Residents of Palm Beach County and people all over the country strive for peace of mind in life. As hard as it can be to talk about, life insurance can provide you and your loved ones with peace of mind when you pass. Achieving this peace of mind involves doing some homework first, or better still, letting Absolute Best Insurance (ABI) do the work for you. The professionals at ABI can help you avoid devastating life insurance scams. Below is a brief look at those scams and some ways to help you avoid becoming a victim.
Beware Of These Life Insurance Scams
It is a sad fact that these scams and others are very lucrative for criminals. Scammers and predatory agents cost the public around $80 billion every year. Here are some of the more common scams you need to be aware of:
- Identity Theft – Posing as an agent or representative of a deceased family member, the criminal will ask for your personal information for you to receive a payout from a policy or to fix an issue your policy is experiencing.
- Deceptive Agents – Most insurance agents are ethical and will do what’s best for you. But like all walks of life, there are some crooked individuals. One trick is the agent offering better coverage for the same price as your current plan. After you sign up, you are paying the same, but you now have less coverage than before.
- Over Selling – Another unscrupulous trick an agent can try is having you sign up and pay for specific policies or clauses that are, in fact, legal but have an improbable chance of ever being necessary.
You Can Protect Yourself
Criminals are very good at what they do! It can be hard to pick out one of the good guys, agents. You can do a few things to find one of the many quality agents that are out there.
- Protect your information. Give access only to individuals you fully trust.
- Do not take anything for granted. Question all changes to any documentation you have signed.
- Any document you need to sign, read all of the fine print.
- Shop around for insurance agents like you would for a car.
- If you are leaning toward a particular agent, do your homework on them. Look at reviews and references.
- Review a potential agent’s agency as well. Put them through the same scrutiny you put the agent through.
If You’re a Victim, What Now?
If you think you’re being scammed, do not delay action! Read over all documents you received. Assuming you signed with a legitimate agency, you may be able to get out from under the contract. If you can’t take care of the issues, call The Department of Insurance in your state and report what’s happening.
Contact Us
During the best of circumstances, insurance can be complicated. Life insurance scams can cost the residents of Palm Beach County significantly! Don’t try to go it alone. Call or visit ABI today; we are the good guys!