My daughter, turned 18 a few months ago and recently graduated from H.S. When she was 13yrs old, she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (pancreas failed). I was told no one would touch her for life insurance until she was 18yrs old. So far, my normal insurance guy has only been able to obtain a single quote for 20yr Term insurance. Since the condition is life long I would like to get a quote for Whole Life, but can't seem to get him to move on it. Any recommendation on where to start with the exception of hitting up the Yellow Pages? Her diabetes is well controlled and she is on an insulin pump with monitor.

The intent on wanting a Whole Life quote for her is quite simple...1) I want to see the rates, 2) guaranteed insurability IF she needs it down the road. The sooner you purchase this type of insurance, the cheaper the rate vs. trying to get it when you are say 40 or 50yrs old. I cannot predict my daughter's future, but unless there is a cure for Type 1 diabetes she most likely will have 10-15 years shaved off of her life if everything else goes perfect. She won't be paying the premiums until she is out of school and employed. I make a solid salary and can afford to float this bill on her behalf.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jcsabolt2,

Insurance companies do not write policies for Diabetics. Unfortunately it's that simple.

My experience is that you CAN get insurance. The important part is that the diabetes be under control. Of course it will be more expensive, but it is available. Just make some calls to some folks.

Don't waste money buying whole life insurance. It is a scam designed to make the insurance company more money than you. It is sold as a "savings account with a life insurance policy". In the end, they pay the face amount and keep the "savings account".

Term Life Insurance is cheap and getting cheaper all the time. Get a 20year, level term policy. Get a Broker who is not captive to a single company. Then every 5-10years re-shop it or add to it.

Insurance is to ensure that her debts don't stick around for others to hassle over. An 18yo needs enough for a funeral.

Once she has a family, income, and property, then she needs enough to cover debts.

Andrew

No suggestion on where or how to get Whole Life Insurance. Worse case scenario, I would get the Term Life (20 years). Once it is about to expire, there will be an option to continue coverage, at a decreasing value and increasing premium. Just make sure you declare her Diabetes in the health questionnaire form.

I am Type 2 now. BUT when I got my Term Life over 25 years ago, I was not yet diabetic. When 20 year Term Life Insurance was about to expire, I was offered a continuation of my Term Life plan for another 10 years. NO health questionnaire. Decreasing value, Increasing premium every 2-4 years (I think).

Few years ago, I applied for Term Life Insurance from Statefarm (they have multiple cars and home insurance for us). I want to add more insurance just in case. I was DENIED.

You can get insurance, find another agent, the bigger question is why are you getting life insurance on a 18 year old. She's uninsurable anyways, but not for health. Life insurance can not be issued without an insurable interest (income replacement for family), unless she's a teen mother, she has no insurable interest. The only thing you can get is a small burial policy. There are many burial policies out there that require no underwriting, but you are paying a stupid premium for it. Gerber life is the first one that comes to mind, but there are many others.

IF you can cover her burial costs out of pocket, you are wasting your money, if you can't afford her burial costs, then you are stupid for spending money on life insurance.

Former agent and financial planner.

Contact an upper tier Life Insurance company like Northwestern Mutual Life.
Last year, at 64 and with type II diabetes, I had no trouble getting a policy from them.

When she gets a full time job, if it’s with a decent sized company she will get it there.

Current life insurance agent here, but I only know about AZ. I write whole life policies for insulin diabetics all the time (several per month), though have never done one for anyone under 50. I did have to find an option for a 26 yr. old diabetic once and it wasn't too hard. I don't know why an 18 yr. old would want to pay for whole life insurance. She'll eventually get a job that probably covers her for group term for as long as she works there.

It should be easy to find a 20 yr. term policy for her. By the time that expires, she'll be old enough for lots of simplified or guaranteed issue, whole life polices. In fact, if you go the guaranteed issue route, start it two years before her term expires, so it's past the two year wait when her term expires.

Anyone who thinks whole life is a scam is ignorant. It's not for everyone, but I run into people in their 70s a few times a week with policies they had no idea were term or universal and would either cancel them at a certain age or reduce the face value to nothing. Sure, they should have read their paperwork. But their agent should have explained it to them too. And these problems usually become apparent when it's too late for them to find whole life at an affordable price. Not everyone buys life insurance for income replacement. In fact, most of my customers are already on social security. So it's not like that $15k final expense policy is gonna make their three kids rich.

My saddest case was a few months ago when an 84 yr. old woman assured me she had a $50k whole life policy. It was a universal policy - sort of like having an interest-only, ARM and only making the minimum payments for 20 yrs. When I got her company on the phone with her conferenced in, I let them hang themselves. Her face value was down to $20k, cash value down to $4k and both would be $0 within three more years, when she'd not be able to find any other kind of insurance. She was devastated and cried that her disabled son was totally dependent on that payout.

In the end it's all simply math. The insurance company has tables, rates, statistics for how much, when, what payout. They are obviously in business because they take in a lot more than they pay out. Like all businesses.

