee’s dependents.  Agents who market key person insurance will find a field ready for their expertise, especially if he or she is experienced in the full use of such policies.  If the agent is also able to market group policies for life and health benefits, then he or she becomes a valuable member of the company’s professionals, taking a position along with their attorney and accountant.

The Small Company’s Exposure

  It is easy to recognize the financial exposure large companies face when they lose key personnel.  Unfortunately, this financial exposure is not always recognized in small companies.  Reduced revenues are just as devastating (perhaps more so) in small organizations.  For insurance agents, the key person is themselves.  For the insurance agent, if he or she is no longer able to market and sell insurance policies who will replace his or her income?  This is the case in all small one or two-man companies.  Reduced revenues and increased medical expenses often come together when a disability happens.  If no one is bringing in continued policy sales, how will the insurance agent’s family cope with his or her death or disability?

Loss of the Small Business Owner

  Even when a company has additional employees besides the owner, it is likely that it is the owner that keeps the business going.  Owners often supply not only business capital (such as commissions through the sale of policies) but also their time and talents.  Even if another agent could be hired by the owner’s family to continue marketing policies, it is unlikely that he or she would do so with the continuation of the company as their primary concern.  Therefore, it may be impossible to actually replace the owner and primary salesperson of the company.  The family may be forced to sell or close the company as a result.

  Over 90 percent of the business units in the United States are sole proprietorships.  The sole proprietorship makes no legal distinction between the personal and business estate.  The debts of the business are the debts of the estate.  The sole proprietor’s estate does not pass to the heirs until all creditors (business and personal) have been paid.  If the insurance agent or his customer has not incorporated, remaining a sole proprietorship, there may be far more problems than the proprietor ever anticipated upon his or her death.

  The sole proprietor’s death or disability places several decisions on the doorstep of his or her family:

1. Should the business be sold?

2. Can the business be sold?  There are some types that do not readily find a buyer since the company would not be profitable once the owner has died or become disabled.

3. Can the agent’s family continue the business without his or her expertise or salesmanship?

4. Is it possible to hire individuals with the ability to carry the business forward?

5. Are there other family members both able and willing to step forward and carry on?

  The primary decision is simple: liquidate the business, continue the business, or sell the business.  Once that decision has been reached, other decisions will then follow, but nothing can be considered until the first question is answered.  In many proprietorship companies the owner is the reason the business exists.  Without him or her, the company cannot continue.  Even if someone can be hired, it means an extra expense for the company since income must now be generated not only for the owner or the owner’s family, but also for the people they are now forced to hire.  Revenues are likely to decline because the company’s recognition came from the owner who is now unavailable to current clients.  There will be a quantity of clients that move to other companies as a result.

  Sole proprietorships should plan ahead if possible by having a buy-and-sell agreement in place.  Of course, this is not always possible since a ready buyer may not be available without the availability of the owner being present (since he or she is the reason the company succeeds).  However, if the company could continue without the present owner, a buy-and-sell agreement may prevent some of the problems that would otherwise exist for the owner’s family.  It is often a key employee that would be interested in buying the business.  An insurance policy put in place would supply the funds allowing the key employee to acquire the business should the owner die or become disabled.

  Of course, sole proprietorships are not the only small companies that suffer when the owner or primary owner dies.  The same is true for closely held corporations and partnerships.

  The legal relationship between partners is a personal one and includes husbands and wives.  While we would like to believe that all marriages are made in heaven, statistics tell us otherwise.  When a married couple enters into a legal business and then experiences a divorce the business is likely to suffer financially.  Few couples are able to separate personal and business relationships.  A previously drawn contract specifying business relationships and ownership can be a valuable tool.  When a married couple constitutes the partnership the actual business may be ran by only one of the two members.  Therefore, only one may be a key employee, but both retain all legal rights and debts of the company.

  Each partner is fully responsible for the business acts and debts of all other partners.  If the business partners are not husband and wife, the divorce of one partner can affect the assets of the company adversely since they may be drawn into the divorce. 

  If one partner withdraws from the firm, the partnership is terminated.  It must then be either liquidated or reorganized, with the withdrawing partner receiving compensation in some way.  If the partner’s disability causes the withdrawal the firm’s resources will be severely strained.  This might especially be true if the partner was a key employee.  Although financial resources are strained, the partners may want to continue the disabled partner’s income at the same level.  If a partner is permanently disabled, the firm may find it advantageous to buy that partner’s interest so that he or she can be replaced.  The partnership is not legally compelled to liquidate or reorganize.  This will be a choice of the remaining partners.

