Ohio DOI Offers New Online Service

According to the article "Ohio DOI Unveils New Online Service for Ohio Agents" on insurancejournal.com, the Ohio Department of Insurance (DOI) announced that it will be providing a new online service that will help about 81,000 licensed Ohio insurance agents to keep track of their continuing education credit through the Internet.

Ohio resident insurance agents are able to log onto the Ohio DOI website to find their continuing education status, and find information about approved courses and other licensing opportunities and requirements.

Insurance companies can see the status of agents if they subscribe to the service as well. It's available 24 hours a day and the service makes it extremely convenient for agents to verify their information and keep track of their status and goals.

Phoenix Launches First Standalone Dual Coverage Universal Life Policy That Pays Benefit on the First Death

Joint Advantage UL Offers Cost Savings Over Two Standard Policies But Doesn’t Sacrifice Cash Accumulation

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Phoenix Companies, Inc. (NYSE: PNX) today introduced Phoenix Joint Advantage Universal Life (UL), a first-to-die universal life insurance product for two lives that features flexible premiums and cash accumulation, giving customers vital insurance protection and the opportunity to grow their cash values.

Phoenix Joint Advantage UL, the first of its kind, is designed to appeal to couples or small business partners who are concerned about cash flow or liquidity on the first death. For businesses, its primary use is protecting each partner’s interest for buyout purposes.

This policy covers two lives under one policy and one premium payment. It pays a death benefit on the first death, and, if clients add the Survivor Purchase Option Rider to their policy, the surviving spouse or business partner will be able to buy a new Phoenix policy at that time with no need for medical evidence of insurability. With a Phoenix Joint Advantage UL policy, customers can meet their need for dual income replacement and stable accumulation at a cost they can afford.

"Phoenix Joint Advantage UL is an important addition to our product portfolio because, for many clients, it's a significantly cost-effective alternative to the expense of two standard UL policies," said Tom Buckingham, senior vice president, Product Development, Life and Annuity. "At a time when conserving your working capital is especially important, a life insurance solution that actually saves money is truly a valuable asset.”

"We heard from advisors that in today’s volatile markets, their clients want insurance products that offer an economical approach coupled with flexibility and an opportunity for steady cash accumulation. Phoenix Joint Advantage UL delivers on both counts," Buckingham said.

Phoenix Joint Advantage UL is highly cost effective compared to two individual UL policies. For example, a male and a female, both age 45 with face amounts of $1 million and a preferred plus risk class, would pay an annual premium cost of $12,103 for two individual UL policies. The annual premium cost for one Phoenix Joint Advantage UL Policy with Survivor Purchase Option Rider is $10,193, creating annual savings of 16 percent over two individual policies*.

Phoenix Joint Advantage UL is also very flexible, with features that include flexible premiums that allow clients to decide when and how much they want to pay. Depending on their needs, couples or business partners can elect to have different amounts of coverage on the two people being ensured. Clients can also choose either a fixed death benefit equal to the policy’s face amount or an increasing death benefit that equals the policy’s face amount added to its cash value.

Clients who prefer additional insurance protections can add the following optional riders to their policies at no additional cost: Policy Exchange Option Rider, which allows clients to exchange their Phoenix Joint Advantage UL policy for two single life policies without evidence of insurability; and, Overloan Protection Rider, which helps to prevent policy lapse (a taxable event) if loan debt should exceed cash value due to a heavily-loaned policy. Other riders available for purchase at issue include: Level Term Rider, Increasing Term Protection Rider, Survivor Purchase Option Rider, Alternative Surrender Value Rider, and Waiver of Surrender Charge Rider.

In addition to flexible premiums and insurance protections, Phoenix Joint Advantage UL lets clients who need to access their cash values take a withdrawal or a policy loan, without current income tax up to the cost basis of the initial premium.

To learn more about Phoenix Joint Advantage UL and other life insurance products available from Phoenix, agents and financial advisors can contact their Phoenix wholesaler, the Life and Annuity Sales Desk at 800-417-4769, or visit www.phoenixwm.com.

ABOUT PHOENIX

With a history dating to 1851, The Phoenix Companies, Inc. (NYSE:PNX) provides financial solutions using life insurance and annuities, with particular expertise in the high-net-worth and affluent market. In 2008, Phoenix had annual revenues of $2.0 billion and total assets of $25.8 billion.

Phoenix is a leader in the life insurance industry, with a distinguished record of industry firsts in product design and underwriting. The company's underwriting capabilities can accommodate a range of customers and risk situations and address clients' estate, business and retirement planning strategies. Phoenix also offers a complete suite of annuity products with a full spectrum of optional guarantees, and with expert technical analysis of complex annuity contracts to help customers own the right products to fit their unique needs.

*This is a hypothetical example and is used only to describe how this strategy may work. Which strategy works best for clients will depend on their individual facts and circumstances. Actual results will vary. Any representation of life insurance premium or death benefit is purely hypothetical in amount and is not a guarantee of cost or death benefit now or in the future from a specific life insurance policy. Clients will receive a personalized illustration that reflects all applicable fees and charges, including the cost of insurance.

Leadbot Helps Agents Increase Their Conversion Rates With Qualified Life Insurance Leads

Leadbot, the nationally recognized producer of high-quality health, annuity and life insurance leads for insurance agents and brokers, has developed a system of lead generation that... begins with the creation of popular web properties full of helpful insurance information, advice and resources. These websites are then optimized for the major search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo...