Yes, some people are good with a whole life policy because they are unable to budget / invest / have something besides life insurance to pass down.

Of course trying to get an insurance policy for 'cheap' when you are likely 0-10 years to death is hard / impossible - because you are essentially wanting something for nothing. The pay-in has to feed the pay out and if you have minimal time left, that's a gamble the insurance company isn't going to take.

My own WL policy kicked in yesterday. I'm 49, not poor, and my house will be paid off long before I stop working. Mrs. Lee can sell my toys if she needs money. I'll pay on the policy for 10-15 years and then call the company and ask them what I can get for a reduced paid up policy. I figure I'm paying $2k a year on a $99k policy. So in 15 yrs I'll have paid $30k into it and they'd probably give me a $50k reduced paid up policy by then. That's free money. It's not taxable and I can borrow against it and never have to pay it back. Not that that's a good reason to get whole life, but it's a benefit of it. Best of all, my first year is pretty much free because of the commission I get on myself.

Jcsabolt2 in what City & State is your daughter located?

We are an insurance broker located in MO, but with our national membership in NFP, could find someone to help.

I wonder why you'd want to buy it in the first place? She'll likely be able to get it from an employer in a group plan. Or, if she gets married her husband should have insurance. I don't see a glaring need to buy expensive insurance? My wife has type-1 and does not have life insurance. But If I kick the bucket she'll have my policy to take care of her. We don't need insurance on her....

quote:

Originally posted by FishOn:
I wonder why you'd want to buy it in the first place? She'll likely be able to get it from an employer in a group plan.

Due to her career choice, most likely she will be working for herself and not in cubical hell like a lot of us. Concerning group insurance, the group insurance I have been offered the rates suck compared to what I can get on my own. Also, because she is so young, should help keep the price lower vs. getting insurance when you are say 40. I have no idea how much insurance I would like to purchase, but I want the "numbers" to review. Also, if she does get married and has kids and were to pass away for some reason, the policy would be to help her children and her husband. Options...I'm looking at options and a choice.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
You can get insurance, find another agent, the bigger question is why are you getting life insurance on a 18 year old. She's uninsurable anyways, but not for health. Life insurance can not be issued without an insurable interest (income replacement for family), unless she's a teen mother, she has no insurable interest. The only thing you can get is a small burial policy. There are many burial policies out there that require no underwriting, but you are paying a stupid premium for it. Gerber life is the first one that comes to mind, but there are many others.

IF you can cover her burial costs out of pocket, you are wasting your money, if you can't afford her burial costs, then you are stupid for spending money on life insurance.

Former agent and financial planner.

While a Father may not have an insurable interest in his 18 year old daughter (this is debatable), SHE has one in herself. If she applies as both the INSURED and the OWNER of the Policy, there is no problem. We all have an insurable interest in our selves. Ownership may have tax consequences. Consult a CPA on this point.

Wow... Some of the advice above is just wow...

Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes is generally a condition that results in an immediate decline from just about every Life Insurance Company. There are a few that will write those policies, however, the cost is usually prohibitive. This health condition makes it very difficult/impossible to predict life expectancy. Especially in a female. This inability to predict life expectancy is the reason for the decline.

The main problem you will have is finding an insurer that will issue a policy. If you find one, the financial strength of that company may not be acceptable for a 70 year contractual relationship.

Unfortunately, I do not know of any company that will write a permanent policy for your daughter.

Depending on the amount of coverage you are looking for, there are some guarantee issue whole life policies available but they generally have low amounts of coverage.

If the 20 year term is convertible to a permanent policy, that may be your best bet.

Good luck and I hope you find a carrier willing to insure your daughter.

I would just set up a Roth IRA, or into mutual funds. and put whatever premium the insurance would be into the IRA every month. At least this is useful for her buying a house or living/retiring in the future. Right now, she doesn't have anyone to recieve the life insurance. The IRA will most likely accrue considerably if she starts now. Who knows what the future brings with medicine. We now have medicine that makes people with HIV live decades and decades, same with hepatitus.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
My experience is that you CAN get insurance. The important part is that the diabetes be under control. Of course it will be more expensive, but it is available. Just make some calls to some folks.

I couldn't find any close to any semblance of cost sanity when I was trying to go solo, but that was a long time ago. Maybe that has changed because the disease is so common now, but I have a hard time believing it's anywhere close to a sane figure for a single individual. And my A1C was, and is, less than 7, and I don't imagine insurance companies put your AIC on their least squares plot of profitability.

Type 1 and type 2 are apples and oranges. You can often get type 2 "under control" with diet and exercise. Type 1 is historically permanent. It is an auto-immune disease that destroys the ability to make insulin in the pancreas. The only type-one "cure" now is a pancreas transplant. There is promising research being done on islet transplants and also stem cells, and I would not be surprised to see some kind of a "cure" developed in the next 5-10 years. OP's daughter is young, and she may very well be rid of the disease before too long. Fingers crossed.

https://hsci.harvard.edu/diabetes-0