  Of course, a partnership may be terminated due to death.  In that event, the law requires that the partnership be either terminated or reorganized.  The issues involved between liquidation and reorganization are similar regardless of whether the choice comes from disability or death of one of the partners.  If liquidation is chosen the assets of the business may be sold and the net proceeds divided proportionally among the surviving partners and the heirs of the deceased partner.  Seldom is liquidation a satisfactory solution.  Liquidation nearly always results in loss.  Additionally, the surviving partners are out of a job.  Selling the business rather than liquidating it may keep the company intact, but it will not necessarily add income to the surviving partners or the deceased’s partner’s family.  Each company has a specified worth, usually based on assets.  However, it may provide continuing jobs for the surviving partners, which may prove to be an advantage for them.  Additionally, a company sold as a continuing business is not likely to result in a loss since all debts will be sold with the company.

  When a company is sold rather than liquidated, four options are usually available to the remaining partners and the heirs:

1. The heirs of the deceased’s interest may become partners in the new partnership.

2. The heirs may sell the deceased partner’s interest to an outside party.

3. The heirs may buy the surviving partners’ interests.

4. The surviving partners may buy the deceased partner’s interest from his or her heirs.

  If the heirs want to become partners in the new partnership or if the heirs decide to sell the deceased partner’s interest to an outside party then the law typically requires the consent of the surviving partners.  In most cases, it is felt that the most satisfactory solution is for the remaining partners to buy out the interest of the deceased or disabled partner.  This prevents either liquidation or sale of the company, allows for the remaining partners continued employment, and the business can continue to prosper under continued management.  If no insurance is in place for this specific purpose, two problems may prevent purchasing the deceased or disabled partner’s share:

· Price agreement, and

· Financing the purchase.

  Heirs may not have a realistic picture of the worth of their inherited interest.  When two or more partners exist without having specified a mutually binding buy-and-sell agreement, disagreement on the value of the partnership can continue for years.  Eventually such disagreements can cause the business to fail.  When buy-and-sell agreements are reached while all partners are healthy and in equal bargaining positions, such time-consuming squabbles can be eliminated.  Even if the heirs feel the agreement does not provide them with as much money as they feel to be fair, the agreement is legally binding.  It allows the surviving partners to organize a new partnership and continue the business.

  In closely held corporations (where stock is owned by only a few people) it is important to remember how a corporation functions: usually each stock represents one vote.  Therefore, a person holding 50 percent of the stock also holds 50 percent of the votes on any issue brought forth.  A minority owner, usually an employee, will have little power unless his or her combined stock ownership equals at least 51 percent of the total stock issued.  Where multiple employees own stock, they may be able to combine forces to exercise control, assuming all the employees can organize well enough (and agree on primary issues) to take control.  Again, their combined strength would have to equal at least 51 percent of the voting stock or equal more votes than the largest shareholder.  Not all stock may have voting rights.  Some companies issue stock without voting rights, but normally each stock is accompanied by the right to vote.

  Being incorporated does not eliminate all the problems of a disabled or deceased stockholder.  It will still be necessary to determine the best course of action if death or disability occurs.  If the disability is permanent, either the other stockholders or the corporation itself, if legally permitted, will have to buy out the disabled member.  If there are funds available for this purpose, it should be a smooth transition.  A corporation that has a risk manager is likely to have an insurance policy in place for such a situation.  Unfortunately, many small corporations do not assign anyone to act as risk manager.  If no agent has suggested that such a policy be purchased, there may not be one in place.

  When a shareholder dies, the corporation’s existence is not affected.  Where the law protects partnerships from unwanted partners, the corporation does not have the same legal protection.  The heirs of the stock can sell them to anyone they choose, or they can exercise their rights of stock ownership at meetings.  When just two people own all stock equally, the company can experience severe problems as each stockholder (each having 50 percent voting rights) stall all decisions affecting the business.  There have been cases where the divorce of two equal owners/stockholders caused the company to fail because each party confused their divorce issues with the operation of a successful business.