INN: Leadbot Helps Agents Increase Their Conversion Rates With Qualified Life Insurance Leads

Auto Insurance Companies and Repair Shops

The article “Shops debate the place of insurers in the repair process” by Brian Albright on SearchAutoParts.com talks about how car designs have become more complex and expensive which is causing more and more auto insurance companies to get involved in the auto repair process.

Issues sometimes arise between repairers and insurers as the insurance companies pressure shops to cut costs. The repair shops see this as meddling as they deal with their own financial pressures. Most repair shops prefer that the insurance company give a check and stay out of the repair process, but customers find a lot value in the insurance companies taking over. In addition, insurance companies want to keep the repair shop's prices down as much as possible to save themselves money.

Not all insurance companies are getting in the way of the repair shop's agenda. State Farm auto insurance is generally seen as cooperative according to the article. Recently, they have participated in programs striving for efficiencies in the repair business. While some repair shops see this as intrusive, others see it as a positive force. Gene Regan, general manager at Causeway Collision Center in Manahawkin, NJ believes it is a productive initiative for State Farm to get involved. He sees the program bringing the repair shops and insurance companies together to learn from each other and develop better business practices. This will ultimately benefit the mutual customers who both parties look to please.

Chart of the Day: Madoff's 150-year sentence in context

Ex-financier Bernie Madoff, convicted of operating a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, served his first day of a 150-year prison sentence Wednesday... [but it] is only the fourth-longest given to someone for committing a white-collar crime in recent years...

Seattle PI: Chart of the Day: Madoff's 150-year sentence in context

Massachusetts Auto Insurance Rates Are Down

According to the article “Car insurance rates fall 8%, state says” by Todd Wallack in the Boston Globe, Massachusetts auto insurance rates are down since Massachusetts stopped setting their own rates in 2008. This information is from a study completed by the Division of Insurance.

The state study shows that auto insurance rates are down 8.2% from April 2008 to April 2009. The rates fell 5.2% from 2006 to 2007. In April of 2008 Massachusetts began allowing auto insurers to set their own rates which was to create controlled competition. Before this change, rates in Massachusetts were highly regulated.

Jason Lefferts is a spokesperson for the insurance division, and he said the study also found that during the last year the number of uninsured cars in Massachusetts dropped and that less people were considered high-risk drivers. Since the change in regulation, nine companies have become part of the Massachusetts auto insurance market.

Spending habits during a recession

There is a study recently published by M&C Saatchi, a global advertising agency with headquarters in London. It puts consumers into categories based on their behavior and reaction to the recession.

I'll get to those categories in a minute, but I think it's important to first note that the premise of this study is that while we are all effected by the recession differently depending on where we live and the local economy there, we generally are reacting to the macro economy - as it's reported by mass media.

We are bombarded daily by dismal reports of national or even global economic downturns. We cannot help but let this color our thinking. Yet, things might actually not be so bad in the immediate area around us.

So, the study and the categories are generated by how we are reacting to macroeconomics.

‘Reacting to Recession' is the name of the study. It identifies and categorizes attitudes and behavior adopted by different groups of consumers. The study finds eight consumer types with distinct approaches to spending in this recession.

Each identified group has adopted an overall specific behavior to cope financially with the downturn.

Crash Dieters

Scrimpers

Abstainers

Balancers

Treaters

Justifiers

Ostriches

Vultures


A caveat before the descriptions: they're not based on socioeconomic status, meaning that you can be in the Crash Dieter...and a millionaire.

Crash Dieters are the largest segment, grabbing 26% of adults participating in the study. The group was so named because it aims to "shed pounds" from their weekly budget by identifying and cutting out all non-essential spending until things improve. Crash Dieters are a heavily cash orientated group. Debt clearly frightens them (or is unavailable to them). They live from week to week and when the money runs out they're forced to take quite drastic action.

Scrimpers made up 13% of the study population. Cutting spending is still a main reaction, but they want to maintain their lifestyle and are reluctant to make sacrifices. "Trade down" is more their philosophy than "cut out." Cheaper stores and private labels have become more important to them.

Abstainers, like their Scrimper brethren, don't plan to make any huge cuts in spending habits. About 15% of the population are Abstainers. "The big purchases can wait until the economy improves," is what they'll tell you.

Balancers is one of the smallest groups. Nearly one in 10 people in the study fit into this category, which doesn't want to compromise or make any changes to their pre-recession lifestyle. However, a monetary crisis for them, say a job loss, triggers abrupt behavior. There's no "trading down" - It's gone.

Just over 12% of the study population are Treaters. You could describe them as Crash Dieters who occasionally binge. Every once in a while, the frugality they have adopted to deal with the recession gets rewarded by the purchase of something they promised themselves they wouldn't get.

Another 12% are Justifiers. They'll spend, but they need to have a reason - and it's not price-sensitive. If it's a newer version of something they already have, they want it and convince themselves it's a wise expenditure.

Everybody knows what an Ostrich does when it confronts danger - supposedly - and this is the way 9% of the study population is reacting to the recession. They're simply ignoring it - either because they have sufficient means to do so or because they have been brought up to believe that large balances on credit cards is the accepted norm.

At 4%, the smallest category was given the name Vultures. They're thriving on the carnage caused by the recession. Prices on many things have plummeted. They're swooping in and purchasing all they can.

The study is ostensibly for the purpose of how to market to these groups during the recession; and these distinctive categories of behavior strongly show that there may be only one recession globally...but we certainly are not all reacting to it in the same way.

Obviously, the propensity to purchase life insurance products at this time by these categories presents the same types of obstacles and challenges as any other industry.

Do you recognize yourself in any of them?