The Underwriting Advocate

The insurance industry today is going through several innovations in order to remain relevant and continue to provide products that appeal to prospective buyers. Specifically, the Life Insurance, Long-Term Care and even the Disability Insurance companies are having to innovate in order to be competitive and make it easier for a client to purchase a policy. Today’s product options include combination products which bring Life Insurance
and Long-Term Care Insurance into one product and offer a new way for clients to protect their families and businesses. Lower premium pricing models that better reflect improvements in actuarial tables provide clients the opportunity to save money. There are even improvements for those who want to emphasize policies with tax favored accumulation and distribution. Many insurance companies today are seeking new ways to distinguish themselves from competitors by offering an easier purchasing process, known as “simplified underwriting”, or they identify certain medical conditions where they can offer a lower cost than competitors because their own data supports their unique underwriting advantage.

As early as 2008, new tools began to emerge to allow independent producers an easier way to see the competitive advantage a particular carrier could provide in terms of premium pricing. This new tool was typically only applied after the client had already gone through a full underwriting process and little was done to determine the best insurance company to apply to BEFORE the formal underwriting process began. Inevitably clients are bound to ask, “can I see if this tool can help me with the protection I need BEFORE having to go
through an entire formal underwriting process?”

Acru Insurance, LLC’s answer to this question is the “Underwriting Advocate”. By gathering client specific information through our secure link in advance of any formal underwriting, we are able to scan the independent insurance marketplace to find the best combination of product features, premium and underwriting to best fit our client’s facts and circumstances. This tool allows us to determine much of how a product can fit into an overall plan before submitting the application to the insurance company for formal policy approval. Additionally, this tool has had a significant improvement to our client’s insurance purchasing experience by saving time, improving accuracy, and reducing/eliminating paperwork. We are better able to provide the
tailored insurance solution a client needs with a better client experience.

FAQs

What is the “Underwriting Advocate”?

It is a tool that can be sent electronically to a prospective insurance client from a trusted advisor to allow a licensed insurance professional to gather the necessary details needed to
securely and efficiently protect families, businesses and secure assets.

What does it do?

Anonymously shops among many highly rated insurance companies to see which carrier(s) can provide the best product and underwriting features to fit the client need. We then provide these quotes for our partner advisors and their clients to review and ask questions about how this product/underwriting
recommendation fits into their overall plan. Finally, we can now easily provide them the formal application for the client’s review and signature (“wet” or electronic) to make the underwriting process go smoothly.

Who can offer it?

Any trusted advisor that wants to make sure their client’s insurance needs are being taken care of. Independent insurance offerings are provided by properly licensed and appointed individuals.

Is my information secure?

The information provided in the Underwriting Advocate is confidential. We ask
clients to complete all of the questions in one sitting. The data is housed on secure servers and located in a SOC 2, Type II audited facility that is located in the United States. The data is stored in an encrypted format.