  When the originator and employees own a stock company, the death of the originator can lead to problems if the heirs do not have the same business sense as their deceased family member.  We have seen many failed businesses after the creator of the company died leaving it in the hands of an unqualified person.  If the remaining stockholders, often employees, do not have the capital to buy out the family member or do not have a buy-sell agreement setting a fair price, they may find their company slowly dying as inexperienced heirs attempt to run the company their way.  Employees realize that the corporation profits are primarily the result of their efforts.  When the heirs come forth to claim salaries that have not been earned or attempt to expand in ways that adversely affect the bottom line, the remaining stockholders (employees) will resent those with the majority of the stock (thus voting rights).  Obviously, an investment that leads to fighting among stockholders, personal recriminations, and perhaps even legal action is not conducive to a profitable business.

Planning Ahead for Death or Disability

  Everyone will die someday but most of us expect that to happen when we are elderly, not during our working career.  Most people now purchase life insurance to protect their families but many do not purchase life insurance to protect their business organizations, whether that happens to be a partnership, corporation or sole proprietorship.  If no risk manager has been assigned or if the owner of the company is not aware of the risks involved with his or her death or disability, this aspect of a company may go unprotected.  Agents can play a vital role by pointing out the need to protect business rights and business income.

  Disability is statistically more likely than death, yet disability remains the most unprotected risk in our lives.  Probably few insurance agents have protected their family by insuring their ability to work.  If agents do not consider protection for themselves and their own families it is unlikely that they are offering this risk protection to their clients.  It remains one of the great untapped markets.

Insuring Entities

  There are various types of insurers.  Each type provides a service.  It is the job of the agent and buyer to determine if one type better suits the client’s needs than another.

Private and Government Insurance

  Insurance may be divided into several types.  The broadest division is between private insurers and government.  Government insurance will not be handled by private agents.

Private Insurers

  At one time the private insurance industry was separated into three branches in the United States:

1. Life,
2. Fire and marine, and
3. Casualty and surety.

  Most states allowed companies to write coverage only in one of these three branches.  It was not a sensible system in the view of many.  For example, automobile was split between fire insurers for physical damage and casualty insurers for liability.  It seemed impractical to need two insurers to secure both types of coverage.  Either type of insurer could write collision coverage.

  It was not until the 1940s and early 1950s that legislation was passed allowing for full multiple-line underwriting for fire and casualty insurers.  By 1955, when Ohio finally adopted the changes (being the last state to do so) an insurer could write both fire and casualty insurance in every state.  It is important to note that not all states extend multiple-line underwriting to life insurance.  The majority of states still consider life to be a separate line.

  Before multiple-line underwriting was allowed, homeowners and business owners had to have separate policies for fire insurance and liability insurance.  Additionally, a separate policy was needed for theft insurance as well as many other types of coverage.  This was not only inconvenient; it was also usually more costly for the insured.  Multiple-line underwriting made it possible for insurance companies to design policy forms that cover the major property and liability exposures under one contract.

  With multiple-line underwriting private insurance was reduced from three to two major branches:

1. Life and
2. Property-liability.

  Either life insurers or property-liability insurers may write health insurance.  Most often we consider health insurance as part of life coverage, but that is not necessarily the case.

Life Insurance

  Life companies write three types of coverage: life insurance, annuities, and health insurance.  As we know, life insurance is designed to insure the premature death of another or provide business protection when a major participant dies.  Life insurance provides money for the named survivors or heirs of the insured.  It may also be purchased as a means of covering the expenses leading up to death and burial costs.

  Annuities are the opposite of life insurance.  Where life policies pay when a specified person dies, annuities are designed to provide income prior to death.  In effect, an annuity is a means of liquidating the estate by paying income for a specified time period or for the lifetime of the annuitant.  Not all annuities are liquidated prior to death; statistically, the majority of annuities are not.  Despite this fact, they were designed to do so.  Annuities are used for many purposes.  They have become a very popular means of saving for retirement and other life goals.  In fact, many state lotteries use annuities to pay the winners.

  Health insurance provides money to cover in full or part the costs of health care.  Depending upon the policy, the individual receives reimbursement for the costs of doctor visits, hospitalization, prescription drugs, outpatient treatments, surgery, and many other items relating to illness and injury of the insured.

Property and Liability Insurance

  There are five types of coverage written by property and liability insurers:

1. Physical damage/loss;
2. Loss of income and extra expenses due to physical damage to property;
3. Liability;
4. Health;
5. Surety.

Physical damage or loss coverage protects the insured against loss of or damage to owned property.  This would include such things as direct loss from fire, windstorm, and theft.  Loss of income and extra expense coverage provides protection for insureds from income loss and extra expenses incurred due to damage to their property or the property of others.  Liability coverage protects the insured against third-party claims for bodily injury or property damage caused by negligence or imposed by statute or contract.  This would include such things as automobile liability, workers’ compensation, and contractual liability insurance.  Health insurance written by property-liability insurers is the same as that written by life insurers.  Surety (often referred to as suretyship) allows parties to offer a financial guarantee of their honesty or their performance under a contract or agreement.  Fidelity, construction, and bail bonds are examples of surety coverage.

Government Insurance

  Either the state or federal government may write government insurance.  Additionally, it may be either voluntary or compulsory, depending upon the insurance being discussed.

Voluntary Government Insurance

  Voluntary means that an individual has the choice of participation.  The federal government writes crop insurance, military personnel life insurance, bank-deposit insurance, savings-and-loan insurance, securities investor protection insurance, crime insurance, mortgage and property improvement loan insurance, Medicare insurance, insurance against foreign expropriation, and backup programs written in cooperation with private insurers for coverage against perils of flood and riot in qualified areas, and for writing of surety bonds for small minority contractors.  In all cases, since it is voluntary, no one is required to participate in these policies.  Several states also offer varying types of voluntary coverage.  Again, since they are voluntary, no one is required to participate, although some types of bank loans would not be possible without proof of insurance (so, in that respect, they may be thought of as compulsory).

Compulsory Government Insurance

  Compulsory means that participation is required.  Compulsory government insurance is required of the masses and we usually call this type “social insurance.”  It may be written by either the federal or state governments.  The best-known government insurance program is Social Security, which provides income in retirement, following a qualified disability, and for qualified survivors of deceased covered workers.

  In March 2010 President Obama signed a national health care insurance bill.  Typically, government insurance is compulsory; in this case citizens can opt out but they may face a penalty for doing so, depending upon their personal circumstances.

  Some states underwrite workers’ compensation insurance while others use private insurers.  Several states operate monopolistic state funds for workers’ compensation, so no private insurance is allowed.  The states typically make these plans compulsory.  Workers’ compensation is required in most states, even when private insurers are allowed to compete for the business, in some cases with the state itself.

  Some states have made automobile liability insurance compulsory.  This does not mean that the state provides such insurance; merely that drivers are required to purchase the coverage in order to legally drive their vehicle.

Mutual Companies

  Along with stock insurers, mutual companies also assume liabilities in their corporate capacity.  Unlike stock insurers, which are operated for the sole benefit of their stockholders, mutual companies are controlled by their policyholders.  However, just as many stockholders do not actively participate, neither do policyholders.  Therefore, the so-called “control” may be more theoretical than real.

  There was originally much doubt as to whether or not a mutual company could survive.  It was thought that policyholders were less likely to successfully operate a corporation.  In fact, mutual companies have enjoyed a great deal of success, although that success may be more of a tribute to the company managers than to their policyholders.  Few purchasers of insurance are interested in running the insurance company.  They are more interested in the premium rate, the claims history, and the benefits they will receive.  Few care what type of organization the insurer is.

  Most mutual insurers write insurance under the “assessment plan.”  Assessment mutuals usually confine their business to specific types of property in limited areas and do not compete in the broad marketplace.  Many mutual companies do not employ insurance agents, writing business instead directly out of the home office for the benefit of local residents.

Non-assessable mutuals operate similar to stock companies.  They utilize agencies or direct writing systems.  This type of mutual company is growing in numbers.  Under most state laws a mutual insurer may issue non-assessable policies provided it has a surplus over all liabilities equal to the capital and surplus required of stock insurers writing the same class of business.  Even though there are fewer non-assessable mutuals than there are assessment mutuals, the non-assessable write the majority of business.

Assessment Mutuals

  Assessment mutuals are most active in the fire insurance field and operate principally in one of two ways:

1. Some charge only a small cash premium intended to meet expenses and cover small losses.  They require policyholders to give the mutual their premium notes.  Payment would be demanded if losses and expenses exceeded the cash premiums.
2. Some follow a plan of not requiring premium notes.  Rather they charge a cash premium estimated to be adequate and then levy assessments if losses are higher than expected.

  Under assessments, insurance may be furnished on the deposit of a cash premium.  There is also an agreement that in case losses and expenses exceed income, the balance is to be collected through the assessments levied on the members (the insureds).  The maximum assessment liability for both assessment and non-assessment mutuals for members is usually fixed by the laws of each individual state or by the charter and bylaws of the insurer.  State law dominates, if different than the charters and bylaws.

  So, who sets up mutual insurers?  In theory, nearly anyone can.  From a practical standpoint, it tends to be organized by a group with a similar goal.  Often this is done by farmers or by property owners in towns and small cities in order to secure insurance at the lowest possible cost.  How does one begin such an undertaking?  Usually arranging insurance for the original founding members starts the business.  After officers have been elected and the organization legally perfected, the business is entrusted to the care of an elected secretary.  Since this is a new startup business the officers (including the secretary) may have other jobs that support them financially.  In fact, the officers may even be volunteers, working for the insurance business without pay.  This keeps expenses down.  Limitation on the risks and amounts to be accepted is usually left to the discretion of the board of directors or an executive committee.

  Depending upon who is speaking, the fact that mutuals operate in restricted districts is either an advantage or a disadvantage.  It all depends upon one’s viewpoint.  Due to their local nature, mutual insurers eliminate much of the moral hazard normally associated with insurance.  When a company is small and owned by the policyholders there is likely to be a conscious effort to minimize risks that would possibly end up in a claim (costing the company money).  Members know each other.  This makes it easier to avoid over-insuring.  It also makes fraudulent claims very difficult to achieve.  Since the company is small and local, policyholders tend to have a higher moral code when dealing with their neighbors and business associates.  It is much easier to feel a large, distant insurance company has lots of money to give in questionable claims.

  There is a downside to this.  Writing insurance on a restricted number of risks also constitutes an element of danger since it loses sight of the unrelenting application of the law of averages.  Writes the author of Property and Liability Insurance: “So long as the loss record of the locality is sufficiently low and uniform, a small mutual may prosper, but on the advent of several losses at about the same time, there may be trouble.  The system of assessments providing for such contingencies, while fine in theory, might sometimes fail because of the difficulty or impossibility of collecting the assessments.”[3]  Such insurers are not always required by state or other regulating authorities to maintain surplus funds.  Even so, there is an obvious tendency shown to keep a sizable ratio of surplus to coverage.  In addition, history has shown the companies tend to use scientific valuation of liabilities, which helps to keep mutuals in business.  Many of these companies have done far more right than their counterparts that issue stocks.  In fact, the oldest insurance company in the United States, the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, established in 1752, is a mutual fire insurer.

  While laws vary, some states discourage mutuals from operating in large cities.  There may even be laws forbidding it.  States do so because they recognize the necessity for the mutual insurers to protect their insured members against catastrophic losses.  Operating in large cities may have the tendency to increase the likelihood of catastrophic losses since buildings are side-by-side and face additional types of threat.  Some states merely limit the mutuals’ activity to insuring the less hazardous risks of dwellings, farm buildings, and stores within given districts.  In nearly every state, the amount of insurance written must be backed by specifically stated amounts of cash premium (often 25 percent).

  When a mutual company manages to spread over one or more states, it is referred to as a state mutual company.  A state mutual insurer assumes greater risk since it no longer is made up of neighbors and friends who know each other.  When this advantage disappears so does much of the protection from fraud and misrepresentation.  The moral hazard increases.  The company may also now have to rely upon agents for soliciting business.  The selections of risk is now removed from the home office and placed on the judgment of their agents (who may or may not have the company’s best interest in mind).

  For the consumer’s protection, a number of states have passed laws with special reference to the organization and operation of such mutual insurers.  The number of applications for insurance that must be in hand before the company is considered “viable” is usually much larger for state mutuals than it is for local mutual insurers.  The class of business that may be accepted by state mutuals is carefully limited in certain states, whereas in others a limit is placed on the amount of insurance that may be written on any one type of risk.  State mutual companies find that the services they are allowed to render as a whole are limited.

  Mutual insurers may operate similarly to a stock company if they wish to.  If they choose to, they will charge an advance-premium intended to be sufficient to enable them to meet all of their disbursements for losses and expenses while accumulating a surplus.  If the mutual insurer happens to earn a profit, the directors of the mutual insurer may announce a dividend, which is paid to all their policyholders.  Again, the policyholders are the owners.  On the other hand, if the insurer suffers a loss and has not qualified to issue non-assessable policies, the policyholders could be assessed, usually an additional premium.  This would not usually happen, however, since the surplus would be used to offset the loss.  The right to assess another premium is an element of strength, though.  It means that the company is not limited to using the surplus, since it has the right to assess an extra premium from its members.  Mutuals can shift to the non-assessable plan when they have accumulated sufficient surplus to qualify under the applicable state laws.

Non-assessable Mutuals

  Many mutual insurers only issue non-assessable policies.  Under these policies, the policy owners cannot be asked to pay anything in addition to their initial premiums if adverse experience happens.  These companies usually follow the business methods of stock companies and maintain large surpluses to cover claims.  Their premiums are typically higher because they operate like a stock company would.  Although non-assessable mutuals are numerically smaller, they write more business than do the assessment mutuals.

Conversions

  It is common for mutual companies to convert to stock insurers.  Over the past years, more than 70 mutual property-liability insurers converted to stock insurers.  While there are many varying reasons for doing so, some of the reasons include:

• The ability to offer an entire financial package
• Flexibility in products and operation procedures
• To obtain additional capital
• To form a holding company
• To join or develop more complex company structures
• To offer their policyholders tangible evidence of ownership
• To attract and keep top management personnel.

  There is no doubt that it is more difficult for a small or even middle-sized company to operate amid the giants of the industry. 

Reciprocal or Inter-Insurer Associations

  Reciprocal exchange or inter-insurer (also called inter-insurance) associations is a type of cooperative insurance. All policyholders insure each other.  Therefore, each policyholder cooperatively insures the next.  Each policyholder is also an insurer, as contracts are exchanged on a reciprocal basis.

  It must be noted that the reciprocal exchange is not a mutual insurer in the legal sense.  That’s because the individual policyholders assume their liability as individuals, not as a responsibility of the group as a whole.  Reciprocals are not incorporated either, as a mutual company typically is.  Rather reciprocals are formed under separate laws as associations.

  The funds held by a reciprocal are the sum total of individual credits held for the account of individual subscribers.  These subscribers are required over a period of years to accumulate reserves representing a multiple ranging from two to five annual premiums before underwriting earnings, if any, are returned in cash.  A separate account is maintained for each subscriber.  Out of this is paid only his individual share of each loss and expense.  Beyond that, the reciprocal usually can levy an assessment up to a multiple of premiums paid, such as ten times, but the liability of each subscriber is definitely limited.  Reciprocal insurance is quite distinctly an American development.[4]

  In its pure form, reciprocals are still operating in the United States.  In fact, there are only around fifty to fifty-five reciprocals in operation.  Most of these are small companies.  The larger ones include the Farmers Insurance Group based in Los Angeles, the Automobile Club of Southern California, and the United Insurance Services Automobile Association based in San Antonio, Texas.  Each company writes more than $500 million of private passenger auto liability premium annually.  Farmers Insurance Group, a multiple-line company, writes total premium in excess of $8 billion. 

  The majority of business is written by reciprocals that are not performing in the pure form.  These companies deviate in a number of ways.  The companies are mutual in the sense that all the other members insure each policyholder.  The members are represented by an attorney-in-fact who has been given the power to manage the affairs of the organization subject only to such restrictions as may be stated within the terms of the powers of attorney or the organization.  The liability of each insured is fixed. 

  Like all things, reciprocals can be either good or bad, depending upon the situation.  Opponents of this type of organization point out:

1. The elements that could be advantages are often not implemented which eliminates the argument for using reciprocal or inter-insurer associations.
2. The attorney-in-fact often has too much control, and profits personally from that control.
3. The possibility of high assessments on the participants.

  Those that favor reciprocals state the following advantages:

1. The cost of operating a reciprocal is limited to the attorney’s fees.  For this to be an advantage the amount of pay he or she receives must be controlled in some manner.
2. Any premium savings will be refunded to the policyholders.
3. The volume of business is assured through the self-interest of the members, which should minimize the need and cost of seeking new policyholders.
4. Assessments may be limited.  Liability for a possible catastrophe loss can be reduced through reinsurance elsewhere.

  The bulk of reciprocal insurance is written by inter-insurance associations whose characteristics have been modified to some extent.  The modifications often include the lack of separate accounts that are maintained for the members.  There may be no pro-ration of expenses or losses by the insured.  Additionally, no individual may have any claim to any portion of surplus funds.  Surplus funds become the property of the organization.  Most of the reciprocal companies issue non-assessable policies.  Those that do not issue non-assessable policies typically limit maximum possible assessments to no more than one annual premium.

  When the characteristics of a reciprocal change so too do the avenues of marketing.  Some write automobile, life, and other lines in addition to fire insurance.  This significantly changes the description of the marketing company.

Stock and Mutual Underwriting

  Underwriting is a major element in the insurance business.  Whether it is for a life insurance policy, a fire policy, or a long-term care policy, the underwriting often determines how the company continues and whether or not they show a profit.

  Stock and mutual insurers might organize into underwriting groups for the purpose of insuring special classes of property along with their normal insurance business.  Although there can be many reasons why they do so, it is often to insure a unique or especially hazardous type of risk.  It may also be done when there is a heavy concentration of values involved, or specialized services are required.

  Some types of risks require the use of syndicates, who handle the insurance of aviation and marine risks, cotton and oil properties, and other similar risks.  Syndicates are distinguished by the management of the group, which makes all underwriting decisions within the framework established by the board, independent of individual member-insurer influence.  The participants accept their share of all the lines that are written by the group office.

Factory Mutuals

  Some mutual companies were organized with a special purpose in mind.  Typically, these organizations limit their insurance protection to a specific type of business, such as lumber, logging, grain or milling, or drug manufacturers.  At one time these were known as class mutuals.  They wrote insurance only for a specified occupation or class in which they had specialized knowledge.  Often the objective was lower premiums or certain forms of coverage.  Today these specialized companies are known as factory mutuals and they now tend to write much broader coverage.

  Factory mutuals began in 1835 and emphasized loss prevention through a cooperative effort of the policyholder and the company.  The factory mutuals supplied inspection services and engineering advice, backed up by a comprehensive research program.

  Today’s factory mutuals have broadened the type of risk they cover to include commercial property, public and educational institutions, and large-scale housing units.  To be eligible a property must be of substantial construction, properly designed to minimize hazards pertaining to its class, equipped with automatic sprinklers (where applicable), and with high-grade management.

  The factory mutual system consists of: three mutual companies, one wholly owned stock insurance subsidiary, and the Factory Mutual Engineering Corporation.  The Factory Mutual Engineering Corporation provides inspection, adjustment, appraisal, and plan service for all the companies.  Working closely with the Factory Mutual Research Corporation, it carries on basic research into the physics and chemistry of combustion and heat transfer, and the Factory Mutual Test Center, located near Providence, Rhode Island, makes it possible to duplicate industrial and storage hazards in full-scale tests.  Recently prevention has been given special consideration through personnel training.  This training begins with a commitment to property protection and reduced loss by top management, with training flowing down through the levels of company employees.

  Factory Mutuals require their insured members to pay a large deposit premium, which is several times the yearly cost.  At the end of the policy period, deductions are made for substantial loss operation services, other expenses and actual losses paid, and the balance is returned to the insured.  There are no agents for the company; contracts are written using special representatives.  These representatives are stationed at branch offices throughout the United States and Canada.  They are almost entirely graduate engineers, with loss prevention being one of their basic functions and part of their responsibilities.  The insurers do usually accept, on a brokerage basis, business from independent agents.  A negotiated commission is paid in such cases.

  Factory mutual companies are characterized by their large deposit premiums, insurance for large and high-grade industrial and institutional properties, and an emphasis on loss prevention.  Factory mutual forms provide coverage (at a single rate) for fire, windstorm, explosion, sprinkler leakage, riot, civil commotion, malicious mischief, sonic boom, vehicle and aircraft damage, radioactive contamination, and volcanic eruption and molten material.  Boiler and Machinery Insurance, in the same amount as the other property insurance, are also underwritten by Factory Mutuals.

Superior Agents and Brokers

  Every agent would like to think he or she is superior in his or her profession.  When it comes to business insurance only those with specialized knowledge or training should be recommending products.  Major errors may be made by agents who mean no harm.  These individuals are not intending to cause their client any financial loss, but that can happen when the agent is not as experienced or educated as he or she should be in the products they are recommending. 

  Some areas of insurance are now mandating suitability training in products in an attempt to prevent agent errors.  Insurers market in a variety of ways, but most of them use agents, especially when it comes to business insurance.  Each state has thousands of licensed agents and brokers representing hundreds of commercial insurance companies.

  Although there is a distinct difference between an agent and a broker most consumers think they are synonymous and interchangeable.  The only direct writers are those companies that do not use agents at all, but rather sell directly through the mail or through association programs.  However, captive agents and independent agents are the two groups most likely to be involved in marketing business insurance.  Captive agents sometimes represent themselves as direct writers, but this is not technically true since an agent is involved.

  We have sometimes heard that an independent agent is more likely to be able to assist the consumer when claims are disputed, since they represent the client rather than the insurer.  In reality it is unlikely that any agent, captive or independent, has much clout to move a claim forward.  It is true that an independent agent can still write business with other companies if he or she is having a dispute with one of the insurers they have licensed with.  However, it is unlikely that any one agent has enough business with the insurer to truly make any difference in a claim dispute.  Most disputed claims go to arbitration or litigation whether the agent agrees or disagrees with the insurer’s stance on claim payment.

  Captive agents are likely to have a contract that mandates their alliance to the company rather than the client.  Even so, claims that are disputed will not be settled by the agent, captive or otherwise.  The state statutes will determine some, but most will be settled between the policyholder and insurer, independent of the agent.

  For the policyholder, the bigger issue should be the stability of the writing agency (second, of course, to the stability of the insurer chosen).  While the insurer might assign a replacement agency if the agency closes, most policyholders want to know with whom they are dealing with or may have a special relationship with their agent.

  One determining factor might be the size of the agency, although that does not necessarily guarantee financial stability.  Some businesses may want to select a specific agent they feel secure with whether that happens to be a one-man or one-woman operation or a large agency with whom they are employed.

  A necessary consideration is the availability of products for the type of business being insured.  The size of the business being insured can determine the type of insurance product needed.  It is necessary, therefore, to know the size of the business prior to setting up a meeting between owner and agent.  This is true not only for the business owner but for the agent as well.  There is no point in wasting each other’s time if the agent is unable to deliver what the business wants to buy. 

  National insurance brokerages are the largest of the independent agencies.  These brokerages usually have multiple offices and are located in the majority of the states.  They may even have affiliations overseas.

  Next in size is the medium to large-size independent agencies.  While there may be some variances, these agencies usually write a significant amount of commercial business.  The large-size agencies place business with fifty or more insurance companies and is fully automated.  Sometimes they have special arrangements with insurers that benefit the business owner.  This might include such things as the ability to bind the coverage or the ability to commit the insurer to insure the risk.  Larger companies tend to be fully computerized tying directly to systems in some insurers.

  From our point of view one of the most important factors is the expertise of the agent.  As we said, too many agents attempt to advise in areas for which they are not qualified for.  The Buyer’s Guide to Business Insurance by Don Bury and Larry Heischman states: “The insurance industry has tried to encourage its members to involve themselves in continuing education programs to show a commitment to the industry and to professionalism.”  Unfortunately, state mandated education has not necessarily yielded educated agents.  It has been our experience that those who wish to be educated will be with or without state mandates.  Those who are not interested in broadening their knowledge will not do so, even when legally required to.

  Some agents pursue special designations in insurance.  Some are harder to achieve than others, but all of them demonstrate an interest on the part of the agent in higher education.  Since the difficulty in achieving these designations varies, we do not wish to make any comment on which one is best.  It is our view that any additional education is worthwhile, though some are certainly better than others.

1. Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) – ten parts.
2. Associates in Risk Management (ARM) – three parts.
3. Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI) – three parts.
4. Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) – five parts.
5. Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) – ten parts.
6. Certified Financial Planner (CFP) – six parts.

  “Parts” pertain to the sections of education that must be completed in order to obtain the specified professional designation.  Agents may obtain additional information from the groups that offer this education.  There may be additional designations besides those listed here.  Each will require some amount of education.

End of Chapter 4

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[1] www.swissre.com

[2] The Oasis Press, Copyright 1994

[3] P. 569, 4^th Addition

[4] General Insurance by David Bickelhaupt